At the Pop Up Store!
Queen of Paradise's Garden - a Traditional Newfoundland Fairy Tale

Saturday, January 28 at 2pm. By donation.
166 Water Street, The Riddle Fence Art Fair

A Puppet Show for All Ages
Written, Narrated and Performed by Andy Jones
With Puppetry and Set Design by Darka Erdelji, Puppeteer Mary-Lynn Bernard
Sound, Production Management Monique Tobin

In this show Andy Jones tells the story of Jack, in the Queen of Paradise's Garden. "Jack" is, a well-known figure in traditional Newfoundland fairy tales - (Jack Meets the Cat) - and these Jack stories are ones which Andy has learned over the years from an older generation that he then turns into storytelling productions.

The performance lasts about 35 minutes and involves Andy Jones telling and acting out the story beside a kitchen-table sized box that is the set - the set has compartments that open, and the box is turned around to create a different scene for parts of the story. The set and the puppets were designed and made by Theatre Artist Darka Erdelji, who has her Masters in Puppetry and actor Mary-Lynn Bernard is the puppeteer who brings the hand-held puppets to life. There are live sound effects and music to assist in creating a magical atmosphere, performed in view of the audience by Monique Tobin.

For more information about the Riddle Fence Art Fair, please contact Shoshanna Wingate at shoshanna@riddlefence.com

THE ABBIE TABLE is the illuminated manuscript version of the story "Growing Up, Up In Cove" by Abbie Ellis Whiffen. It is currently on display at CNS at Memorial's Queen Elizabeth ll Library

The Queen Of Paradise's Garden childrens puppet show will be performed at Memorial University's Reid Theatre 2pm Tuesday May 17th.

The Queen Of Paradise's Garden childrens puppet show will be performed at Harbourfront Centre's Harbour Kids Circus in Toronto on May 21st, 22nd and 23rd, and at Peterborough's Market Hall on May 24th

January 16th thru February 19th, Andy Jones will be resident artist at The Eastern Edge Galley on Harbour Drive. He and visual artist Peter Breckon and the members of the "Growing Up, Up In Cove" Collective will be dispaying (and finishing) the "Abbie Table", an installation in which the story of family life in the Newfoundland Salt-Fishery is told in an illustrated manuscript written and painted on to the surface of a 10 foot long table. The text is from Abbie Ellis Whiffen's memoir entitled "Growing Up, Up In Cove".

The Films On The Go Screening Tour takes the acclaimed films of the St. John's International Women's Film Festival and brings them to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The FOTG Tour promotes the work of women filmmakers and provides access to their work for communities outside of St. John's. This year the line-up included the award-winning short film The Magnificent Molly McBride, starring Andy Jones and Julia Kennedy.

The Films On The Go 2010 Schedule included the following dates:
August 10-11: Beaches Heritage Theatre (Eastport)
August 13: Fogo Island Film House (Shorefast Premises, Fogo Island Central), August 14: St Patrick's Parish Hall (Tilting)
August 19-20: Garrick Theatre (Bonavista)
August 27-28: Interpretation Centre (Cape St. Mary's)
September 2-3: Woody Point Heritage Theatre (Woody Point)
September 7-8: College of the North Atlantic (Stephenville)
September 9-10: Arts and Culture Centre (Corner Brook)
September 14-15: Arts and Culture Centre (Gander)
September 16-17: Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts (Grand Falls- Windsor)
September 23: Culture Days Screening - Johnson Geo Centre (St. John's)
September 30-October 1: Lawrence O'Brien Arts Centre (Happy Valley - Goose Bay)

Andy is part of an initiative to encourage the publishing of plays written by NL playwrights. As part of this project, a website has been established to eventually list all NL plays, their authors and production histories and EVENTUALLY eventually make the actual scripts available. He is working on this project with Dr. Denyse Lynde of Memorial University and Mark Turner of U of T's Centre for the Study of Drama. The current website can be found at http://www.nlpp.wordpress.com

Andy Jones is delighted to announce that The Queen of Paradise's Garden, a traditional Newfoundland folktale adapted by Andy Jones and illustrated by Darka Erdelji, recently named to the International Youth Library's 2010 White Ravens list, has been shortlisted for the 2010 Bruneau Family Children's/Young Adult Literature Award. The award, one of the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards, celebrates excellence in writing for children and is presented biennially. The Queen of Paradise's Garden shares this nomination with Tom Dawe's Moocher in the Lun and Janet Russell's Bella's Tree. The awards will be announced at a special reception at Government House in St. John's on May 14th.

Andy and Darka Erdelji on CBC Radio's The Next Chapter discussing The Queen of Paradise's Garden:
Listen to the full podcast here (including interviews with George Elliott Clarke, Jennifer McLagan, Hannah Sung)

The program aired on CBC Radio 1 Monday, October 12th and replayed Saturday, October 17th at 4:30 (4:00 on the mainland).

Andy was named Memorial University's writer in residence for Fall 2009.
A resource for both the university and the larger community, the Writer-in-Residence meets with individuals to discuss their writing, and the writing process.

Memorial's newspaper The Gazette wrote a feature about Andy's residency: http://today.mun.ca/news.php?news_id=4868

March 31st and April 1 , 2 3, 4, 5
Sunshine Theatre, Rotary Centre For The Arts, Kelowna - Showtimes TBA

 

To read about the book, click here.

