by Selena Xu (age 9)  and Raymond Qiu (age 10)

During the March break, Young People’s Theatre (YPT) was thrilled to welcome the Quebec theatre company Tout a Trac and their breath taking production of Pinocchio.  Hugo Belanger whipped up a play with dance, puppetry, music, and illusion at a hair rising speed.  It was a live, emotional, and just as imaginative as Geppeto himself, the kind old wood carver.

The seats were almost full when the play started.  We found a cottage right in front of us. It looked rather small, and had a broken window, a table, some wooden toys, and a log. The lights went dim; the lights only appeared on the broken glass window. The show had started and someone came out the back of the cottage.

I had expected the play to start with someone carving out Pinocchio.  But instead, Geppeto, the father of Pinocchio, came in with a loud, hilarious jump-in that brought shock waves of laughter through the audience.  Gepetto ran from the back of the cottage, looking very confused. He was cold and poor. He tried to burn a log for warmth, but the log started fighting back, shouting: “I WANT TO BE A BOY, I WANT TO BE LIKE YOU, LIKE EVERYONE! I’M NOT GOING TO REPEAT MYSELF!” and the log soon became the wooden marionette – full of happiness and energy.  Geppeto sent Pinocchio, who promised to work hard and bring riches into the family, to school.  On the way, though, he encountered a fox and cat.  The spotlights of the show were them, for they were a stunning pair that told lies that could build a stair case to the moon.  They led Pinocchio out of school, and into a life of lies.  With the assistance of the good hearted talking cricket, Pinocchio learned his lessons.  He bravely plunged into the ocean, and saved his father from a very large fish.  Because of his maturity, Pinocchio became a human boy – a gift from the legendary Blue fairy.  The lights dimmed, and the play was out.  Then, in the blink of an eye, the performers were back on stage, and took a deep bow.  The auditorium was soon filled with a thunderous roar of clapping and cheering. 

The Young People’s Theatre showcased Pinocchio, where four actors played ten characters with energy and fun as the wooden marionette met various characters from the moment of his creation until he became a human child.  Krystel Descary played the role of Pinocchio.  Using the machines on the inside of the old puppet, she allowed him to walk, and move.  Gabriel Desantis-Caron played the role of the fox, and a Jolly man.  He used his deep voice to project his authority to the audience.  Milva Menard played the role of the cat, Candle Wick, and the Blue Fairy.  Using body language, she had already stated the emotion of the story.  Claude Tremblay: the man who, in my eyes, added the most humor to the play, like Olaf from Frozen.  He played Geppetto, the talking cricket, Mangiafuoco, and a misbehaving boy.

In my opinion, Tout a Trac not only well featured the acting part of this show; the supporting team also did a great job building the scene.  The play act presented a spotlight on the characters they wanted us to notice.  While Pinocchio wished for the blue fairy to turn him into a human boy, the lights moved towards the fox and the cat that tried to steal the last gold coin, and so did my eyes.  It also showed the bright oil lamps and brought the thought of “fun” when Pinocchio was in the land of toys.  The music made me feel very involved, like a villager just following Pinocchio.  It was well composed, and gave the auditorium a touch of holiness.  The clothes that the people wore appropriately labeled their class.  For instance, the poor Geppetto wore torn and thin layers of clothing.  Pinocchio was held by Krystel and presented as an actual wooden puppet.  It was full of technology.  When Geppetto polished the wood, Pinocchio popped out.  This worked because of a spring that sent Pinocchio to burst out after the wood was carved.  His nose was extended to a surprisingly long length by using a remote control.    

After the show, Voice K was pleased to have an interview with most of the actors.

Descary loves playing Pinocchio because it gives her a possibility to experience new things and emotion. “At first, Pinocchio is rude, so I can explore rudeness. Later on, I learn about friendship and love.” She thinks that what makes Pinocchio a lovable character is that he is naïve and naïve is fun because she doesn’t have to see the mean things that the fox and the cat are doing. Descary is a girl, but she was casted to play the role of a young boy because it is difficult for a grown man to sound like a 7 or 8-year-old boy.  

“I would be the cat, because the cat makes me laugh a lot,” said Descary. “I think [the cat] is the sweetest character in the play.”

“My favourite scene is the ‘Gospel Scene’,” said Gabriel DeSantis-Caron, the fox in the play. “It’s when the cat and the fox steal the last coin. We finally [got] the last gold coin!” The challenge for DeStantis-Caron is to sound mean and slimy. Bad guys would sound slimy if they want to trick someone in the play, but nobody is really doing that in real life. He also likes his character because it’s rapid tempo during the scenes, and he has to sing, move, and do lots of physical movements all at the same time. 

