National
PUPPET HAPPENINGS:
New York Adult | New York Family | National | Puppetry Festivals | Museum Exhibits | Professional Classes
* Subscribe to the Puppet Happenings Newsletter and receive a weekly email of Puppet Happenings highlights every Friday. *
Puppet Happenings does not list puppet slams occurring outside of New York City. Please visit the Puppet Slam Network to learn more about puppet slams throughout the United States, supported by IBEX Puppetry and Heather Henson.
Phantom Loss *
Oanh Vu
In the Heart of the Beast
1500 E Lake St
Minneapolis, MN
hobt.org/event/phantom-loss/
Thuy’s life is upended when her mother, Hai, moves them to a small town to run a nail salon. Hai is excited for their new life, but Thuy hates it. Her mother is stressed and works all the time, while Thuy feels out of place and alone. Even worse, the nail salon and their house above it may be haunted. And it is! Luckily, she discovers that the lingering spirit is a dopey ghost named Chicken. Thuy and Chicken become fast friends, but their time is cut short when Chicken reveals a dark secret, which leads them to becoming contestants on a wacky game show in the underworld. The game show quickly devolves and the fun stops when Chicken's mysterious past comes to light. Described by Vu as a tragicomedy, the show weaves Vietnamese mythology and American pop culture to explore the impact of criminalized immigration and intergenerational trauma.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant (2023)
March 28 - April 7, 2024
Thursday March 28th, 7:30 pm (Preview - $15 tickets)
Friday March 29th, 7:30 pm (Opening Show)
Saturday March 30th, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm
Tuesday April 2nd, 7:30 pm (Pay what you can)
Thursday April 4th through Saturday, April 6, 7:30 pm
Sunday April 7th, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm (Closing Show)
$25
Frankenstein *
Manual Cinema
The Moore Theatre
1932 Second Ave
Seattle, WA
stgpresents.org/calendar/14376/manual-cinema-frankenstein
Back by popular demand! Manual Cinema's Frankenstein, the spectacular work of multi-media puppetry / live music / film / theater! Love, loss, and creation merge in unexpected ways as Manual Cinema presents its thrilling version of the classic Gothic tale Frankenstein. The Chicago-based performance collective imaginatively combines shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, sound effects, and live music in haunting shows like nothing else you’ve ever seen. Manual Cinema stitches together the classic tale of Frankenstein with the biography of the original novel’s author, Mary Shelley, to create an unexpected story about the beauty and horror of creation. The real-life and fictional narratives of Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankenstein’s monster expose how family, community, and education shape personhood – or destroy it by their absence.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant (2018)
April 3, 2024
7:30pm
$35
Spectrum: Society of Wonder *
Animal Cracker Conspiracy
Photo by: Bridget Rountree
La Jolla Playhouse Without Walls Festival
2910 La Jolla Village Dr
La Jolla, CA
lajollaplayhouse.org/wowfestival/
Four celestial entities have arrived to confront a mysterious force threatening to consume the very fabric of our existence. Using ancient star lore, the visitors conjure mythological beings to regenerate the Earth and guide humanity towards a luminous existence. Enlivened by a San Diego Symphony string quartet, this full-on puppetry spectacle from San Diego-based Animal Cracker Conspiracy channels the silly, supernatural and sublime, inviting us to appreciate the universe and our place in it.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2018) and Workshop Grant (2017)
April 4 - 6, 2024
April 4 at 8:30pm, April 5-6 at 8pm
Free
Tarish Pipkins a.k.a. Jeghetto: The Hip Hopera of 5P1N0K10 *
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Contemporary Arts Center
900 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Using music, video, and magical marionettes, the show spins the story to which its title and Jeghetto’s moniker refer into an Afrofuturist parable about a robot that longs to be a real B-boy in a post-apocalyptic future.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2018) and Workshop Grant (2017)
April 4 - 8, 2024
Song of the North *
Hamid Rahmanian
The Freud Playhouse
245 Charles E Young Dr E
Los Angeles, CA
kingorama.com/song-of-the-north
Song of the North is a mesmerizing large-scale, cinematic performance combining the manual art of shadow puppetry with projected animation to tell the courageous tale of Princess Manijeh, a heroine from ancient Persia. Our female hero uses her superpowers to rescue her beloved from a perilous predicament, and to prevent a war. Adapted from the Shahnameh (the national epic of Persia written over 1,000 years ago), Song of the North is created and directed by 2014 Guggenheim Fellow Hamid Rahmanian, and the original score is written and orchestrated by Loga Ramin Torkian, featuring vocalist Azam Ali. This dynamic, family-friendly production involving over 480 handmade puppets and described by Le Monde as bursting with “breathtaking fireworks of creativity” was presented to sold out audiences at Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2022.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2021)
April 5 - 7, 2024
Additional Dates:
April 5-7 - The Freud Playhouse,UCLA, Los Angeles CA
April 19-20 - OZ Arts Nashville, Nashville, TN
Book of Mountains and Seas *
Basil Twist
Bing Concert Hall at Stanford
327 Lausen St
Stanford, CA
live.stanford.edu/calendar/april-2024/book-mountains-and-seas
A daring new work by composer Huang Ruo and puppeteer/designer/director Basil Twist, Book of Mountains and Seas is a modern take on ancient Chinese creation myths, first transcribed in the 4th Century BC, yet strikingly relevant to our current struggle with climate change. An ensemble of massive puppets, as fanciful as they are terrifying, and the chorus of Ars Nova Copenhagen challenge us through music and stunning visual tableaux to consider the power of the natural world and our vital, yet tenuous, relationship to it.
April 6 - 7, 2024
Sat, April 6, 2024 at 7:30pm
Sun, April 7, 2024 at 2:30pm
Starting at $55
Happy Fall: A Queer Stunt Spectacular (Workshop) *
Rogue Artist Ensemble
Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N Sepulveda Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
skirball.org/programs/happy-fall-queer-stunt-spectacular
This in-process workshop of Rogue Artists Ensemble’s latest theatrical work in development, HAPPY FALL: A Queer Stunt Spectacular follows a queer closeted stuntman’s journey to discover himself in a world of faux masculinity, unmasking the importance and danger of being true to oneself. HAPPY FALL is based on true-life stories and direct testimonies, and illuminates issues of racial and cultural identity in Hollywood. This workshop will focus its exploration on stage stunts in preparation for its full production later in 2024.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant (2023)
April 12, 2024
8:00pm
$10
Happy Birthday, Mon Ami *
Alex & Olmsted
Black Cherry Puppet Theater
1115 Hollins St
Baltimore, MD
blackcherrypuppettheater.weebly.com/upcoming-events.html
World premiere production! Class, cultures, and expectations clash when Henri's American cousin Jack visits him in Paris for a birthday celebration. Winner of a 2024 Jim Henson Foundation family grant award, Happy Birthday, Mon Ami will premiere at Baltimore's renowned Black Cherry Puppet Theater.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant (2024)
May 30 - June 2, 2024
March Puppet Slams
The Puppet Slam Network
https://t.e2ma.net/message/buqwtk/3fiaplcc
Spearheaded by IBEX Puppetry and Heather Henson, the Puppet Slam Network provides funding and support to the growing community of puppet slams all over North America. The Puppet Slam Network fosters growth and diversity in puppetry through grant opportunities and community building. March Puppet Slams include Puppetqueers (Chicago), Dolly Wiggler Cabaret (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), Café Concret (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Puppet Slamwich (Baltimore), Outta Hand Puppet Slam (Portland, OR), UConn Spring Puppet Slam, and the Puppetzilla Puppet Slam (CA).
