OLIVER JAMES HYMANS
theatre - puppetry - creative learning
The Wishing Tree
Little Angel Theatre
Directed and Designed by Oliver Hymans
Written by Joseph Coelho
Performed by Nadia Shash & Chris Nayak, with the voices of Elliot Liburd and Local Islington Children.
Puppets Designed by Peter Morton
Sound Design by Elliot Mann & Kacper Slowik
Set Built by Syeda Bukhari
Stage Manager Tor Porter
Assistant Set Builder Jess Shead
A Modern day fairytale in a post pandemic world....A brand new play written by children's author and poet, Joseph Coelho, inspired by the experiences, hopes and fears of local Islington children in response to the global pandemic of 2020.
Ben has just moved to a new estate. It's miles away from his old friends, his old school, his Grandma's house, from everything he knows. But when his Mum and Step-Dad send him out to explore, he unwittingly finds himself on a quest to rescue a missing tree of wishes. Along the way, Ben discovers the magic in his everyday surroundings, from some fantastical trees and creatures, to the hopes and dreams of the children who live around him.
★ ★ ★ ★ "An upbeat modern fairy tale with delightful, inventive puppetry ...Oliver Hymans’ ingenious, layered set design enables the narrative to explore the small space really effectively, hiding cleverly constructed puppets that seem to draw organically from materials in the environment." Everything Theatre
"Joseph Coelho’s Wishing Tree and it is by far one of the most moving and engaging theatre shows we have been to in a long while." The Young Londoner
"Pretty much the perfect show for these times, as we slowly emerge from Covid and try to make sense of the world around us. Challenging in parts, but reassuring too and imbued with a real warmth and humanity." London with A Todler
