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Purple Crayon Players Presents: Ash & Feather


Ash & Feather: A Bird/Girl and Her Father’s Cancer began as a podcast in Summer 2020, and now has a new life in this Zoom staged reading with Northwestern University’s Purple Crayon Players!


WATCH LIVE ON ZOOM THIS SATURDAY 10/24, 12-2pm PST

GET YOUR FREE TICKETS HERE!


About the Story: An American family, two dads and their daughter, Phoenix, take a journey through brain cancer. Poetry, songs and fables enrich Phoenix’s internal sense of self. She rises from the ashes of hardship, where cancer becomes a minor character in her story.


Festival Workshop Videos below include:

  • Emotion Dance with Paint and Music Workshop, led by author Sharon Frances

  • Breathe In, Breathe Out: Yoga with Autumn

  • Fight, Flight or Freeze: Creative Activities with Lauren

  • What Animal Would You Be? Drawing Workshop

  • Let’s Create a Fable Together!


Join Sharon Frances, the director of Well Beings Studio and playwright of Ash and Feather, to paint your emotions! Work with any markers, watercolors, paints, or art supplies you have around the house. 

We would love to see your beautiful paintings! Send them to us at: PlaygroundTYAfestival@gmail.com


YOGA: Calm your body with our special guest, Autumn! Movement like yoga can help you release your emotions physically, and is a practice that Phoenix and Hen use throughout the show. As Autumn explains in this awesome video, it’s good for your body to turn raw emotions into positive energy and intentions. Come move with us!



BODY RESPONSE: Fight! Flight! Freeze! How does your body respond to something frightening, sudden, or dangerous? Do a little exercise with our friend Lauren, a member of the Purple Crayon Players education team, to find out! Up on your feet!



ANIMALS: If you could be part animal, what animal would you be? What does that say about you? How would your animal parts help with everyday life? Let’s draw it! Grab some paper, pencils, crayons, and your thinking cap, and join Lauren for this fun project! 



MAD LIB FABLE: Fables are short stories that often contain a message. Today we’re going  to use the framework of the fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” to create our own fable, Mad Libs style! Join Casey, who plays Duck, and Lauren to learn more about storytelling, Aesop, morals, and more!

A BIG THANK YOU! TO PURPLE CRAYON PLAYERS FOR BREATHING LIFE INTO ASH AND FEATHER!

Remember, “Ash and Feather” premieres THIS SATURDAY, October 24th, Noon-2pm PST. Don’t miss it! Reserve your free ticket here!

For more on the story of Ash & Feather, why Sharon wrote the play, more family activities, and the podcast, visit our page.


If your organization would like to stage a reading, scenes or the full play of Ash & Feather, please contact us!



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