The Wilds by WONDERHEADS

Nearly 15 years ago Kate Braidwood and Andrew Phoenix met at art school in California, then found themselves in Portland working together on a theatre project involving masks. That collaboration eventually morphed into both a marriage and a unique company, WONDERHEADS, that specializes in physical theatre and “full body” mask work (essentially, the actors wear oversize heads). Their celebrated debut was Grim and Fischer, a haunting tale about an old woman being stalked by Death; the story and the performance style created a sensation and turned them into Fringe Festival superstars. That two-person play solidified what Braidwood calls their “live-action Pixar” aesthetic: wordless performance combining a child-like whimsicality with darkness and adult themes. Although some people believe that the WONDERHEADS do children’s theatre, critics have compared their work with the movies of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Wes Anderson, and David Lynch. Others have called it “living animation” and praise the emotional depth and power of their storytelling.

They are currently touring the award-winning The Wilds, which the Winnipeg Free Press called “nothing short of exceptional” and was described by the CBC as “captivating and magical.” The narrative, a moving story of love, loss and hope, follows Wendell on a quest to find his wife, Tilda, and their cherished tree, both of which have vanished into another realm. It is up to Wendell to venture into “the Wilds” and face its mysteries in order to bring them home. Complete with a soundtrack by L.A.’s The Singer and the Songwriter and some evocative projections, Wilds takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster .  .  . without a single word being spoken. “We’ve always been all-mask but now we’re moving into puppetry too because it expands what we can do,” explains Phoenix. Adds Braidwood, “We convey everything with visual cues, plus our style is to expand the fantasy element anyway. We get at the heart of a scene with images instead of words.”