Tommy's Space Adventure - FAMILY
PuppetArt Theater
Great Arizona Puppet Theater
302 W Latham St
Phoenix, AZ
https://www.azpuppets.org/shows.php
Fun and excitement rule the show as Tommy must protect is alien buddy from the evil Dr. Lost N Space.
January 1 - December 31, 2024
$15 Adult / $10 Child
Magic Strings
Bob Baker Marionette Theater
Bob Baker Marionette Theater
4949 York Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
bobbakermarionettetheater.com/magic-strings
5 Puppeteers, 2 Miles of String, 60 Years of Mastering the Art…1 Unforgettable Show! Come join us for a visit to the magic world of strings, of puppeteers and balladeers, and the world that pleasure brings! Magic Strings whisks you away on a fantastic journey filled with wondrous stops along the way, inviting you to sled down frosty slopes in a winter wonderland or become a flâneur strolling Parisian streets with puppet pals! Run away to the place where imagination dwells, with Jack Frost, Chili Dog, and a whole crew of fanciful marionettes ready to excite and delight you. Featuring a variety of fan favorite numbers from throughout Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s 60-year history, Magic Strings celebrates the magic and joy of puppetry for all!
January 20 - April 7, 2024
10:30am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm
$25
Puppet Playtime - FAMILY
Harry LaCoste & Puppet Pals
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/01/23/puppet-playtime
Puppet Playtime is a fun, interactive performance experience designed for very young children and their grown ups. In each hour-long session, a friendly performer guides kids through free play, sing-a-longs, interactive stories, imagination games, and other activities. Puppet pals join in the fun all along the way. Puppet Playtime is a great introduction for toddlers to the experience of live performance. We provide a welcoming "lights-on" flexible environment for children and caretakers alike! Infants & preschoolers, with their grown-ups
January 23 - March 26, 2024
Tuesdays Jan 23 - Feb 13 | 10:00 - 11:00 am
Tuesdays Mar 5 - Mar 26 | 10:00 - 11:00 am
$16 / $120 for four week package for one adult and one child
The Emperor's New Clothes - FAMILY
Grey Seal Puppets
Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St NW at 18th
Atlanta, GA
puppet.org/programs/the-emperors-new-clothes/
What’s big and fat and pink and loves to dress up in fancy clothes? Give up? It’s the Emperor himself in Grey Seal Puppets’ clever adaptation of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Not only is this Emperor big, fat, and pink, he just happens to be a pig. The Hans Christian Andersen story takes on a whole new dimension as this classic is transformed into a fable. The crafty tailors are foxes; the prime minister a near-sighted camel; and the councilor is a befuddled old walrus. Even the audience takes part, as animals, of course. Children will recognize the Emperor as a vain ruler who easily falls for the tailors’ story about a magic cloth. Those who can see the cloth are smart and good at what they do. Those who can’t see the cloth are not fit for their jobs and should be fired. It takes the honesty of a child to see what they really are.
March 12 - 24, 2024
Tues-Fri, 10:00am & 11:30am
Sat, 11:00am, 1:00am, 3:00pm
Sun, 1:00pm & 3:00pm
Sensory-Friendly Sunday: March 17 - Guests with sensory sensitivities (such as Autism Spectrum Disorder) and other developmental differences are invited to enjoy the Center for Puppetry Arts in a fun, comfortable, and welcoming environment!
$22
Jack Rabbit & the Easter Basket - FAMILY
Great Arizona Puppet Theater
302 W Latham St
Phoenix, AZ
azpuppets.org/shows.php
Lost Canyon, Arizona is too far away for the Easter Bunny, so he gets his cousin, Jack Rabbit to help deliver Sally Johnson's Easter basket. But it's awful far and kind of dangerous! This charming musical is played with large rod puppets on the big stage! Recommended for ages 3 and up.
March 13 - 31, 2024
Sat 10am & 2pm, Sun 2pm
$15 Adult / $10 Child
The Forest of the Witch: Anatolian Shadow Theatre
Ayhan Hulagu
Texas Union Theatre at the University of Texas
2308 Whitis Ave
Austin, TX
liberalarts.utexas.edu/mes/events/the-forest-of-the-witch-anatolian-shadow-theatre
“The Forest of the Witch” is a traditional Anatolian shadow puppet show. It has been adapted from the 19th-century text “Bloody Poplar” with a contemporary interpretation, and the play centers around a universal theme. The protagonist Karagöz, who cuts down a tree growing in front of his house, encounters a surprise: the tree is magical, and from now on, nothing will be the same. The story includes iconic American characters and humorously conveys the importance of preserving nature and respecting differences. The characters are designed using the original techniques recognized in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inventory and are crafted through the embroidery of camel or buffalo skin, much like how it was done 700 years ago. These characters adorned with special paints, come to life in the play through the hands of a single artist, just like in the traditional art form. The play is created and performed by Ayhan Hulagu, who gained significant attention with his performances in international festivals and brought traditional Turkish theatre to Broadway for the first time in its history. This English-language performance is free and open to the entire UT community and to the public.
March 19, 2024
12:30pm - 1:30pm
Free
When I Put On Your Glove
Sandglass Theater
Waller Hall Main Theater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
S Foundry Ave
Indiana, PA
sandglasstheater.org/shows/current/when-i-put-on-your-glove
A piece about belonging, memory and inter-generational dialogue. For ages 14 and up. When I Put On Your Glove is a puppetry, dance and spoken narrative piece that explores a daughter’s relationship to her father’s work building upon a premise that puppets are containers of memory. In it, a daughter explores what it means for her to slip into her father’s art – and not just the form, but the actual pieces. This work addresses universal questions of belonging, childhood, fear of loss, death and the complicated nature of navigating generational artistic legacy. The passing of these puppets into new hands marks a pivotal moment of generational transition for Sandglass Theater. It is an engagement with what legacy means in the field of puppetry; how an art form endures and transforms as it is handed to the next generation; meeting the voice of the past with the voice of the present, and singing it into the future.
