The House That Jack Built

This heartwarming musical combines the magic and allure of masks and puppetry with live singer-actors playing four characters – the Man All-Tattered-and-Torn (Doug Price), the Maiden All Forlorn (JoAnn Brooks), the Cow with the Crumpled Horn (Bie Engelen) and the Priest All Shaven and Shorn (Robert Naismith). They perform with colourful masks, costumes and extraordinary miniature and oversized puppets.

A Maiden, a Priest and a Cow live in a town recently struck with drought and despair – “a sorry place where the corn won’t grow.” A free-and-easy young rambler wanders into their village and is immediately embraced by the townspeople as the solution to their problems. Surely he will fix up the derelict house – home of a charming family of rats, and a dog and cat – restore the fallow fields and, best of all, marry the Maiden All Forlorn!

But the Man All-Tattered-and-Torn is dedicated to his free-spirited way of life. The attempts of the bickering townsfolk to remedy the health of their community, and the dilemma the young man faces in moving forward into adulthood, make The House That Jack Built delightful and thought-provoking entertainment.