One Minute World Arts- From Picture Book to Puppetry: I Want My Hat Back Trilogy
In April 2020, London’s Little Angel Theatre, well known for its puppet theatre for children and their families, partnered with theatre director Ian Nicholson and designer Sam Wilde to stream an adaptation of Jon Klassen’s highly acclaimed picture book I Want My Hat Back. The cardboard puppet theatre piece was broadcast on Little Angel Theatre’s YouTube channel and enjoyed by many children and families. Klassen’s story centers upon a bear looking for his missing red pointed hat; along the way he encounters several animals who, after being inquired, tell him they have not seen his hat, but the end of his search gives a suspense that would certainly open up one’s eyes as well as imagination.
In May 2022, the two creators and their production team collaborated with Little Angel Theatre again, and presented Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back Trilogy to the young audience - targeting at children aged 3~6 - at the theatre. The trilogy includes I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat, and We Found a Hat; they all share the motif of hat missing, but have different characters and plotlines. This time, all the puppets, settings, and props were sized up; meanwhile, online workshops were brought in to teach the audience to make cardboard fish at home, which they would then carry with them to see the show. Nicholson’s I Want My Hat Back Trilogy cleverly exemplified the educational, entertaining, and aesthetic purposes of puppetry. The Time Out London magazine highly recommended the show with a five-star rating.
知名繪本《找回我的帽子三部曲》躍上舞台
2020年4月，以偶戲及親子劇場聞名的倫敦小天使劇院（Little Angel Theatre），聯手劇場導演伊恩．尼克遜（Ian Nicholson）和設計師山姆．王爾德（Sam Wilde），將兩人早先於防疫居家期間，透過線上共創 所完成的紙箱劇場《找回我的帽子》（I Want My Hat Back），放上自家所屬的YouTube平台供觀眾欣賞，受到許多家庭與兒童的喜愛。這部作品的故事改編自加拿大兒童文學作家兼插畫家雍．卡拉森（Jon Klassen）的同名原作，內容講述一隻熊為了找尋自己遺失的帽子，沿途向不同動物打聽的過程，並於結尾留下一個懸宕的伏筆，相當引人入勝。
今年5月，小天使劇院與兩位創作者的工作團隊進一步擴展規模，合力將所有用厚紙所做成的偶、佈景及道具加大尺寸，並且納入卡拉森另外兩部以「帽子」為主題的繪本故事，推出了以3~6歲孩童為主要觀眾群的劇場版《找回我的帽子三部曲》（I Want My Hat Back Trilogy），內容包括《找回我的帽子》（I Want My Hat Back）、《這不是我的帽子》（This Is Not My Hat），以及《發現一頂帽子》（We Found a Hat）；同時透過線上教學，鼓勵觀眾們攜帶自己在家製作的厚紙魚形玩偶進劇場看戲，將偶戲各個環節的效益發揮到極致，獲得倫敦娛樂誌 Time Out五顆星的好評。
Photo Credit ©Ian Nicholson, Suzi Corker
Sources:
https://www.littleangeltheatre.com/whats-on/i-want-my-hat-back-trilogy/
https://www.littleangeltheatre.com/whats-on/i-want-my-hat-back-workshop/