March 19, 2024
7:30pm
Additional dates:
March 29-30 - Hanover, NH
April 4 - Rockland, ME
Good Night, Mrs. Johnson: Process and Performance
Drew Allison, Grey Seal Puppets (Charlotte, NC)
Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St NW
Atlanta, GA
puppet.org/programs/process-and-performance/
Join celebrated puppeteer Drew Allison of Grey Seal Puppets to get a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a new piece of puppetry. You’ll follow the development of “Good Night, Mrs. Johnson” from proposal to production to performance, becoming one of the first audiences ever to see this work presented live (the winner of a?Smithsonian one-act play contest!).
March 20, 2024
7:00pm
$25
Used Doorknob Salesman
Toybox Theatre
Citizen Vinyl
14 O'Henry Ave
Asheville, NC
ashevillefringe.org/citizen-vinyl-shows/used-doorknob-salesmen-toybox-sat
Fan Favorite Toybox Theatre returns to The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival with a hilarious and bizarre new puppet play! In what might be the weirdest play yet, follow a duo of used door knob salesmen as they go door to door to peddle their wares! Not to be missed!!
March 21 - 23, 2024
Thursday at 9:00pm
Saturday at 7:00pm
$16
HUBBA HUBBA
Alex & Olmsted
Baltimore Theatre Project
45 W Preston St
Baltimore, MD
theatreproject.ticketspice.com/hubba-hubba-2
Created and performed by the Jim Henson Foundation grant award-winning Alex and Olmsted (Milo the Magnificent® and MAROONED! A Space Comedy) comes HUBBA HUBBA, a new show about romantic love that is “...equal parts awkwardness and side-splitting laughter” (Broadway World). Using puppetry and physical comedy, from the sublime to the ridiculous, Alex and Olmsted present love and all its quirks. Suitable for all ages!
March 21 - 31, 2024
$20
World Puppetry Day Celebration - ONLINE
UNIMA-USA & Puppeteers of America
Zoom
zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j0L0DQB0SBWuVm9DmiKpXw#/registration
March 21, 2024 is World Puppetry Day! This year, UNIMA-USA will again make a presentation for World Puppetry Day in tandem with our friends from Puppeteers of America. $UNIMA-USA will announce this year's scholarship winner, give individual awards to some of our most consistently dedicated and impactful members, award Citations of Excellence to select puppetry productions of note and present the Nancy Staub Publication Award to writers who have advanced and illuminated puppetry with their works.
March 21, 2024
7:00 PM EST, followed by the Puppeteers of America at 8:00 PM EST
Free - advance registration required
2024 UConn Spring Puppet Slam
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and UConn Puppet Arts Program
Photo by: Stringpullers Puppet Company
von der Mehden Recital Hall
875 Coventry Rd
Storrs, CT
https://bimp.uconn.edu/2024/02/22/2024-spring-slam/
The UConn Spring Puppet Slam will feature new and experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around the Northeast, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students; music by Derek Waldron, Teresa Bielecki and other musicians from Waldron’s Studios 88; and the coveted BIMPY Awards. UConn Puppet Arts alumna Stoph Scheer will present “Sharing Update,” a comedic hand-and-rod puppet monologue in which an aging Long Island father processes his child's trans identity through his limited vocabulary. The Ithaca, New York based Stringpullers Puppet Company (Linda Wingerter and Evgeni Nudelman) will perform a sock-puppet romantic comedy, “Galaxy Laundromat.” The UConn Spring Puppet Slam will also feature new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Funding for the UConn Spring Puppet Slam is made possible, in part, by the Puppet Slam Network. These performances are recommended for mature audiences.
March 22, 2024
8:00 PM
Free (donations greatly appreciated)
The Dragon's Laugh + Other Tales
Midnight Radio Show
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/03/23/the-dragons-laugh-and-other-tales
Join "bona fide fairy princess" Charlotte Lily Gaspard for enchanting original fairytales and songs by Midnight Radio Show! Shadow puppetry breathes life into these delightful short stories of adventure and friendship. In one story, a dragon and a fairy become friends, although their families disapprove. Complications ensue, and the new-found companions must go on a quest together as they prove that friendship can be found anywhere and with anyone. Puppet Showplace Theater is thrilled to have Midnight Radio Show on our stage for the first time! All ages welcome, especially enjoyed by ages 5-10. Shadow puppetry and music.
March 23 - 24, 2024
10:30am & 1:00pm
$16
Two Dinosaurs are Better than One
Talking Hands Theatre
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
1 Royce Cir
Storrs, CT
bimp.ticketleap.com/dressed/
As part of the 2024 Spring Puppet Show Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is excited to welcome back Anna Sobel of Talking?Hands?Theatre of Western Massachusetts to perform Two Dinosaurs are Better than One! The performance will replace The Gottabees performance, which was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Meet different kinds of dinosaurs from the Jurassic Era and find out what the dinosaurs plan to do about that big carnivore, Allosaurus, who is pushing everyone else around! Catchy, original songs and bright tabletop puppets make this show fun for the whole family. The show runtime is approximately 40 minutes.
March 23, 2024
11 am EST
Adults $12 / Members & Seniors $10 / Students $8 / Kids $6 (12 years and under)
World Puppetry Day Party - ONLINE
Puppets in Prague
Zoom
puppetsinprague.eu/service-page/world-puppetry-day-party-free
An informal meeting of puppeteers around the world where you can check in with friends, give us updates on your work and give us feedback on our new book! Celebrate World Puppetry Day by meeting the skeletons made in our Skeleton Workshop! Plus students in our Automata workshop will show their latest creations.
March 23, 2024
5-6 pm CET / 12-1 pm EST
Free
The Legend of the Banana Kid - FAMILY
Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
Mayo Street Arts
10 Mayo St
Portland, ME
tickettailor.com/events/mayostreetarts/1121112
Little Chucky heads to the Wild West to outwit outlaws in this cowboy adventure! With a fistful of bananas, Chucky rides into town on his trusty goat for a showdown with Big Bad Bart and his gang of bandits. (*please note that there are no guns in the show). Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers is a puppetry troupe based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Founded in 2000, Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers has performed at festivals, schools, libraries and theatres in the United States and Canada. They write and create all the shows they perform and have received three Citations of Excellence from UNIMA-USA, the highest national award in puppetry.
