Join Leslie Elias, playwright, actress, musician, storyteller and drama director in the magical world of theater, fantasy and storytelling!

This participatory theater workshop will engage participants in a sampling of simple theater games, songs and creative movement. Elias, with her Native American drum and flute will get everyone up on their feet and having fun! Together, we’ll celebrate together the power of words, sounds , voices and our never ending imaginations!

Leslie Elias, artistic director of Grumbling Gryphons , an award-winning educational children’s theater, is a playwright, actress, storyteller and theater director who has been teaching drama in schools and public venues for 46 years. She is the 2023 recipient of the Connecticut Artist Fellowship Award and the 2018 Connecticut Arts Hero Award . In 2018 she additionally won the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council Culture Max Award for Arts Educator. Leslie has been delighting audiences with drama, movement, music and storytelling workshops and performances. Her participatory style engages all on a magical journey full of heroes, tricksters, and our never- ending imaginations!

Into the mix are masks, myths, rhythms, chants, dance, song and improvisational movement that gets her students and audiences up on their feet and fully engaged! With her flute, drum, and years of experience as an actress and director, Leslie inspires joy and interactive teamwork in timely environmental and multicultural stories filled with compassion, bravery, anti-bullying and healing messages. She trains actors of all ages, recently focusing on young people on the autism spectrum, helping them to build confidence as they navigate the challenges of life. Grumbling Gryphons, under her direction, won the 2003 Governor’s Art Award and has traveled throughout the US and abroad performing participatory shows based on environmental themes, mythology, poetry and folklore. Her plays, including

The Ghost Net: An Environmental Musical of The Sea has had an impact on many thousands of school children throughout Connecticut and beyond. She runs an annual Theater Arts Camp every summer in her hometown, Cornwall, CT.