BIO:
Established in 1991 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Green Fools Theatre is a non-profit, charitable society that creates, performs, and teaches physical theatre arts focusing on masks, puppets, and stilts for diverse audiences locally and internationally.

Artists are the centre of our Fools' society; we are writers, musicians, painters, sculptors, inventors, singers, actors, acrobats, instructors, puppeteers, and clowns led by Co-Artistic Directors Dean Bareham and Jennie Esdale. We are a magnet for physical theatre artists and offer multiple training, creating and performing opportunities. We have also been a building ground for artists and have fostered the development of other puppetry troupes and performers, including The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, the Calgary Animated Objects Society, and several Cirque du Soliel performers. In addition we develop strong relationships with other sectors, including the Calgary Zoo and International Crane Foundation, the Glenbow Museum, and the Alberta College of Art & Design to research, produce or present our work in traditional or non-traditional theatre venues.
Our diverse programming, including workshops, puppet and mask shows, street theatre, spectacle animation, events, and fundraisers allow artists and audiences to fully explore our art form across a wide spectrum of artistic styles and forms.

With an eye on the past and hands on tradition, Green Fools Theatre also strives to advance our work and our art form by inventing and engineering new puppetry styles and ways of storytelling as well as innovative artistic processes merging content and form to create new world mythology. We utilize a variety of physical theatre, puppet and mask techniques as well as multiple artistic disciplines to tell our original stories, producing puppet shows and physical theatre productions that are literally out of the box. Styles meet the needs of the story; puppets share the stage with actors and masked characters. In a single production we may we also challenge the boundaries of scale from a finger puppet to a giant stilt character. Often, our work explores non- text based storytelling. In our performances we include music and on occasion dance, performance art, video, and animation. Our work is contemporary, handcrafted, original, and collaboratively created.
Green Fools Theatre reaches thousands of audience members each year through performances, community events, festivals, and creative training by extensive local touring, as well as some National and International touring.

HISTORY:
1991: Christine Cook and Dean Bareham start the company. Both graduated from the Dell 'Arte School of Physical Theatre with an ambition to create their own work, travel the world and impact their community. They begin creating roving stilt characters that still perform today (along with many new creations) all over the world at festivals and events. Determination, creativity and mastery of their skills allowed Green Fools to become roving festival favourites.
The Fools indoor (and sometimes outdoor) theatre work has gone through tremendous evolution. One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo (and Uncle Michael) was an important and valuable vehicle for Green Fools’ exploration of physical theatre. Green Fools collaborate with other physical theatre companies and experiment artistically.

1995: Dean and Christine are joined by Judd Palmer, Steve Kenderes and David Lane who go on to become Old Trout Puppet Workshop when they leave the Green Fools in 1998.

1998: Mooky joins the Fools to collaborate on the B&E Circus until she’s swept away by Cirque du Soleil in 2001. Edmonton theatre artist Jennie Esdale becomes a member of the artistic and management team.

2001: Green Fools Theatre begin to refine their artistic process and create The Blackbird Puppet Project, which flew to venues and festivals in Canada, the U.S. and Brazil.

2003: Jennie Esdale becomes Co-Artistic Director alongside Dean Bareham. Isabel Lehmann takes over the books and continues to be our money goddess. We create Project: Whooping Crane, a life-size puppet show inspired by the endangered species. The show is a remarkable work and continues to tour.

2004: Co-Founder Christine Cook resigns from the company to spearhead Calgary Animated Objects Society and has since been producing Calgary's own Festival of Animated Objects.
The Fools move to #103–1215 13th Street S.E. in Calgary and go on to renovate it into an alternative rehearsal and performance venue.

2005: We create and present the first Canadian production inspired by Vietnamese Water Puppetry: Dancing On Water. So begins our partnership with Glenbow Museum!

2006: Judith Mendelsohn and Stacy Clark join the team as Administrator and Marketing Director respectively. Look how we've grown! The Fools move again to 2404 Erlton Road S.W.
We create and present our second spectacle masterpiece in partnership with Glenbow Museum: Crossing the Mediterranean.

2007: Dean and Stacy travel to Lesotho, Africa to teach circus camp. We begin development of Rapture Study in Seven Songs.

2008: Judith Mendelsohn heads to Paris to study with Lecoq! And Stacy Clark heads to Montreal to work for Cirque du Soleil! We develop and present Rapture Study in Seven Songs. Leslie Sawchenko joins the family as Administrator and Jamie Tognazzini comes on board as Fool Apprentice! We begin development of Isis & Osiris: A Shadow Opera.