ELYSE GRIECO
Staff Writer
Fredonia’s Kaleidoscope Family Series is proud to announce
the return of the “Nearly World Famous” DuffleBag Theatre.
Based out of Toronto, DuffleBag has gained recognition due to
their humor and unique style of storytelling.
“DuffleBag is a group that we have had for a number of years now, and they are just a favorite of our audience,” said Jefferson Westwood, director of Rockefeller Arts Center.
Westwood is in charge of choosing the touring artists that come to Fredonia and are presented to the general public.
DuffleBag gives a performance to remember by making their audience members the stars of their production.
“They have some level of improvisation. They start by telling a story. It’s usually a classic fairytale that everybody knows,” said Westwood. “They then call up
children, and sometimes adults, out of the audience to play the roles.”
When it comes to DuffleBag, no two stagings are exactly the same. Adding the viewers to the play leaves room for the show to take many different directions.
“A number of the stories have had a little love scene where the prince has had to kiss the
princess. That’s always funny,” said Westwood. “It’s something kids just don’t want to do in front of other people.”
Although the Kaleidoscope Series is focused on family friendly entertainment, Westwood believes DuffleBag is appealing to all ages.
“It’s something that I think college students could enjoy very much too. It’s a nice Friday night activity,” he said.
Dufflebag has visited the SUNY Fredonia campus several times, but they have never performed “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
“I know their style very well, but I’m interested in see[ing] how they are going to take a poem that takes maybe two minutes to read and make it into a 60-minute show,” said Westwood.
Despite the uncertainty of what direction a DuffleBag show will
go in, Westwood said you can definitely expect one thing: fun.
“It’s a fun time. The audience is going to have a good, fun time,” he said.
The DuffleBag Theatre will be performing “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at
l Theatre. Tickets are $12
the general public.