Stella puts a fresh light on winter

There’s a Canadian tradition every school child loves. When a blizzard strikes, making roads impassable, an official snow day is called and school is cancelled.

This is usually followed by fist pumping and a dash out the door to pummel a friend with propulsive snowballs. Other children just like to frolic in the fluffy white stuff making snow angels or sticking their tongue out to catch an elusive snowflake.

Winter magic also comes in the form of Mermaid Theatre’s touring show Stella, Queen of the Snow arriving at the Arden Theatre Feb. 15.

The Nova Scotia theatre troupe, renowned for adapting children’s works into stylized world-class puppet shows, uses writer-illustrator Marie-Louise Gay’s endearing tale of siblings discovering the natural world and how play strengthens family bonds.

“We spent two years adapting it,” says Mermaid Theatre’s artistic director Jim Morrow. “I was initially struck by the visuals – the beautifully rendered images. And I love the relationships between the children – how it harkens to another time when children were free to play instead of looking into a virtual world.”

Stella and her younger brother Sam are awed by a heavy snowfall that transforms the local landscape. It is Sam’s first snowstorm and he has lots of questions. The older and bolder Stella is happy to supply the answers – though some may not exactly be true.

“They get dressed and along with their dog, Fred, they go on an adventure over ponds, sledding down hills and building snow forts.”

Three primary puppets and a series of small support puppets such as birds direct the activities. The life-size sculptural puppets are carved from a soft sponge foam and laminated block that is shaped and hand-cut. Each puppet takes about 250 hours to create.

“We create the sculptures and then decide how the sculptures move on stage. From there we decide to use rods or strings or whatever is necessary,” says Morrow who likens these puppets to the sophisticated Japanese form of Bunraku.

“All our puppeteers are hidden. They’ve strapped on rolling skates and are rolling on stage behind the masking. The author narrates the story and we have a bank of sound that dampens any noise.”

Although billed as a family show, Stella is a complicated production boasting music, lights and 3-D projections.

“I love the fact that this story is a shared experience between parent and child. We promote books, but we also promote theatre as an experience to share and enjoy.”