"WONDERFUL!" HANS premieres at Luminato Festival 2025!

Posted on: Thursday, June 19, 2025

HANS: My Life in Fairy Tales just premiered, and the reviews are unanimous:

“A LOVELY TYA play full of puppets
and age-appropriate silliness”
– Aisling Murphy of The Globe and Mail

“The best of Luminato’s theatre, Hans: My Life in Fairy Tales is the PERFECT show for families... a feel-good story filled with HUMOUR and HEART.”
– NEXT Magazine

“Thoroughly ENTERTAINING and CHARMING, and I loved the mix of visual/technological elements with the live work of the actors, as well as their skilled and heartfelt clowning…”
– Karen Fricker, Intermission Magazine

“Each story is framed with clarity, humour, some cool magical elements and really BEAUTIFUL atmosphere... and the actors are soooooo good and charming! Don’t hesitate and grab your tix!”
– Instagram post from @markhom87

“It was AMAZING!”
– 8-year old audience member

Kidoons, WYRD Productions and The 20K Collective are thrilled that our fourth family production, HANS: My Life in Fairy Tales, had a wonderful world premiere June 14-15 2025 at Young People's Theatre in Toronto as part of the Luminato Festival!

A cast of Astrid Atherly, Annie Luján, and Adam Paolozza bring to life 6 of Andersen's beloved fairy tales, within his life story. The creative team includes Aidan Ware (Lighting Design), Irina Litvinenko (Multimedia Design), Melanie McNeill (costumes, props, and puppets), and a score composed by Canadian icon Alexina Louie. Written and directed by Craig Francis and Rick Miller.

Thanks and congrats to the entire team at Luminato, YPT, Kidoons and WYRD Productions!