Rag & Bone Puppet Theatre was started in 1978 by the husband and wife team of Kathy MacLellan and John Nolan. Since then we've played across Canada, from Victoria to St. John's, and from southern Ontario to Baffin Island.
We've played most of the major children's festivals in Canada. We often present our shows at Ottawa's National Arts Centre. We've won a Citation of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry from UNIMA, which is the international puppetry association.
Kathy MacLellan has written for many children's tv shows, including Mr. Dressup, Under the Umbrella Tree and Theadore Tugboat.
John Nolan appears as Jackson on the YTV show Crazy Quilt.
Russell Levia provides music for most of our shows. He frequently plays in clubs and community centres, and at festivals such as the Ottawa Folk Festival and the Blue Skies Festival. He has released 2 albums: Tea for Two and So Rare. Click here for more on So Rare.
About our style...
More info...
School shows
We've being doing shows in schools for 26 years now, and we've taught workshops in classes from JK right up to grade 13, so we understand teachers' concerns. We help to organize the seating, we're careful about scheduling, and we make sure that the school has all the information they need about our show well in advance.
The Ontario Arts Curriculum expects students:
...to acquire a growing understanding of the basic elements of drama—its structure, meaning, and their response to it and to see, hear, and learn to identify a variety of musical instruments and sound sources, understand the effects of different musical choices, and how various musical elements create different moods.
See more on our Curriculum page.
Our integrated arts presentations combine puppetry, theatre, storytelling, dance, music and visual art. The music is performed live on a wide variety of authentic instruments, including hurdy-gurdy, dulcimer, Chinese drums, gongs, synthesizer, bones, bull-roarer, accordion, rain maker, electric guitar and more! Use a Rag & Bone show as a focal point for discussion of art elements, and as inspiration for your students' own music, dance and drama.
Easy to schedule
All shows are about 45 minutes long, followed by a question period: they fit into a school timetable. We set up in an hour, and only take an hour to pack up. We're based in Ottawa, so our shows are available throughout the year.
Extensive teachers' guides
Our extensive study guides suggest preparation and follow-up activities and discussion topics. A show can be used as a centrepiece for special study units
Here's a sample page in pdf format.
More information:
We have PDF versions of John and Kathy's CVs, and a company "CV"...
Rag & Bone CV
John's CV
Kathy's CV
