First Stage For Families, Word for Word Performing Arts Company, Stories from Sonoma Mountain, May 6, 2012

Overview
Program
Notes

Overview

Cal Performances' new First Stage for Families Series is the ideal introduction to the magical world of music, dance, and theater! A gateway to the Family Fare performances featured on our main stages, First Stage For Families for Families features lively one-hour events in Wheeler Auditorium, offering young people and their grownups an opportunity to experience a diverse range of artistry in an intimate space. Sample something new, meet the artists, and join other budding performing arts enthusiasts for three Sunday gatherings on the 2011/12 Season.

San Francisco's acclaimed W4W, which turns works of fiction into theater without changing a word, presents Stories from Sonoma Mountain by local Native American author Greg Sarris (whose short-story collection Grand Avenue was produced as an HBO film by Robert Redford). Here, Sarris draws on folk tales from the First Peoples and the landscape of Northern California. Trees, animals, even the smallest spiders are living spirits with stories that are important to our survival; while some have special powers, no one can break the rules of the Earth. "Word for Word's brilliant inventiveness in performance, choreography, and staging has created a new art form, and a deeply affecting experience" (Tobias Wolff).

Please note: All children, regardless of age, must have a ticket to enter the theater.