BY KAREN BOSSICK
It’s a tiny production, like the bees and other pollinators it spotlights.
But Company of Fools’ mini-musical “Inside, Outside, Upside Down!” is designed to have a big impact as it educates youngsters and others about the importance of pollinators in the world.
Company of Fools and the Sun Valley Center for the Arts commissioned the production as part of its new BIG IDEA project “Bees.”
It will offer two free public performances at 6 p.m. Saturday April 21, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 22, at the Liberty Theater in Hailey. Both will be followed by a unique interactive workshop.
In addition, the Fools will offer student matinees for elementary school students on Thursday and Friday, April 19 and 20.
The musical, directed by Illana Becker and starring Melodie Taylor-Mauldin and Annabelle Lewis, follows a young adventurer named Kimi on a musical journey through the ecosystem as she meets local pollinators.
Kimi learns that without pollinators the world would be a very different place, as more than 80 percent of the world’s flowering plants rely on pollinators to reproduce.
She learns that one out of every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators. And she learns that, in addition to honeybees, pollinators can take the form of Sphinx Moths, Monarch Butterflies and even Calliope hummingbirds, not to mention bats, ants, beetles, birds and flies.
The musical is written by Maggie-Kate Coleman, a New York city-based playwright, book writer and lyricist, whose “POP!” received seven Helen Hayes Award nominations and three Connecticut Critics Circle Awards. She has also written several short plays, including “The Map of Lost Things,” “Field Trip: A Climate Cabaret” and “The Way They Live.”
Providing the music for the play was Erato A. Kremmyda, a New York City composer who was born and raised in Athens, Greece. He has worked on several productions with Coleman, including one called “Marie in Tomorrowland,” “The Way they live, and “Field Trip.”
Young children and their families will enjoy the short, sweet production, which will be followed up with interactive activities designed to reinforce information shared during the work, said Kristin Poole, The Center’s artistic director.
“These young playwrights have a done a wonderful job of developing a fun and playful show that shares important information about the pollinators at work in our forests,” she added.
The musical is sponsored by a Springcreek Foundation grant directed by the Local Food Alliance. It ties into the new “Bees” exhibition which is on view through June 22 at The Center in Ketchum.
Advance seat reservations are recommended and can be arranged online at www.sunvalleycenter.org or by calling 208-578-9122.
While free, The Fools will be happy to accept donations.