The Old Man and The Old Moon
Written by PigPen Theatre Co.
a Loyola University Chicago production
Directed by Emily Rittger
Jennifer Hessel
Production Dramaturg
DeRon S. Williams
Dramaturgy Supervisor
Written by PigPen Theatre Company
PigPen Theatre Company began as a group of freshman college students at Carnegie Melon University in 2007, and the ensemble of 7 men have continued to grow and develop new works produced across the country. Much of their creative work involves individuals pitching ideas for different shows and stories. The group will then work collaboratively to develop those ideas. When asked what they would like audiences to walk away with after witnessing a performance of The Old Man and the Old Moon, they said ”a life-affirming sense of wonder and potential.”
If you want to learn more bout the storytelling strategies of this company and the significance of their theatrical style, click the video to the right
Production History
PigPen Theatre Company has toured nationally and became the first company to win the top honor for a play at the New York City International Fringe Festival two years in a row. The troupe has performed in Chicago as well as New York’s Barrow Street Theatre, the Boston Center for the Arts, and the Irondale Center in Brooklyn. The Old Man and the Old Moon debuted Off-Broadway in 2012 at the The Gym at Judson before going on to be performed in Chicago and various regional theatres across the country in the following years. The show had its West Coast premiere in 2017 with a run at Old Globe in San Diego.
”The Old Man has kept his post as the sole caretaker of the moon for as long as he (or his wife, the Old Woman) can remember. When she is drawn away by a mysterious melody sparking memories of their shared past, the Old Man must decide between duty (and routine) and love (and adventure). Luckily for audiences everywhere, he chooses the latter, and what follows is an imaginative sea-faring epic, encompassing apocalyptic storms, civil wars, leviathans of the deep, and cantankerous ghosts, as well as the fiercest obstacle of all: change.“
Bremen Short Film
This animated short film, produced by PigPen, serves as a companion piece and introduction to The Old Man and the Old Moon. It introduces audiences to the "magical world" found in The Old Man and the Moon and is directed and animated by Brandon Roots with character design by Wylie Beckert.
Sea Shanties!
Shanties are work songs sung aboard ships and boats. The word shanty, referring to this kind of song, turns up in the 1850s in the context of shipboard singing. No one initially called them “SEA shanties,” which would have been unnecessary: only seagoing work songs, it seems, were called “shanties” back then.
The Sailors
Life at sea during the age of sail was filled with hardship. Sailors had to accept cramped conditions, disease, poor food and pay, and bad weather.
Over a period of hundreds of years, seafarers from the age of the early explorers to the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, shared many common experiences. Men working at sea had much to endure; cut off from normal life on shore for months, even years, they had to accept cramped conditions, disease, poor food and pay. Above all, they faced the daily dangers of sea and weather.
Click on the button below for more information about sailors’ experiences in the age of sail.
Folk Music
This genre is defined as a type of traditional and generally rural music originally passed down through oral tradition in families and other small social groups.
Some important characteristics of this style include the individual creation that is then taken up by folk culture and the process of community re-creation. It ordinarily does not exist in a standard form, so performances may feature different variants of the same song.
Transmission of folk music is not an isolated process, but one intertwined with other kinds of musical transmission.
Life at Sea
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Captains maintain ultimate authority and responsibility for the safety of the people and goods on a ship. As an elected position, the Captain has the respect of his entire crew and someone who shows unique talent in commanding and navigating the ship.
First mate had rank just below the Captain. He would take control of the ship if the Captain could not perform his duties any longer. Served as the captain’s right hand man.
Officers keep watch over the bridge and supervise ship activities when the captain is off-duty. There is a status gap between common sailors and officers.
Quartermasters stand watch as assistants to the Officers. They serve as helmsmen and perform ship control, navigation, and bridge watch duties.
Ship engineers look after their vessel’s propulsion and environmental systems, such as electrical, ventilation and refrigeration.
Boatswains were junior officers. They were people who supervised all activities on a ship. Depending on the size of the ship and crew, they could have one or several duties.
Sailors and ordinary mariners need no formal education and receive most of their training on the job. Officers and engineers typically have a bachelor’s degree from a merchant marine academy and rise through the ship crew ranks with experience.
Cooks were not professional chefs since this position was often served by an ordinary crew member who is assigned the position.
You can find more detailed information at this link
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Although everyone will remember it differently years later, a long, wet, cold sail through a storm can be miserable. As the skipper, you need to make the best of it: watch over your crew, offer relief or help to those who need it, and speak a few words of encouragement to all. “This is miserable, but it will end.”
Take the time to marvel at the forces of nature, and at your ability to carry on in the midst of the storm. Few people get to experience the full fury of a storm. It may not be pleasant, but it is memorable.
While misery and discomfort can eventually lead to fatigue, diminished performance, and even danger, do not mistake one for the other. Distinguish in your own mind the difference between misery and danger. Don’t attempt a dangerous harbor entrance to escape misery; that would compromise the safety of the boat and crew, just to avoid a little discomfort.
For more information about strategies sailors used to sail through or around storms visit this link:
More information can be found here: How to Sail Through a Storm
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Seafaring has frequently been reported to be a ‘risky occupation’ in terms of both physical and mental health. Individuals working in seafaring professions are exposed to various stressors in the workplace, including social isolation, exposure to poor physical conditions and long work hours.
Want to learn more? Here is a link to a study about the Wellbeing of Maritime Personnel
Object Puppetry
Object puppet is a term sometimes used to describe characters that are created from found objects. All puppets can be classified as ‘object theatre’, but these are characters made from a single object such as a hairbrush, fork, or a pair of binoculars.
If you want more detailed information, click the button below:
Glossary
Port (adj.)
facing forward, this is anything to the left of the boat
Starboard (adj.)
facing forward, this is anything to the right of the boat
Bow/Stern (n.)
Bow is the front of the boat while stern is the back,
Point of Sail (n.)
the boat’s direction relative to the wind
Helm (n.)
the place where one steers the boat
Keel (n.)
long, heavy fin at the bottom of the boat, provides stability preventing capsizing
Heeling (v.)
when a sailboat leans over in the water, pushed by the wind
Windward (adj.)
side of the boat closest to the wind
Mainsail (n.)
large triangular sail just aft of the sailboat’s mast, largest and most important sail
Fable (n.)
a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral
Tack
(verb) to change direction of the boat by turning the bow of the boat through the wind; (noun) the course you are on relative to the wind
Leeward (n.)
the side of the boat furthest from the wind
Dregs (n.)
the most worthless part, or parts, of something
Naval Infantry (n.)
part of an army that fights in the name of a country’s navy
Jibe (v.)
another way of changing direction by bringing the stern of the boat through the wind
Lines (n.)
a term to refer to “ropes”
Jib (n.)
next most common sail on any boat; can always be found forward of the mast and doesn’t have a boom
Dirigible (n.)
a steerable, self-propelled aircraft with a balloon or balloon-like structure that’s filled with lighter-than-air gas such as helium or hydrogen