The Last Polar Bears
The Last Polar Bears is the funny, moving story of a Grandfather’s unlikely trip to the Arctic with his opinionated dog, Roo. It features live action, live music and puppets - including 20 knitted penguins and of course, a talking dog.
The show also has a multi-media feature, with actual film footage of Henry Larson's famous Arctic expedition on the St. Roch. An intricate scale model of the St. Roch is used for the Grandfather's ship, The Unsinkable. There's also footage of gorgeous Arctic landscapes, northern lights and adorable real animals.
From the book by Harry Horse. By permission of Penguin Books Ltd.
Get the Study Guide here.
The information sheet for the show is here.
Grandfather is off to the North Pole to find the Last Polar Bears. With him goes Roo—a dog of character and strong views. The explorers set sail on the good ship Unsinkable and embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
Eccentric, moving and very funny, their story is told through a series of extraordinary letters and unlikely events, such as their arrival in Walrus Bay, where there are no polar bears, but, strangely enough, hundreds of penguins.
From the book by Harry Horse.
Loved it! We loved the puppets – the wooden one so cute & Roo + the knitted penguins. We loved the vintage film footage and how it matched the scenery. We loved the music and songs & props. Excellent show!
Sweet, lovely, engaging start to finish.
Loved the archival footage that was used and the music chosen to go with it. So well done & very creative!! I can just imagine all the knitting of penguins!!
You are always a treat! Thank you!
Including video and silhouettes gave an intriguing dimension.
Thank you for such an engaging, creative performance! A pleasure for all ages!
Amazing show!
I like the new show. The whimsy is nice. As always, I enjoy the interactivity, multiple types & sizes of the puppets. Close up storytelling.
The kids loved it. Totally engaged. Thank you.
Love your shows. Grandkids always captivated.
Our study guide is available here.
Characteristics:
Integrity, empathy, kindness and caring.
Relationships, rules, and responsibilities.
Expectations:
Express personal responses and make connections to characters, themes, and issues presented in their own and others' drama works
Demonstrate an awareness of different kinds of drama and theatre from different times and places
Themes:
Storytelling through puppetry and music.
We need use of the performance area for three hours.
Please re-arrange any activities scheduled for that time, and have the space cleared for our arrival.
Our set will extend 25 feet across, and is 18 feet deep. We’ll help the teachers to seat their students.
The students should sit cross-legged on the floor, in order of age. This is easiest to accomplish if the students arrive in order of age, youngest to eldest. The youngest group could arrive about 5 minutes prior to the performance time.
You can see a PDF file of our seating plan for schools here, and our public show seating here.
Although children will be seated on the floor, we’ll set chairs along the sides to mark out their area; teachers can use these chairs to sit beside their classes. We also need three chairs backstage.
Please turn off all bells, fans, and air conditioners for the performance.
We need to back our van up to the door which gives the closest access to the performance area. Please arrange to have gates and doors unlocked, and to keep the parking space free for us. If there is no easy access to the performance area, we’d appreciate it if three or four people could help us to unload and load our equipment.
A floor plan for the show is available here.
This info sheet is available as a pdf here.