March 25, 2021

Vale PETER WILSON

After a long battle with cancer, Lyndon Peter Wilson, known to all as Peter, died peacefully at home in Paekakariki on Monday 22 March 2021.

Peter’s death notice in The Dominion Post includes this from his wife, Cathryn:

Breathe and laugh easy now my darling –
artist, dancer, puppet master, storyteller…
Life long champion for the best theatre possible
for children of all ages.

A service to farewell Peter will be held at St Peter’s Village Hall, Beach Road Paekakariki, on Friday 26 March at 11am.

[Drawn from the Little Dog Barking website – with links to Theatreview reviews]
Peter Wilson was the founding artistic director of the Capital E National Theatre for Children. Whilst with them he created many popular early childhood programs, including: The Farm at the End of the Road, Seasons, On Our Street, Songs of the Sea, Kiwi Moon, Tale of a Dog,  With Footnote Dance he created Into the REM Zone; with About Face Productions he created Boxes.

Peter established Little Dog Barking Theatre in 2010 with the vision for the company to create original theatre productions specifically for our very young audiences. This has been successfully achieved for over 10 years; where the thrill and magic of live theatre has been taken into hundreds of Primary Schools and Early Childhood Centres.

Their productions are aimed at Early Childhood and Lower Primary School aged groups (generally 2-8 years). They make the performances intimate and accessible by bringing them to your location. This means smaller audiences and children are in their familiar environments creating greater opportunity for participation in the performances.

Paper Shaper was created originally by Capital E then revived by Little Dog Barking. Both companies collaborated on his Little Kowhai Tree.

Little Dog Barking productions reviewed on Theatreview include: Duck Death and the Tulip, Guji Guji, Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, Twinkle, Black Dog, The Pond and Turn On the Light.

The last show Peter co-devised with Kenny King was Circle of Life, performed this year as part of the TAHI Festival 2021.

Seasons is about the be revived at Circa Theatre in the April school holidays.

In 2016 The Dominion Post published this feature on Peter.