Walking the Tightrope
“Every year right at the end of summer just before the leaves turn brown and fall from the trees, Esme comes to stay with her Nanna and Granddad…” But this year something is different; Nanna Queenie is gone. Though Grandad and Esme do the fun activities they usually do, things aren’t the same without Nanna Queenie. Grandad can’t bring himself to say that Nanna has died, so he explains that Nanna has joined the circus. “She looked like an ordinary woman, but inside beat the heart of a tightrope walker.”
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Creators
Mike Kenny, playwright
Details
28 pgs. 1 female, 1 male
Originally produced by New Perspectives, UK, in 2000
Run Time: 75 minutes
Audience Recommendation: All Ages
Performance licenses are only available in the United States and Canada
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“Sometimes, but not very often, the planets align, the Gods smile down, and all the pieces fall into place creating a perfect storm of creative energy that brings about a truly miraculous result. That is certainly the case with Walking the Tightrope.” –Stage and Cinema
“The story is a clever blend of the familiar reality of family love and the fantasy that many kids have had of running off to join the circus.” –Now Magazine
“Walking the Tightrope is ambitious children’s theatre…The play walks its own tightrope between being lighthearted and energetic enough to keep the kids interested, and giving its subject matter the emotional weight it requires.” –Eye Weekly
“Walking the Tightrope sets the bar high for quality children’s theatre.”-LAist
“[Walking the Tightrope]is just over an hour long, but provides for its audience an emotional yourney and catharsis worth many more hours of life. Nowhere will you acquire more time equity.” -Examiner
‘Winner of the 2009 Dora Mavor Award for Theatre Direct’s Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance for Theatre for Young Audiences’
Photos below from 24th Street Theatre’s award-winning production of Walking the Tightrope in 2014. Featuring Mark Bramhall (Grandfather), Tony Duran (Clown), and Micaela Martinez (Esme). Photos by Craig Schwartz.
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