March 23, 2024
2:00pm
Puppeteers' Happy Hour w/ Special Guest Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
Saturday, Mar 23 at 3:30pm
World Puppetry Day at Great Arizona Puppet Theater
Great Arizona Puppet Theater
302 W Latham St
Phoenix, AZ
facebook.com/events/1424050101871355/
To celebrate 2024’s annual World Puppetry Day, the Great Arizona Puppet Theater (GAPT) will host an all-day event on March 24th, 2024. This “pay-what-you-can” event, open for the public from 11 am-3 pm, will feature offerings for youth and adult audiences alongside food and refreshments. In addition to this, there will be an evening screening of Heather Henson's Handmade Puppet Dreams Vol. VII in collaboration with Reel Puppetry Film Festival. This part of the event is aimed primarily at adults and will begin at 6 pm. “In a world of constant change, it is the storytellers that help us make sense of it all,” said Executive Director Jeffrey Lazos-Ferns. “This year, GAPT is joining the global voices of puppetry worldwide to celebrate and honor this ancient art form. “ Alongside multiple puppet show performances, arts and crafts stations will open throughout the day, and puppet-making workshops will be scheduled for children and adults. Phoenix Mariachi Vive, a youth mariachi music group, will be performing. Phoenix Mayor's Office Official Historian Steve Schumacher will speak about Phoenix History projects and announce a Phoenix History Project collaboration with The Great Arizona Puppet Theater.
March 24, 2024
Stellaluna - FAMILY
Based on the book by Janell Cannon, Adapted and Directed by Jon Ludwig
Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St NW at 18th
Atlanta, GA
puppet.org/programs/stellaluna-2/
Accidentally dropped by her mother, the helpless baby fruit bat, Stellaluna, falls into a nest of bird fledglings. The baby birds graciously accept her as one of the family—as long as she acts like a bird and doesn’t confuse her adoptive siblings. Stellaluna does her best, but she still likes to fly at night and sleep hanging upside. Stellaluna’s adventures continue until one day, she gets separated from her bird family and is discovered by other bats sleeping with her head up. As the bats gather to see this unusual creature, Stellaluna is joyfully reunited with her mother. It is a classic tale of differences and similarities and how with acceptance and respect “..we’re friends. And that’s a fact,” says Stellaluna. Based on the beloved bestselling children’s book.
March 26 - May 19, 2024
$22
Taking Care: Puppets and Their Collectors Puppet Forum
Dr. Jungmin Song
Photo by: Anthony Selltto/Ballard Institute
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
1 Royce Cir
Storrs, CT
https://bimp.uconn.edu/2024/02/22/taking-care-forum/
In conjunction with the Ballard Institute’s new exhibit, Taking Care: Puppets and Their Collectors, Dr. Jungmin Song and Dr. John Bell will discuss the various puppet collectors whose donations have built the Ballard Institute’s puppet collections, from 1930s marionettes to Sicilian pupi, overhead projector innovations, and Frank Ballard musicals. This event is co-sponsored by the UConn Humanities Institute.
March 27, 2024
7:00 PM
Free (donations greatly appreciated)
Miracles and Machines: A Sixteenth-Century Automaton and Its Legend - IN-PERSON & ONLINE
Elizabeth King
Virginia Commonwealth University
901 Park Ave
Richmond, VA
support.vcu.edu/event/king?ID=*%7CRADARID%7C*
VCU Libraries invites you to an author talk with Elizabeth King, professor emerita of sculpture and extended media at the VCU School of the Arts. She’ll discuss her book, Miracles and Machines: A Sixteenth-Century Automaton and Its Legend (Getty Publications, 2023), co-authored with W. David Todd and photographs by Rosamond Purcell. The book is about a 450-year-old automaton known as “the monk.” King will talk about the story of the monk and her journey writing the book, a narrative that draws from the history of art, science, technology, artificial intelligence, psychology, religion and conservation. For Online access, zoom link will be provided on registration.
March 28, 2024
7:00pm ET
Free - reservations required
The Surreal Puppetry of Jan Svankmajer
Jan Svankmajer
Center For Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring ST NW
Atlanta, GA
puppet.org/programs/the-surreal-puppetry-of-jan-svankmajer/
Experience the Surrealism of Czech filmmaker and animator, Jan Švankmajer This program of short films will present the work of the surreal Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer, an animator who has long engaged with the history of puppetry—from Punch and Judy to folk traditions. Including such work as Jabberwocky, adapted from a poem in Alice in Wonderland, this unusual collection of films is occasionally grotesque, occasionally grown-up, but always riveting. Introduced by Dr. Patrick Ellis, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Tampa.
March 29, 2024
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Non-Members $10.00 Members $5.00
Big Bug Circus - FAMILY
Great Arizona Puppet Theater
302 W Latham St
Phoenix, AZ
https://www.azpuppets.org/shows.php
An amazing circus featuring talented bugs as the performers! This show is performed with table-top marionettes, an exciting soundtrack, and a puppeteer who acts as the Ring Master. Recommended for ages 4 and up. Run time approximately 45 minutes.
April 3 - 14, 2024
Sat 10am & 2pm, Sun 2pm
$15 Adult / $10 Child
Honey Goodenough: Sock Monkey Circus - FAMILY
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Bywater Wonderland
3405 Royal Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
This performance features the magical talents of the host "Funny Honey" and her clever monkeys, who are trained to juggle, dance, and swing on a flying trapeze! All this while traveling in their very own circus train car that converts into a miniature stage. These silly monkeys continually outsmart our host, all while performing a variety of circus routines. Everyone is welcome to monkey around with the Sock Monkey Circus!
April 4 - 8, 2024
Harry Mayronne: Perception of Puppets, a performance and discussion
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The Mudlark Public Theatre
1200 Port Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Marionette artist/performer Harry Mayronne leads a discussion on puppetry and performs with several of his own marionettes.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Mr. Leo's Wonder Bus - FAMILY
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Bywater Wonderland
3405 Royal Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Mr. Leo creates an unforgettable, playful, and imaginative puppet adventure fully engaging & interactive with humor and candor that spans all ages. This is a perfect way to ignite your kid's creativity opening a dialog as to how they think things work. Mr. Leo's magic show allows you and your children to bond and spend time together. Take the chance to spend some quality time bonding in a make-believe adventure with your children.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Poose the Puppet: The Dizzy Dangerfield Experience
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The Backyard Ballroom
3519 Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Poose, star of Poose The Puppet, introduces the world to her new best friend Dizzy Dangerfield. Dizzy is the new face and representative of Poose while she prepares backstage but who is Dizzy and where did he come from? He says he's famous and everyone's bro yet no one seems to recognize him...yet. Join Dizzy for his exclusive TELL ALL interview with famous podcaster Bro Jogan live and unfiltered and get the full scoop on this gregarious puppet. Audience participation encouraged!
