Rainbow Fish

Marcus Pfister was born in 1960 in Bern, Switzerland, where he attended art school and trained as a graphic designer before turning to the creation of innovative children’s literature.  Published in 1992, The Rainbow Fish took the bestseller lists by storm. Now celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, more than thirty million copies have been sold worldwide in different formats, appearing in over fifty different languages.

Jim Morrow creates puppets for stage, television and film. He’s directed numerous shows for the Theatre, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Other Eric Carle Favorites; Leo Lionni’s Swimmy, Frederick, Inch by Inch; Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny as well as designed many others. A gifted performer, Jim has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. He serves as director of puppetry for Symphony Nova Scotia’s production of The Nutcracker, and frequently conducts master classes in puppetry in North America and abroad. Jim is Mermaid Theatre’s Artistic Director.

Steven Naylor has created the music for more than a dozen Mermaid shows, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Other Eric Carle Favourites; Stella, Queen of the Snow; Swimmy, Frederick, and Inch by Inch; Goodnight Moon & The Runaway Bunny and many others.  His many other professional activities include original film and television scores; contemporary music composition and performance; university teaching and curriculum development; and a long-term and museum installations.  Among her very favorite narrations would have to be for those little people in her family.international involvement with electroacoustic concert music.  Steven is Mermaid Theatre’s Artistic Advisor for Music and Sound Design.

Deborah Allen began her theatrical career in Halifax, NS as Neptune Theatre’s first apprentice in 1965.  Since then she has made a successful career as an actor, director, producer, radio broadcaster and voice specialist.  Deb toured with Mermaid Theatre’s production of The Journey in 1974, which played to First Nations communities throughout Nova Scotia.  Since that time she has had extensive experience in theatre, film, television and radio.  Deb has lent her voice to countless documentaries for the National Film Board, TVO, commercials and museum installations. Among her very favorite narrations would have to be for those little people in her family.

Don Brownrigg is a multi-award nominated musician, event planner, and theatre professional based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was the director of Neither Love Letters Nor Moonlight (2015), associate producer, production manager and stage manager of Mass (2014), and played the character Captain MacKenzie in Law & Order: Musical Victims Unit (2013).  Don joined Mermaid Theatre in 2016, and has now traveled with the company to China, Japan and Singapore.

Simon Rainville hails from Ontario, where he was born in Toronto and raised in Ottawa. Since graduating Ryerson University in 2003 he has travelled to Armstrong, BC to work with The Caravan Farm Theatre; to Newmarket, ON working with Resurgence; and to Halifax, NS, to work with Shakespeare By The Sea. He discovered puppetry and Mermaid in 2013, where he completed training with the Mermaid Institute of Puppetry Arts in the spring and joined the company in the fall.

Michael Venn is a graduate of the Sir Wilfred Grenfell College theatre program in Corner Brook, NL.  It was there that he earned the Andre Noble Award for outstanding achievement as well as a BFA in Acting.  Always striving to improve his craft, Michael went on to train as a circus performer at the Academy of Circus Arts in the UK and has entertained audiences all over England, Italy, Canada and the U.S.  Michael completed Mermaid Theatre’s Institute of Puppetry Arts training program in 2015 and joined the company as a touring performer shortly thereafter.