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MISS ELECTRICITY by Kathryn Walat Snow Globe Festival of Children's Theatre 2011

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THE FAIRY CATCHER’S COMPANION by Ellen Chorley Edmonton International Fringe Festival 2010 In 2010, Promise Productions returned to the Fringe to produce their fifth show, “The Fairy Catcher’s Companion.” But instead of the zany, modern fairy-tale based plays that Promise Productions had produced before, “The Fairy Catcher’s Companion” took a more serious route gently discovering real life events and themes of loss. “The Fairy Catcher’s Companion” follows the story of sisters Charlotte and Beatrice Starling. The Starling Sisters have been waiting for their father to return home from war, but after two years without a letter, they are beginning to worry. Finally, an official typewritten letter arrives imploring Charlotte and Beatrice’s mother to travel to collect their father. Beatrice and Charlotte are shipped off to live with their stern Aunt Bernadette at Prince Manor- a dark, drafty countryside manor. Charlotte and Beatrice are at their wits end waiting to leave Prince Manor, until they find a peculiar-looking book called “The Fairy Catcher’s Companion” and use it to catch a real-life fairy named Fusser. But could having a fairy friend be more trouble than it’s worth? "The Fairy Catcher’s Companion as homage to the imagination, an antidote to human loneliness, now that’s fairy dust worth sprinkling widely." – Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal

THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE by Ellen Chorley Promise Productions at Fringe Theatre Adventures (2010) In February 2010, Promise Productions produced it's first season show, The Tortoise and the Hare. The play was a new, re-imagining of the classic fairy tale in which a slow but dedicated tortoise wins a foot race against the quick, cocky hare. In this version, the race has been taken off of the road into the technological advancements of the satellites. The play takes place in the City of Storyland as the municipality announces that it will be launching a satellite into outer space. The satellite will be powered by fuel developed by a locally operated company and the short list is down to Tortoise Trades or HARE Industries Inc. The first company to formulate the rocket fuel will win the contract with the city. It’s a literal race to finish as both teams pursue the best rocket fuel, but will it be the speedy HARE Industries Inc or the slow and steady Tortoise Trades who wins?

THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES by Ellen Chorley Edmonton International Fringe Festival 2009 In August 2009, Promise Productions returned to the Global Family Stage for our third Edmonton International Fringe Festival in a row with the original production of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. With a sassy, sharp script that was aimed at the 8-13 age group, Ellen Chorley’s interpretation of the Grimm fairy tale married a unique video design and choreography to tell the story of a princess who has to dance, but would rather read, and her sister who has to read, but would rather dance. The Twelve Dancing Princesses received ecstatic reviews and saw a completely sold out run. Here’s what critics said about The Twelve Dancing Princesses: “Call it The Brothers Grimm meets So You Think You Can Dance. In Ellen Chorley’s cool and clever update of the classic fairy tale, the 12 dancing princesses aren’t sneaking off to a magic underground fairy ball. They’re disabling the palace surveillance cameras to cut the latest urban dance moves at DJ Goblin’s Illegal Underground nightclub… for the eight- to-13 age group, these hip-hopping damsels should prove a fairy tale come true. “ --Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal “You don’t need your own little princess to get a kick out of this play — although having an underage sidekick will certainly add an extra dose of fairytale to this lively performance… cleverly mixes multimedia with live action, offering enough tongue-in-cheek pop culture references to keep the parents entertained, including a hilarious dance video that pokes gentle fun at the entertainment industry.” -- Jessica Potter, Edmonton’s SEE Magazine

THE TOO TALL PRINCESS by Ellen Chorley Edmonton International Fringe Festival (2008) In 2008, Promise Productions mounted their second production The Too Tall Princess at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival 2008. Instead of creating a play based on a fairy tale, Promise Productions tackled a completely new story, inventing a new fable and bringing uncharted territory to the young audiences with the character of Princess Acadia- an independent thinker who towers over the average, normal, run of the mill, everyday residents of her home, the Kingdom of Medicor-City. The Too Tall Princess integrated many themes about self-love verses self-loathing, finding positive aspects to negative situations, individuality, and acceptance as well as touched on themes linked to the Holocaust and ethnic cleansing for younger audiences. “Ellen Chorley (who both wrote [The Too Tall Princess] and stars in it) is quite obviously a talented, enthusiastic actress who is great at what she does. Her newest children’s play has a sweet message about accepting other people’s differences and a cast of five that skillfully plays at least a dozen characters between them—no mean feat.” --Jill Stanton, Edmonton’s SEE Magazine “fun and entertaining” --Sherry Dawn Knettle, Edmonton’s Vue Weekly

CINDERELLA THE WIZARD by Ellen Chorley Athabasca Fringe Festival 2007 Calgary Fringe Festival 2007 Edmonton International Fringe Festival 2007 Promise Productions’ first production was a new work called Cinderella the Wizard which toured to the Athabasca Fringe Festival (July 27-29, 2007) and the Calgary Fringe Festival (August 10-15, 2007) and the Edmonton International Fringe Festival (August 19- 26, 2007). Cinderella the Wizard dared to update the classic fairytale with mystical mayhem influenced by pop culture, modern characters ripped from the tabloids, and a modified outlook on romance that had every girl, boy, human and wizard screaming “I’m one of a kind and I like me just the way I am!” “If you judge children’s entertainment by how well it entertains grown-ups, then Cinderella the Wizard is a complete success… I’m pleased to report that there are guffaws for all in this lively, modern retelling of the Cinderella story.” Reviewer’s Pick of the Fringe --Mike Ross, Edmonton Sun “The good natured cast more than fulfilled the comic possibilities presented by Chorley’s screwball script.” --Stephen Hunt, Calgary Herald “Cinderella [the Wizard]’s energetic, talented cast and colorful design had the kids entertained, and the brisk direction kept things moving.” --Matthew Halliday, Edmonton’s SEE Magazine