Darwin the Dinosaur

For the past several years the Walking With Dinosaurs live show has been enthralling audiences around the world with its life-size dinosaur puppets, but next week will see the opening of another impressive dino-spectacle that will soon be touring the United States.

Called "Darwin the Dinosaur," the show is more concerned with good storytelling than scientific accuracy. After a scientist creates a dinosaur named "Darwin," he quickly learns that he needs to give his predatory creation a heart. Darwin then meets a variety of other creatures, including another dinosaur who is not so friendly to the scientist who made Darwin. (There is even, believe it or not, a dinosaur lightsaber battle.) And the best part? The entire play is done in the dark. All of the characters are puppets made out of glowing wires, an artistic feat that is more difficult than it might sound at first.

The play will open on October 3 in Kansas, eventually followed by a national tour. I can't wait to see it.

Riley Black | | READ MORE

Riley Black is the author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and many other books. She is a science correspondent for Smithsonian magazine covering fossils and natural history, and she writes about the prehistoric past for a variety of publications.