Timpview’s theater program is excited to be the first high school to perform The Woodsman. This will be the spring show, and it is a movement-based play that explores the backstory of how Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz came to be. The Woodsman is unique to other productions in that it is almost entirely wordless, with the exception of a five minute monologue to set the stage, two short songs, and one line during the play. It instead includes a violinist playing for the duration of the show, with some vocal effects from the cast, and tells the rest of the story through movement and puppetry.
The Woodsman is a theatrical retelling of the Tin Man’s origin from L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and was written by James Ortiz with music composed by Edward Harding and lyrics by Jennifer Loring. The story follows Nick Chopper, a kind and hardworking woodsman who falls in love with a young munchkin girl named Nimmee. Nimmee, however, is enslaved by the Wicked Witch of the East who forbids her to fall in love with Nick. To further prevent their relationship, the witch curses Nick’s axe, causing it to chop off his limbs one by one. As he replaces each lost limb with tin prosthetics, he slowly loses his humanity and becomes unrecognizable from his former self, both physically and internally.
Timpview is fortunate enough to be the first ever high school to do this production, but the path to securing the rights was anything but conventional. Timpview’s Drama teacher and director of The Woodsman, Kennedy Shanklin Napierski, persistently reached out to the creators every day on social media, asking for the rights to the music. After months of asking, they finally gave in, granting Timpview the opportunity to perform this production for the first time ever in a high school setting. Napierski is thrilled to share a piece that “is an immersive experience with live music, ensemble storytelling, and technical elements that bring you into the world of Munchkinland.” Napierski hopes to introduce Timpview and the community to a fresh and new theatrical experience.
Performances will run from April 14th-19th, with tickets available for purchase online later in March.