April 4 - 8, 2024
Tyler Nacho: Death to Realism
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Louisa Springs
1701 Louisa Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
A dance party, puppet show, and mystical experience. ‘Death to Realism’ infuses positive energy and motivational concepts with magical thinking and comedy. It is an existential thought experiment about the ways the ideas you hold often hold you back.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Cila Puccadella: The Weight of the Sun
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Louisa Springs
1701 Louisa Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Written by Elena Ricciardi with music by Elena Ricciardi and Chris Booth. A two part puppet show around the theme of life on earth. The first follows the story of a whale whose job it is to carry the sun across the earth every night for the sun to rise again in the morning. The second is the story of earth itself, from the beginning of life until now.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Tooth Lifeless: The Piñata Tragedy
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Louisa Springs
1701 Louisa Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Tooth Lifeless is an experimental performance group from Atlanta, Georgia that creates immersive happenings. Often referred to as ‘the circus’ by its members and community, Tooth Lifeless brings artists, creatives, and people from a variety of backgrounds together to create the unhinged and untamed spectacle. With the help of their community, the circus constructs large sculptures, props, puppets, and environments in order to build a world for the audience and the actors to exist in outside of their casual reality.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Cook y Doh: The Squirmy Wormhole: a Puppet Musical
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Louisa Springs
1701 Louisa Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Space researcher and a blue coyote wander the universe from planet to planet through a series of portals in order to return home. Follow us in this space odyssey puppet musical through the Squirmy Wormhole as we drink from the feeling soup. It will be a night of luscious, surreal storytelling to facilitate your own process of mythical meaning making.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Try Again Better: Life Goes On, Anyway...
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The New Orleans Healing Center
2372 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
by Nancy Ross and Severin Steensen. A Woman in consideration of ending her life is visited by an old familiar friend from the shadow world. Together, they observe and reflect on the simple things in life that keep us going. An original theatrical folk concert accompanied by a shadow puppet show that fills the room with visual and musical nostalgia; transporting the audience to a space where it’s easy to feel beauty in the stillness. Together, measuring the passing of time watching the grass grow.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Abandoned Ships: we need to talk
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Canoa
4210 St Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
As the climate crisis deepens, storm language is changing faster than we are learning how to read it. “we need to talk” considers how our own behavioral patterns are affecting our ability to learn and translate the stories today's storms are creating. Two puppeteers, speaking different languages, fight over the direction of the narrative. The narrative talks about how different elements of the weather affect humans.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Nate Puppets: Bastard the Bunny
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The Mudlark Public Theatre
1200 Port Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Welcome to The World of Nate Puppets. A world of fuzzy plush depravity and attempts to show what has yet to be seen. Bastard The Bunny is a personal story of fighting what is inside of your head after it becomes too loud. Based on a real life mental breakdown.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Toybox Theatre: Used Doorknob Salesmen
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The Mudlark Public Theatre
1200 Port Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Once again, fan favorite Toybox Theatre returns to The NOLA Giant Puppet Fest with a hilarious new puppet comedy, Used Door Knob Salesmen, on the main stage and hosting and performing in the late night puppet slams!
April 4 - 8, 2024
Velvet Effigy: Eyes of the Beholder
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The Backyard Ballroom
3519 Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Caught in a web of romance and deception, a Beautiful Priestess must choose between The Queen's wishes or her newfound feelings for a Bestial Baroness. Join us as we reimagine Villeneuve's Classic "Beauty and The Beast"
April 4 - 8, 2024
Midnight Radio Show: The Dragon's Laugh and Other Tales - FAMILY
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The Backyard Ballroom
3519 Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
"Bona fide fairy princess" Charlotte Lily Gaspard of Midnight Radio Show brings all original fairytales to life using intricate handmade shadow puppets. Fun for the whole family, Midnight Radio Show is known for their theatrical enchantments.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Parisol Puppets: Punch and Judy - FAMILY
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Spellcaster Lodge
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Audiences enjoy this show because it is loud and silly and allows the crowd to laugh, cheer and shout encouragement to the puppets. When this show was awarded the 2019 Unima-USA Citation of Excellence, reviewers wrote “Truly a Punch Professor, Peter Allen deserves a citation for presenting this enduring tale so masterfully” and “Punch & Judy by Peter Allen is Funny, satiric, but always family-friendly!”
April 4 - 8, 2024
BreakFAST Puppets: Oversouled
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Canoa
4210 St Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
BreakFAST Puppets is an up and coming puppet company based in the New England area. They believe it is important to remember that artists are researchers processing the ephemeral around us into a communal experience that helps us better understand ourselves, others, and the world. Oversouled is a puppet show with bizarre figureheads who (through wikipedia) try to convince you to explore different personal practices.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Rasputin's Marionettes: Sugarbitch Goulash pt. 2
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Happyland Theater
3126 Burgundy Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
When we last saw septuagenarians Helen and Olga, they were concocting the nefarious plan that would eventually brand them The Black Widow Murderers. In Sugarbitch Goulash: Act 2 we witness the gruesome climax of their careers and eventual downfall, in this uproarious and twisted tale of murder, greed, and self gout, based on true life events.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Esmerelda the Puppet: Thirsty for the Limelight: A Divine Musical Comedy
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Happyland Theater
3126 Burgundy Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
On her quest to find the limelight, Esmerelda must journey through the land of Showbizz. She encounters a slew of characters who also seek fame and fortune, but in order reach the top, Esmerelda must confront her evil diva nemesis, Anne Ziety. For mature audiences.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Soulfool: Show of Hands
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Canoa
4210 St Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Hans und Frans, two hands performing in a tiny circus, human canonball into the audience, discover humans, uncover the master puppeteer and foment a rollicking revolution. Drea of SoulFool is a master puppeteer and comedian who will bring you with her to a world of play and unhinged delight.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Rabbit Foot Puppets: No Strings Attached
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Happyland Theater
3126 Burgundy Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Oh golly gee, a spectacle marionette spree! A three tiered marionette show, with three scales of vaudeville-aesthetic mice puppets, dressed as soda jerks. The characters, for clarity, are named SMALL, MEDIUM, and LARGE.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Flutterbug: Seance
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Canoa
4210 St Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Flutterbug presents 'Seance'. If you like dark twisted macabre tea parties and a good old fashion seance, please join Flutterbug for an event of puppet resurrection that will surely give you haunting nightmares for days… And do feel free to dress in your best funeral attire!
