A slave and storyteller from ancient Greece named Aesop is known for his fables—tales often with animal characters who are personified in their speech and emotions. At the end of each story is a strong lesson to be learned.
As the first main stage production of its fourth season, Asheville Creative Arts (ACA) will present Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Cry Wolf, a musical romp through Aesop’s Fables written by Carol Lynn Pearson with music by J.A.C. Redford. The production will take place March 4–6 in four public performances at Magnetic 375.
All the classic fables will be represented, including the concepts of slow and steady wins the race, dishonesty has consequences, plan according to reality, not fantasy, and sometimes help comes from unexpected places, so be kind to everyone. “Everybody knows and loves the tales of Aesop, which contain universal observations about how humans and society function,” says Robbie Jaeger, artist director and cofounder of ACA with Abby Felder.
“The setting for the show is in an old carnival tent and, through the course of the show, the actors will discover items in the environment that inspire their telling of various vignettes or fables,” says Abby, who designed and created the puppets.
“We will use marionette style puppets to create a family of gardeners and brick makers, as well as shadow puppets that will help tell the story of the race between the tortoise and the hare.”
Don’t Count Your Chickens was written by commission at Robert Redford’s Sundance Theatre in Utah. Musical direction will be provided by ACA’s resident artists Gina Stewart and Brenda Gambill, who call themselves Jonesalee. Among the instruments used in the performance are guitar, autoharp, ukulele, and percussion.
Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Cry Wolf will take place on Friday, March 4 at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 5 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and Sunday, March 6 at 1 p.m. Tickets ($23 for adults, $12 for children ages 12 and younger and groups of ten or more) can be purchased at the door or in advance through Brown Paper Tickets. Special weekday performances for school groups will take place March 2–4 with discounted $5 tickets and pre-show study guides. Magnetic 375 is located at 375 Depot Street in Asheville’s River Arts District. For more information, visit ashevillecreativearts.org.
