Shadow Theatre in Vancouver Canada

Mind of a Snail is a shadow puppetry duo currently based out of Vancouver BC.  Since 2003, Chloé Ziner and Jessica Gabriel have been developing a multilayered style of visual storytelling using overhead projectors as their main light source. Their performances play at the intersection of puppetry, visual arts, clowning & music. As artistic collaborators, they are interested in exploring beyond the boundaries of traditional theatre, and creating magical immersive experiences for their audiences. Mind of a Snail’s shadow theatre is like an early animation created live before your eyes.

They have created work for many organizations, including Vancouver Art Gallery, Telus World of Science, Persephone Theatre, and Pacific Rim Whale Festival to name a few. They have also performed in arts festivals across Canada, highlights include Winterlab (Victoria), Summerworks (Toronto), rEvolver (Vancouver), Casteliers (Montreal), FIAMS (Saguenay) and (S)hiver Arts Festival (Yukon). In the spring of 2017 they toured their show “Caws & Effect” across Taiwan to the International Festival of the Arts in Taipei, Tainan Arts Festival & Taitung Arts Festival. In 2019 “Caws & Effect” was presented at the Puppeteers of America National Festival in Minneapolis, MN.

Mind of a Snail’s latest show, “Multiple Organism” won a 2018 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, Critic’s Choice for Innovation.  Multiple Organism won the Artistic Risk Award, Cultch-ivating the Fringe Award, Critic’s Choice and Pick of the Fringe at Vancouver Fringe in 2017; and was also awarded “Best English Production” by Centaur Theatre at Montreal Fringe in 2019.  Mind of a Snail was nominated for Outstanding Projection Design at the SATAwards in Saskatoon for their work in Persephone Theatre’s production of “Matchstick”. Their show “Against Gravity” was presented as part of the Summerworks National Series in 2014, and also received the Vancouver Fringe Festival’s Joanna Maratta Award in 2013.