April 4 - 8, 2024
Innerworkings Theatre: River to the Sky
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The New Orleans Healing Center
2372 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
A River to the Sky: The Life of Water" weaves together immersive dance, shadow puppets, wearable sculpture, video projection, and somatic meditation to explore how climate change shapes life in a speculative future, drawing parallels with contemporary struggles and ancestral conflicts over water and land. Through the wit and wisdom of a gaggle of opinionated dinosaur spirits observing Earth in 2033, the show embarks on a journey from the ancient past into the distant future, revealing water's forgotten secrets through mirrors and apparitions. From the smallest raindrop to the deepest ocean, "A River to the Sky" invites audiences to reflect on our environmental legacy with both humor and profound gravity.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Shadow Girls Cult: Unraveling
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The New Orleans Healing Center
2372 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
The show weaves together poignant tales that encompass longing, loneliness, identity, grief, and the queer experience through a surreal lens. Each tale focuses on a different moment in time when our characters and their individual stories break apart. Each story is an echo of the question: “is the world (and by extension, are we) destined to always, always come apart at the seams?”
April 4 - 8, 2024
Leroy's Place: Doomscrolling
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Contemporary Arts Center
900 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Written and Directed by Jacques Duffourc in collaboration with Leroy’s Place. Peek over the shoulder and into the mind of a giant swamp monster as she scrolls through a crafted monster universe on her cardboard smartphone.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Nightshade: Exquisite Corpse
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
Contemporary Arts Center
900 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Witness excerpts from Night Shade's illuminated ZINE ‘Exquisite Corpse’ as 'Necromancer Nadia' & 'Dead Mike' rise from the grave and conjure their own brand of deth rock with their band WHITE KNIVES. Haunting imagery slices across the shadow screen to invoking an esoteric shadow show from the burial realm.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Jaqueline Wade: Consuewella: Triptych in MOVE
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The New Orleans Healing Center
2372 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Conceived, written, and directed by Jacqueline Wade. ‘Consuewella: Triptych in MOVE’ is a moving puppet performance piece about an African American woman’s journey through MOVE, a radical mostly African American back-to-nature activist group from Philadelphia and the system. This performance is for mature audiences-late teens through adults.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Harmonic Drift: Wayang Earth
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The New Orleans Healing Center
2372 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Drawing inspiration from Balinese shadow puppetry, “Wayang Earth?!” tells the zany stories of conflict between mythical dual creatures operating over twenty intricately designed stick puppets across their shadow screen. Accompanying the production is the otherworldly musical accompaniment of homemade, gamelan-inspired instruments.
April 4 - 8, 2024
The Mudlark Puppeteers: Mother Catherine and The Temple of the Innocent Blood
The New Orleans Giant Puppet Festival
The Temple
3151 Dauphine Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansgiantpuppetfest.com/lineup
Written and Directed by Pandora Gastelum. The latest puppet operetta by New Orleans’ own Mudlark Puppeteers, this work is a celebration of the life and legacy of local folk hero, activist and spiritual leader Mother Catherine Seals. This is the story of a black woman’s ascension to glory through a life dedicated to healing through spirit. In the Jim Crow South, Mother Catherine Seals came to hold sway over an interracial flock numbering in the thousands. Her spiritual tenets would be the foundation for one of the largest American religious organizations of the early twentieth century. Her unique style of musical worship, blending Gospel with African drumming and Jazz, would give life to music previously unimagined. But who was Mother Catherine? And why did so many people of different races, classes, genders and ages follow her word as wisdom? Through large scale rod and shadow puppetry and the music of the day, “ Mother Catherine and The Temple of the Innocent Blood” plays out these questions and the threads of life at which they tug, in vivid sound and color.
April 4 - 8, 2024
Kasper’s Theater: Avant-Garde and Propaganda Puppetry in Early 20th-Century Germany Puppet Forum
Dr. Rachel Herschman
Photo by: Herbert Sonnenfeld, courtesy of the Jewish Museum, Berlin
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
1 Royce Cir
Storrs, CT
bimp.uconn.edu/2024/03/14/germany-forum/
Drawing on her dissertation research, Dr. Rachel Herschman, the Exhibitions and Publications Program Director of Yale University’s Beinecke Library, will discuss how and why German artists turned to puppetry during the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, and the different ways that puppets could be both icons of rebellious resistance and vehicles for manipulation and control. This event is co-sponsored by UConn's Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, the UConn Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, and the UConn Department of History.
April 10, 2024
7:00pm EST
$0 or free, donations greatly appreciated
PUPPET LAB: A Festival of New Work
Erica Warren, Felicia Cooper, David Hanzal, and the team of Fletcher Wolfe and Maggie Arbiter
Open Eye Theatre
506 E. 24th Street
Minneapolis, MN
openeyetheatre.org/puppet-lab-festival-2024
Residency artists who have been workshopping projects for six months will have their new works professionally produced during the two-week PUPPET LAB Festival! This April, join us for the culmination of the 6-month developmental laboratory program with performances by Erica Warren, Felicia Cooper, David Hanzal, and the team of Fletcher Wolfe and Maggie Arbiter. The residency artists are led by Co-Artistic Directors of PUPPET LAB Oanh Vu and Sofia Padilla.
April 12 - 21, 2024
Week 1: Maggie Arbiter & Fletcher Wolfe and Felicia Cooper
Friday, April 12, 7:30pm
Saturday, April 13, 7:30pm
Sunday, April 14, 2:00pm
Week 2: David Hanzal and Erica Warren
Friday, April 19, 7:30pm
Saturday, April 20, 7:30pm
Sunday, April 21, 2:00pm
$18 General Admission / $15 Economic Accessibility
Hao Bang Ah, Dragon!
Chinese Theatre Works
Photo by: Photo courtesy of Chinese Theatre Works
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
1 Royce Cir
Storrs, CT
bimp.ticketleap.com/hao-bang-ah/
Hao Bang Ah, Dragon! is the most recent in the series of Chinese Theatre Works’s hand-puppet productions celebrating the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Each year, the reigning Zodiac animal spirit presides over a mix of traditional Chinese Budaixi (glove puppets) and western-style puppetry. This year’s show features a dozen different dragons, serving up a spicy mix of song, skits, silliness and sage sayings. Special guests include the great Monkey King, who will crash the Dragon King’s party with his usual good cheer and mayhem. Recommended for ages 4+. The show runtime is approximately 40 minutes, with a puppet demo and talkback.