 

Now available at Fred's Records, The Travel Bug (155 Water St.), and NIFCO for $20.00 plus tax
OR send $25.60 ($2.60 HST and $3.00 Shipping) to:
175 Gower St.
St. John's, NL
A1C 1P7

The DVD includes 3 films:
The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood (1986)
Dolly Cake (1976)
Congratulations (2000)
Plus commentary tracks for all films
and a photo gallery

If you haven't yet seen this movie, now's your chance. You won't regret it.

Begun in 1977 by Michael Jones and Andy Jones, and finally released in 1986, The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood was the first independent feature film to come out of Newfoundland.

A film unlike any other produced in Canada, both an epic struggle for an independent Newfoundland and a tall tale about one man's increasingly precarious view of reality. Faustus Bidgood is a polyester-clad milquetoast functionary in the provincial Department of Education who, in alternating fantasies, imagines the gory murder of his tormenting co-workers, and dreams himself President on the People's Republic of Newfoundland. Along the way there are murders, angels, mental hospitals, Mephistopheles, a love triangle, a birth in the rafters above the stage for the annual government employee's benefit concert for crippled children, a film within the film and another film within that film, blackmail, a bizarre theory of total education and more!

Written, Produced, and Directed by:
Michael Jones and Andy Jones

Featuring: ANDY JONES, GREG MALONE, ROBERT JOY, MARY WALSH, TOMMY SEXTON, CATHY JONES, BRYAN HENNESSEY, BRIAN DOWNEY, MAISIE RILLIE, BENI MALONE, JUDY PARSONS, MARY WHITTEN, NELSON PORTER, BAS JAMIESON, GERRY CURNEW, VAL RYAN, JANE DINGLE.....and HUNDREDS more!

A PUPPET SHOW for All Ages
A Traditional Newfoundland Fairy Tale
Told by ANDY JONES
With Puppets by DARKA ERDELJI
Available for private parties, corporate events and schools! Great for Christmas parties.
call 691.9923

The show has been performed since JANUARY 3rd and 4th, 2009, at schools on the Burin Peninsula, Woodland Elementary in Grand Falls, at the Fine Craft and Design Fair in St. John's, Gower St. United Church, as part of a 3 day storytelling festival, for Katimavik participants, in private homes, and at the interpretation centre on Signal Hill. Keep your eyes out for more shows in 2010.

 

"An Evening With Uncle Val has tons of laughs and radiates warmth…In Jones' capable hands, all the characters glow with charm. By the play's end, we know and love these people, especially the cantankerous Uncle Val…The actor himself is utterly engaging and draws us easily into his weird and wacky world."
-Paula Citron, The Globe and Mail

"It's funny, touching, poetic stuff and while it is, in so very many ways, an evening uniquely anchored in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is also an evening that speaks to all of us, thanks to the power of Jones' intellect and his gentle, shy charms."
-John Coulbourn, The Toronto Sun

"An Evening With Uncle Val is proof positive that the Newfoundland master has lost none of his ability to weave absorbing stories while tickling the collective funny bone…It's clever stuff, a unique window into the rich cultural traditions that make Newfoundland – and Andy Jones – so very special. Long may they both thrive."
-Robert Crew, The Toronto Star

 

by Andy Jones Directed by Lois Brown

“Andy Jones is so brilliant and heartwarming, you wish you could hold his words in your fingers like a string of worry beads.” That’s what Halifax critic Elissa Barnard said about Andy Jones’ performance in An Evening with Uncle Val.

 

How To Catch Rabbits in Wintertime is a collection of Andy's favourite personal anecdotes and Newfoundland stories. The performance is tailor-made for private and corporate events. Want a night of entertainment that's a little off the beaten path? Andy’s oddball brand of humour will bring the laughs. Book early to avoid being disappointed!

 

“Those waiting for the next wave of innovative Newfoundland sketch comedy can relax, it’s here. Daring, intelligent, edgy and beautifully performed, they’re the kind of troupe that makes people like me jealous and afraid. Definitely the next big thing to hit the national stage.”
      -- Mark Critch , This Hour Has 22 Minutes

“Gutbustingly funny! Bladder testing hilarity!”
                        -- Ed Riche, Rare Birds/ The Nine Planets

The Dance Party of Newfoundland are: Jonny Harris (Hatching, Matching and Dispatching/ Madly Off In All Directions), Steve Cochrane (Hatching, Matching and Dispatching /Rabbittown), Phil Churchill (Hatching, Matching and Dispatching/Rabbittown), and Dave Sullivan (National finalist for CBC’s Stand and Deliver).

www.myspace.com/dancepartycomedy

 

Written and performed by Jonathan Harris

Directed by Andy Jones

“…guts and a touch of craziness…this has the heat of lived experience”
                              -- Gordon Jones, The Telegram

“…A new style of comic genius!” -- Angela Antle, CBC Radio One

Andy Jones takes the director’s seat for a new work by one of St. John’s brightest young talents. Jonny Harris’ show Out of the Bog is a hilarious piece dealing mainly with a confused sense of belonging and a premature fear of dying. From there you will also see tirades against the medical industry, discussions with St. Peter, and a mini-epic about a pirate with irritable bowel syndrome. Fans of Andy Jones will probably see a similarity in Harris’ hairpin turns from the self-revealing to the philosophical to the absurd. Ideas flow from left field but still manage to say something about something you can’t quite put your finger on. Just as well – you might push right through. Booking now for 2008-2009.

For booking information, please contact andyjonesproductions@gmail.com