On Saturday, April 27th starting at 3 pm at Cornwall Town Hall, Grumbling Gryphons Theater will hold an afternoon and an evening Earth Day Celebration starting with a workshop at 3pm, culminating in a Fantastical Parade at 5 pm on the Cornwall Town Green.
The workshop is entitled “The Council of All Beings” and is based on the environmental work of Joanna Macy and John Seed, well known environmental activists dedicated to helping humans experience the beauty and power of our interconnectedness with all life. During the drama, music and art workshop, children and families will make endangered species puppets under the guidance of artists Katherine Freygang and Natalie Resto. At 5:00 pm all are invited to take part in a spectacular Earth Day Pageant on the Town Green with live music provided by Berkshire Resilience Brass Band. Ellen Moon will be featured in her larger- than- life-Golden Lady Puppet with Jane Prentice on fiddle. A gigantic oil spill costume will be featured along with Trash Creatures, Whales , Rainbows and more! A potluck dinner to follow at 5:30 in Cornwall Town Hall. (Rain or shine! the parade and festivities will be held inside Town Hall if it rains)
Children & families who are interested in participating in the workshop and in performing at 6:30 at The Cornwall Library kick off for the evening events should register and email [email protected] or call 860-672-0286.

At 7 pm , Cornwall Library proudly presents the premiere screening of Grumbling Gryphons new environmental movie- “Count Ampula and The Carbon Curse”, filmed in Cornwall and features Cornwall children and Grumbling Gryphons actors. This film addresses the urgent need to reduce our human carbon footprint and produce clean energy. The award-winning, collaborative team of Ben Willis-film maker and director-Leslie Elias worked with Grumbling Gryphons theater and film campers ages 8-20 who helped to create this environmental and cutting-edge comedy. Participants helped to write, act and became part of the film crew in an innovative new program combining film, theater and environmentalism. Both filmmaker Ben Willis and theater director, Leslie Elias each recently won the prestigious Connecticut Arts Fellowship Award. With their unique and exciting collaboration, Elias and Willis worked together throughout Covid to create short films with children, teens and elders, including work with teens on the autism spectrum. Five of the educational films were selected by Hartford Performs in Hartford, CT and shown to schoolchildren throughout Covid, providing educational and interactive virtual experiences.

Masks and costumes for “Count Ampula and The Carbon Curse” are made by Ellen Moon and Lory Bevans of Cornwall Bridge and by Jude Streng of Falls Village, CT. Musical performances include jazz musicians Alan Simon and Dale Adams on keyboards, with Todd Stoughton on mandolin. The film features actors Daniel Saed of West Cornwall CT as Count Ampula, Finch Clay from Concord, MA as The Green Protester and The “Carbon Footprint Monster” with Peter Parizhsky, Philippa Cavalier, Stephany Quezada, Leslie Elias, Katherine Freygang and Laura Knoepler are in supporting roles.

The film is dedicated to the memory of visionary Cornwall artist Joy Setton. The script was based on an original script by Leslie Elias for Going Green: Cornwall’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, held at Cornwall Consolidated School in the fall of 2016. This is the premiere screening of the film and appropriately chosen by Cornwall Library as part of their 2024 Earth Day Celebration. An open mic from 7:30-8:30 will follow. To learn more, contact Leslie Elias-Artistic Director-Grumbling Gryphons-860-672-0286 [email protected]

These events were made possible in part by an FY24 Artist Respond Grant awarded by the Connecticut Office on The Arts, Department of Economic Community Development and the National Endowment for the Arts, to artist Leslie Elias to further youth empowerment & Foster Community Engagement and Environmental Stewardship through the Arts!

Cornwall Town Hall 24 Pine Street, Cornwall, CT 3pm -6:30 pm
Cornwall Town Green, 24 Pine Street 5 pm Parade & Music until 6 pm
Cornwall Town Library 30 Pine Street, Cornwall, CT
https://grumblinggryphons.org/