April 13, 2024
11 am EST
$12 Adults / $10 Members & Seniors / $8 Students / $6 Kids (12 years and under)
The Four Seasons - FAMILY
Drama of Works
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/04/13/the-four-seasons
Big Fox is only concerned with all the chores that must be done each season. Little Fox only wants to play with Bird. Set to Vivaldi’s violin compositions of the same name, The Four Seasons invites us to watch through Little Fox’s eyes as the seasons transform — with the help of innovative magnetic sets and charming and bright puppets designed by Estonian illustrator Kristiana Pärn.
April 13 - 15, 2024
10:30am, 1:00pm, 3:00pm
$16
April Puppet Slam
hosted by Susan Linn & Audrey Duck
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/04/20/april-puppet-slam
What's a Puppet Slam? It's when Puppet Showplace Theater stays open late to showcase the region's finest short-form puppetry acts...for adults! Each piece is performed by a different artist, and the content ranges from the hilarious to the profound. So, what are you waiting for? Join host Susan Linn with her long-time pal Audrey Duck for an evening of short-form puppetry for adults, featuring a range of puppetry styles, beer and wine, and a guaranteed good time.
April 20, 2024
8:00pm
$25
The Hope Principle Show: Citizens’ Shame and Hope in the Time of Genocide
Bread & Puppet Theater
Mayo Street Arts
10 Mayo Street
Portland, ME
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/mayostreetarts/1152926/r/jim
Puppet show! Puppet show! Bread & Puppet Theater is excited to announce that they will kick off our 61st year by traversing the Northeast and Eastern Seaboard with a brand-new play created with their director, Peter Schumann, for the exact moment at hand. Of the show–The Hope Principle Show: Citizens’ Shame and Hope in the Time of Genocide–director Peter Schumann says, “The imminent end of the capitalist empire, colonizing and genociding as the whole world looks on in horror, attacked by a flock of cranes migrating from Palestine to replace the shit inside the White House with genuine bird droppings. Frogs, caribou, dancing bears, bicycling chickens make up the rest of the cast.” After the performance, Bread & Puppet will serve its free sourdough rye bread with aioli, and Bread & Puppet’s “Cheap Art” – books, posters, postcards, pamphlets, and banners from the Bread & Puppet Press – will be for sale.
April 20, 2024
3:30 (doors 3:00 PM) & at 7:30 PM (doors 7:00 PM), 75-minutes, no intermission
No one will be turned away for lack of funds; contact MSA at 207-879-4629 or info@mayostreetarts.org for information on our pay-what-you-can admission policy.
$0-$23
Jack and the Beanstalk - FAMILY
Great Arizona Puppet Theater
302 W Latham St
Phoenix, AZ
https://www.azpuppets.org/shows.php
Our classic show, Jack and the Beanstalk , is back! This wonderful tale is told with hand puppets, beautiful changing scenery, a growing beanstalk, and a very tall Giant.
April 24 - May 12, 2024
Sat 10am & 2pm, Sun 2pm
$15 Adult / $10 Child
Puppet Up!
Brian Henson presents
Henson Studios - Chaplin Stage
1416 North La Brea Avenue
Hollywood, CA
puppetup.com/
Puppet Up! - Uncensored is a night of outrageous, off-the-cuff comedy featuring 80 of the MISKREANT puppets brought to life by a cast of world-class comedian puppeteers from The Jim Henson Company. Created by legendary puppeteer and award-winning director Brian Henson and directed by Patrick Bristow (Ellen, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Whose Line Is It Anyway?), Puppet Up! - Uncensored is never the same show twice. Based on suggestions from the audience, Patrick and his team of expert puppeteers create a hilarious two-shows-in-one: the improvised puppet action projected live on screens above the stage, with the puppeteers racing around below in full view of the audience. The show also features recreations of classic pieces originally created by Jim and Jane Henson, and Frank Oz that haven’t been seen by live audiences in decades. This is no ordinary puppet show.
April 26 - 28, 2024
Friday - 8:00pm
Saturday - 5:00pm & 9:00pm
Sunday - 3:00pm & 7:00pm
Starting at $75
Le Cabaret de Marionettes
Great Arizona Puppet Theater
302 W Latham St
Phoenix, AZ
azpuppets.org/shows.php
Great Arizona Puppet (GAPT) will be hosting their original production of Le Cabaret de Marionettes, in addition to resident puppeteers of the theater; we are excited to include two invited artists to join the cast. Joining as guest performer Crystal Cruz, or “Madame C” from Phoenix, Arizona, and Los Angeles, Matthew Scott of Rasputin’s Marionettes. Two shows will occur on Friday, April 26th, and Saturday, April 27th, starting at 8:00pm. Both shows will be 18+
April 26 - 27, 2024
8:00pm
$30 for general admission and $45 for VIP
Little Red Riding Hood & The Three Little Pigs - FAMILY
The Puppet Co
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/04/27/little-red-riding-hood-the-three-little-pigs
In this musical retelling of two classic “wolf-centered” fairytales, sometimes it's not always clear who the bad guy really is! In Little Red Riding Hood, a little girl brings a basket of cookies to her ailing grandmother, who lives on the other side of a forest. Along the way she meets a wolf who has other plans for the little girl, Granny, and the cookies! Then, in The Three Little Pigs, three pig brothers each build a house out of different materials and a hungry wolf comes to investigate. With original music, witty dialogue, and all your favorite lines — including “not by the hair of my chinny chin chin” and “I’ll huff and I'll puff…” — these wolfy tales will have you howling in delight!
April 27 - May 5, 2024
10:30am & 1:00pm
$16
XPT: Xperimental Puppetry Theater
Center for Puppetry Arts, Various Artists
Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St NW
Atlanta, GA
puppet.org/programs/xpt-xperimental-puppet-theater/
What happens when artists join forces to create original puppetry works for adult audiences? XPT! Celebrating close to 40 years of experimentation, come find out what this year holds! From traditional forms of puppetry to films and installation pieces, artists of all disciplines employ puppetry in startling new ways. XPT offers an array of stories, puppetry styles, and sensibilities in a single evening. Guaranteed to inspire, surprise, amuse and provoke. Inspired? – see the XPT application to find out how to get involved in the process!
May 1 - 5, 2024
$18
The Bella Show: Bugs! - FAMILY
Brenda Huggins & Phil Berman
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/05/11/the-bella-show-bugs
Go on a pink and furry adventure with Bella and her friends through a beautiful garden to meet silly bugs, creepy-crawlers, and musical surprises! Sing along to your favorite tunes like "The Ants Go Marching" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," as well as original songs including "Leg Up on You!" and "Chuck It In." We even get to meet the Very Hungry Caterpillar in a colorful and hilarious adaptation. Puppeteers Brenda Huggins and Phil Berman combine their talents as puppeteers, early childhood educators, and exceptional musicians — Huggins is a classically trained soprano and Berman is the singer-songwriter frontman of Americana-vaudeville band Phil and the Flying Leap — to create an engaging and interactive puppetry experience ideal for the very young and their grown-ups.
