Traverse The Forest Grimm With THE HELPFUL LITTLE FOX At Bag&Baggage This Spring

Bag&Baggage Productions, Hillsboro's resident professional theatre company, presents another installment of adapted Grimm fairy tales for young audiences, premiering The Helpful Little Fox Fixes the Forest Grimm at The Vault Theatre later this month. The Helpful Little Fox... is the creation of the Bag&Baggage Emerging Artists, a company of four early-career theatre professionals who have spent the past nine months working with the company in a multitude of capacities; the production of this show is the culmination of their season-long apprenticeship with Bag&Baggage.

"We're so excited to be able to offer a second theatrical experience created specifically for the young audiences in our community," says B&B Artistic Director Cassie Greer, who also oversees the Emerging Artist program and directs the show. "Our Emerging Artists have done a phenomenal job crafting this story and designing all of the theatrical elements. Our audiences have spent all season witnessing their work behind the scenes, and I'm so glad they finally have the chance to see these fine young artists in the spotlight."

In the story, written by Emerging Artist Olivia Anderson, Fox is "clever" before he becomes "helpful", delighting in trickery, and infamously thieving apples from all corners of Grimm's Forest. After catching Fox in the act one too many times, the forest Witch has had enough and curses Fox, vowing to turn him into a bug unless he completes three challenges to change his ways of trickery and deceit. Fox sets off on a journey to help the daughter of a king, a boastful tailor, and a wicked stepsister in this brand new tale that weaves together characters from Grimm's The Frog Prince, The Brave Little Tailor, and the lesser-known The Three Little Men in the Wood. Over the course of his journey, Fox learns to value loyalty, honesty, and kindness, and in the end, truly becomes a helpful little Fox.

"The Emerging Artists program provides many invaluable experiences for its apprentices, and the Grimms' Fairytale Project is one its finest," says Anderson. "I am thrilled for this bright, bold, hilarious and heartwarming piece of theatre to make its debut at Bag&Baggage, and I hope the audience has as much fun watching it as we had creating it!"

In addition to serving as the playwright, Anderson plays a variety of roles on stage, as well as designing the sound and writing the music for the show. Joining her are Jurnee Neeko, playing Fox, designing costumes, and serving as dramaturg; Darwin Pringle, playing several characters, as well as designing lighting and projections; and Kai Hennig, stage managing the production, and designing the scenery and props.

"The most exciting thing for me about this project is taking the stories that people - myself included - have grown up with their entire lives, throwing them into this amazing modern machine, and coming out with better lessons, friendlier characters, and a brand new story for the next generation to grow up with," says Pringle. "The fact that it's theater is just another great bonus."

The Helpful Little Fox Fixes the Forest Grimm runs Friday, May 31st at 7:30pm; Saturday, June 1st at 2:00 and 5:00pm; Sunday, June 2nd at 2:00pm; Friday, June 7th at 7:30pm; Saturday, June 8th at 2:00 and 5:00pm; and Sunday, June 9th at 2:00pm. Private performances for elementary school students will take place during the week of June 3rd; interested teachers and school groups can contact cassie@bagnbaggage.org to arrange a field trip. Tickets are $5 for all ages; children under the age of 3 are free, and ticket underwriting is available for daytime school shows. More information can be found online at www.bagnbaggage.org.