Milva Menard enjoyed her parts of the play a lot too.  Her favorite character was the cat.  “I think the cat is the hardest part of the play.  I have three characters: the cat, Candle Wick, and the blue fairy.  It’s really the cat that’s my favorite because it is very physical, since I’m wearing a mask,” said Menard.  “So I need to put the emotion in my body, and it’s hard.”  The cat also just wants to be in the gang with the fox, and really, he’s innocent. 

Tout a Trac is a company from Montreal, and Pinocchio was brought to the stage in two different languages: French and English.  It created a challenge for the actors to rehearse and perform the amazing show. 

From 1883 to now, the story Pinocchio still brings jaw dropping adventures.  Born from a talking piece of wood, the nerve racking Pinocchio earns his heart’s desire from his amazing quests.  As Hugo Bélanger says, "We still need Pinocchio because telling the story of a small block of wood dreaming to become human brings hope to a world that is losing its humanity and becoming increasingly dependent on machines."  Pinocchio developed his achievement of becoming a human being, an inspiring fact to everyone around us.  So there you go, lights, camera, action!

Day of the dead at Habourfront Centre

By Dea Yu (age 9), Selena Xu (age 9), Edward Wang (age 9)

On   November 9, 2014, Voice K journalists went to the Day of the Dead Festival at Toronto Harbourfront Center. Colourful lights lit up the rooms. The halls were filled with beautiful Mexican paper cut-out decorations and stunning flower arrangements.  Mexican music was heard almost everywhere. This festival looked like a memory from Mexican past.

When we got there, we went downstairs into a room full of information on the Day of the Dead. We went to the back where we started to do some paper cutting, just like the ones that were hanging on the ceiling. 

When we got to the theatre for the band performance, it was already very cramped. A couple minutes later, the show started and the audience quieted down. A man walked onto the stage and gave a mini-speech. He talked about the birth of the festival and he introduced the band ─ which was all female ─ that was called “Mariachi Flor de Toloache”. The band members explained that “Flor de Toloache" is the name of a flower in Mexico that they put in love potions.

The show included various songs from the people of Mexico and also Latin America. They have slow, fast, high- and low-pitched songs. They sing many famous songs like Calaca and Guadalajara.

All band members wore skull makeup on half of their face. They were also dressed in beautiful band costumes. To us, we didn’t see a band with costumes and makeup. When they were playing slow music, we saw a musical river with beautiful cherry blossom trees all over it. When they were playing fast music, we saw an empty desert with a rampaging horse dancing in the distance.

 The audience cheered for the Mariachi Band on stage while they were singing a wonderful tune and clapped to the beat while others danced or sang. That is the Mariachi Flor de Toloache. They are the first ever Mariachi band that are all women. In 2008, Mireya Ramos found the Mariachi band. The Mariachi band was originally from New York, but the members are from Indiana, United States, Australia, Dominican Republic, Mexico and even Canada! What you can explore are celebrations from Mexico and other areas of Latin America.

 “My father was a mariachi and I used to go with him to all his shows,” says Ramos, a violinist and a singer. “So I fell in love with mariachi music and through that I would learn violin and voice.”

The band explained their half skull makeup: “The day of the dead is about celebrating our ancestors. Part of the makeup represents the ancestors and part of it represents our generation.” 

“It was very exciting when I learned the festival is happening and is assigned to me,” said lead artistic associate, Umair Jaffer. “Harbourfront Centre has a theme of legacy this year. Under this theme, we are transforming from the past to the present and to the future,”

Day of the dead (Dia de los Muertos) is the time of the year when people celebrate and be happy for the people from the past. This celebration was born before Christianity was invented.


“All the activities from the festival are about legacy, celebrating the past and passing onto the next generation,” said Jaffer.

ARTIST AT DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION

BY: Leo Yin (age 11)

Crafts, music, and fun! I couldn’t decide which was best.

From the craft section, there was a great artist, Steve Loretta, who made attractive skull crafts. The most interesting skull was a sugar skull completely covered in icing leaves which was really breath-taking since the leaves looked real.

He made about four types of crafts for the Day of the Dead celebration. Loretta said, “I started making the these crafts five years ago when I was running a children’s workshop on making the sugar skulls in 2009 at the Brick Works, which made me now have a good memory of how to make them.”

There were paper skulls, sugar skulls, full skeletons, and skull decorations. The biggest question in my head was how he created so many decorations for the celebration and did not run out of ideas.

 “I was inspired from my heart to make these creations and that is just a thing I like to do,” Loretta said.

He even made a sugar skull kit with which to decorate your own sugar skull with icing. The decorations came with eye catching colours and irresistible style.

This is a Mexican celebration to respect the dead. Next time don’t forget to have fun with some awesome Day of the Dead crafts!