An unlikely friendship, an enchanting tale...

Posted on 13 Feb 2017

Stop Press

On the furthest edge of a wind-battered rock there sits a small fishing town. Sometimes it feels like the town is on the edge of the world. That’s mainly because it is.

Dylan lives with his grandma, forbidden from venturing beyond the shore. But the terrifying tales told of horrors in the deep only whet his appetite - he stares at the ocean and dreams. 

Can one unlikely friendship save the Town On The Sea from catastrophe?

Paper Balloon present a magical new show for families, a mix of innovative puppetry, exciting storytelling, live music and tea drinking!

The Boy and the Mermaid is Paper Balloon Theatre’s third touring piece for families. Inspired by the humanitarian refugee crisis on Europe’s shores, this new play uses the sea shanty tradition to explore how communities and relationships are affected by 'otherness', through a childhood friendship against the odds. The Boy and the Mermaid provides a human face to difficult statistics and distant shores, allowing children to empathise with different characters and people, and to laugh at difficult things.

Since 2012 Paper Balloon have toured to theatres across the South East, the UK and Moscow, making work with artists from around the world including the US, Russia, New Zealand and Australia. 

Paper Balloon tell new and exciting stories to children, in the most interesting and accessible ways. The Boy and The Mermaid is a mash-up of live music, puppetry, storytelling and physical theatre. 

The Boy and the Mermaid has been supported with public funding from Arts Council England and by private donations through IndieGoGo.  The piece has been developed with support from Half Moon Theatre, Astor Theatre, the Unicorn Theatre, Quarterhouse, Horsebridge Arts and Community Centre, Discover Children’s Story Centre and the Artworks’ Elephant.