43
Madcap Puppets kick off summer reading at Poland library
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .During the story of "The Brave Little Tailor," princess Anna Oliviei (right) promised to marry the tailor when he defeated the fearsome ogre. When the tailor, played by Madcap actress Breona Conrad (left), went in for a kiss, she smooched the ogre instead.
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .During the story of the brave Iroquois warrior, Breona Conrad (left) had Jason Ferrick exclaim, "I'm not afraid of anything!"
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The appearance of the Heartless Giant had Emily Crum (right) recoiling in fear.
By SARAH FOOR
This year, the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County’s summer reading program is exploring the theme of “One World, Many Stories.” To kick off the program, hundreds gathered at the Poland library on June 21 to explore stories from around the world with the Madcap Puppet Theatre.
Madcap puppeteers Rachel Christianson and Breona Conrad hosted the program “Jack and the Gentle Giant,” where they acted as tour guides through giant stories from around the world.
“In our Madcap programs, our basis always starts with books and then we start to use our imagination. We hope that, whatever you do, you never lose your love of reading or your great imagination,” Christianson told the crowd before the show began.
The first stop on the tour was Germany, where the duo explored the Brothers Grimm tale “The Brave Little Tailor.” Conrad played a tailor who defeated a giant ogre with quick thinking, winning the hand of a princess played by audience member Anna Oliviei.
The next tale explored the Iroquois legend of the Stone Giant. Volunteer Jason Ferrick played the warrior, exclaiming “I’m not afraid of anything!” and defeating the giant with his stone hatchet.
The last story took guests to the Czech Republic, where Broomhilda the Brave went on a quest to help the Heartless Giant. By showing kindness throughout her journey, volunteer Emily Crum was helped by friends and was able to return the heart to the giant. Anna Oliviei played the part of the fair princess who the Brave Little Tailor hoped to marry.
“It was so much fun. I was laughing so hard when the tailor asked me to marry him,” Oliviei said of her favorite experience in the show.
Siblings Camyron and Ethan Mannion thought that the program was aptly named.
“The different scary giants were definitely the best part of the show,” shared Camyron.