Stories in the Woods | Noelle Hamlyn Studio

stories in the woods

An eerie, poetic, site-specific contemporary dance-theatre performance through the woods and a working sawmill. A poignant plea for climate action or an alarming chilling odyssey into a dystopic future?

Image by Nettie Seip

About Stories in the Woods

Stories in the Woods guides the audience through the woods at night – under the shadow of a 100-year-old water tower, through an urban sawmill, forest trails, and wetlands situated at the southern edge of Canada’s largest suburb. A juxtaposition of past and present; art and science, dreams and nightmares. Stories in the Woods was produced in 2019 with the involvement of 75+ young dancers from Cawthra Park School for the Arts, and then again in 2021 with performances by Frog in Hand Summer Company in collaboration with the Toronto Region Conservation Authority and Saw Mill Sid. Audiences were guided by performers through the grounds at nigh. The journey depicted a post-apocalyptic world altered by climate crisis – adaptive life forces held within the memory of human form.

Immersive sets in situ left no remaining trace on site. Set and costume materials were found, recycled, then repurposed post production. Thank you to Frog in Hand artists for helping to realize this important work – a chilling plea for climate change action.