Your students’ favorite stories told in a surprising new way!

Run time: 70 minutes, followed by a post-show discussion featuring Jennifer Armstrong

Jack and the Magic Bagpipe (performed with an actual bagpipe)

Instead of magic beans, Jack trades the family cow for, you guessed it, bagpipes. When his mother throws him out, Jack sets out to learn to play the pipes and has many adventures along the way. The repeated phrase is “follow your heart but use your head”. In the end he lives happily ever after.

The Gingerbread Man (with Limberjack)?

Told with the dancing puppet. Actually, a Limberjack, not a puppet. Your students will never forget this one.

I Bet You Can’t Guess Who This Guy Is (with fiddle)

A father teaches his sons to live so that they will be loved and remembered. The two older brothers grow rich and powerful but they are hated and feared. The youngest brother lives an unremarkable life as a Woodcutter (have you guessed who he is yet?) until the day he bursts into a cabin to save a little girl and her grandmother from a horrible villain. He is loved and remembered to this day. (OK, so you guessed who this guy is, but don’t tell the kids, it ruins the surprise.)

Abi Yo Yo (with banjo)?

A classic re-telling of an African Folk Tale in which a little boys banjo playing saves the village from the giant.

Twins in a Cradle?

A beautiful story told with a handkerchief that creates the “twins in a cradle” and ends with a sweet lullaby.

Jennifer Armstrong

Accomplished on several instruments (including bagpipes, banjo, guitar, fiddle and many others), Jennifer has spent a lifetime involved in “folk arts”. She works as an artist-in-residence and performer in schools, libraries, theaters and festivals around the country. She’s been featured at the National Storytelling Festival, and on National Public Radio, performed throughout North America and Asia, and has seven award winning recordings of music and stories as well as two children’s books.

Jennifer Armstrong has performed at The Public Theatre for seven seasons as the Fiddler for A Christmas Carol. At TPT she also performed her one-person shows: Womansong, Black Cats and Pumpkins, Earth Day Celebration and Four Cinderellas. Check out her website at JenniferArmstrong.com.