May 11 - 12, 2024
10:30am & 1:00pm
$16
A Slice of Crazy Pie: A Marionette Cabaret
Madison J. Cripps
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/05/17/a-slice-of-crazy-pie-a-marionette-cabaret
Ladies and gentlemen, funky folk and party people, step into the kooky world of A Slice of Crazy Pie, a cabaret-style marionette puppet show that will have you shivering, laughing, and wondering if you had too much to drink. Much like his handlebar mustache, Madison J. Cripps will twirl you and his marionettes around to take you on a journey exploring everything from ecology to the human condition. Meet eccentric characters, visit imaginary locales, and join Madison in considering whether the puppets are really alright. Accompanied by eerie harmonica and interactive hijinks, this raunchy one-man show combines vaudeville-esque showmanship with marionette storytelling in one wild ride you don’t want to miss.
May 17 - 18, 2024
8:00pm
$35
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About A Terrible Monster
Manual Cinema
Byham Theater
101 6th Street
Pittsburgh, PA
https://trustarts.org/production/91907/leonardo-a-wonderful-show-about-a-terrible-monster
Leonardo is a terrible monster. He tries so hard to be scary, but he just… isn’t. Then Leonardo finds Sam, the most scaredy-cat kid in the world. Will Leonardo finally get to scare the tuna salad out of someone? Or will it be the start of an unlikely friendship? The plot thickens when this pair meets Kerry and Frankenthaler, an even scaredier-cat and her monster friend. Kerry and Sam need to make a big decision: will they just be scaredy cats or can they become friends? Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster uses hundreds of illustrated paper puppets, book pages, two-dimensional props, furry monster puppets, and songs to bring Mo Willems' books to life. Manual Cinema wanted to re-create the experience of holding one of Mo’s book pages, which are big, bold, colorful, and full of visual rhythm, with a playful use of scale. Like all Manual Cinema productions, you’re invited to watch the big screen like a traditional movie, or to watch the artists below as they create the story in real time. (There is no wrong way to watch the show!)
May 17 - 19, 2024
Fri, May 17, 2024 @ 10:00 AM
Sat, May 18, 2024 @ 10:00 AM
Sun, May 19, 2024 @ 10:00 AM
Sun, May 19, 2024 @ 3:30 PM
$12
The Legend of the Banana Kid
Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
Photo by: Photo courtesy of Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
1 Royce Cir
Storrs, CT
bimp.ticketleap.com/bananakid/
Little Chucky heads to the Wild West to outwit outlaws in this cowboy adventure! With a fistful of bananas, Chucky rides into town on his trusty goat for a showdown with Big Bad Bart and his gang of bandits. The Legend of the Banana Kid features 20 hand-crafted glove, mouth and rod puppets, and a slew of flying and twirling styrofoam bananas. Recommended for ages 4+. The show runtime is approximately 45 minutes.
May 18, 2024
11 am EST
Adults $12 / Members & Seniors $10 / Students $8 / Kids $6 (12 years and under)
The Fairy Tailor - FAMILY
Sarah Nolen of Puppet Motion
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2024/06/01/the-fairy-tailor
Meet the Fairy Tailor, hard at work in her enchanted shop, where dressing racks and laundry baskets are known to have a mind of their own. Watch as she transforms everyday garments into extraordinary characters, and shares stories of bravery, from “Little Red Riding Hood(ie),” to “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” With the audience’s help, the Fairy Tailor summons the courage to take a stand against a giant, crafting a solution that combines cleverness with creativity. This whimsical, interactive production is guaranteed to inspire audiences of all ages.
June 1 - 8, 2024
10:30am & 1:00pm
$18
The Scarlet Ibis - Film
Beth Morrison Projects
HERE - URHERE, online
urhere.art/archive/ibis
The Scarlet Ibis is an opera about family, illness, and the power of the imagination to soar above what’s considered “normal.” This world premiere by composer Stefan Weisman (Darkling) and librettist David Cote (Blind Injustice) fuses singers, puppetry, and multimedia stagecraft to tell the story of a remarkable disabled boy nicknamed “Doodle,” whose older brother pushes him to be like other kids. Set in rural North Carolina a century ago, The Scarlet Ibis contrasts notions of physical wholeness with mystical otherness The narrative (inspired by the short story by James Hurst) draws on elements of Southern Gothic, boy’s adventure, and domestic tragedy. Mallory Catlett directs; Steven Osgood (Dead Man Walking, Metropolitan Opera) conducts the American Modern Ensemble. For audiences 10 and up. The Scarlet Ibis was a part of the 2015 PROTOTYPE Festival, co-produced with Beth Morrison Projects
Available on-demand on URHERE
Send for the Million Men * - Film
Joseph Silovsky
HERE - URHERE, online
urhere.art/archive/sftmm
The “crime of the century” of the 1920s jolts to life in modern-day New York City in Joseph Silovsky’s micro-history multimedia tale, Send for the Million Men. With a compelling command of animatronics, robotics, puppetry, and handmade projectors, Silovsky examines the controversial executions of notorious anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. Their bleak fates intertwine with Silovsky’s own micro-tragic biography in a humorous and captivating history-rethink.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2010) and Workshop Grant (2009)
Available on-demand on URHERE
The Fortune Teller * - Film
by Phantom Limb Company | Jessica Grindstaff and Erik Sanko With Music by Danny Elfman
HERE - URHERE, online
https://here.org/shows/urhere/
Seven strangers’ twisted tales are brought to life in this marionette play and woven with haunting music to tell an eerily comic story of fate and fortune. On a dark night, the strangers are invited to the mansion of a deceased millionaire, and learn that their inheritances will be based not on a will, but on the readings of a fortune teller. Each soon meets a gruesome end in this production developed through HERE’s Dream Music puppetry program. The Fortune Teller played at HERE November 28 - December 4, 2010. The Fortune Teller is available on demand on URHERE, a one-of-a-kind, rigorously curated virtual platform for outdoor and digital premieres. URHERE aims to occupy an important part of the art ecosystem which nurtures experimentation, sparks dialogue, and creates engagement with the local community.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2006)
Available on-demand on URHERE
Spirited Away (Live on Stage) - Film
Based on the animated feature film by Hayao Miyazaki
On Demand
gkids.com/films/spirited-away-live-on-stage/#watch-now
Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-winning animated feature film comes to life in this first-ever stage adaptation, full of dazzling sets, captivating musical numbers, and wondrous puppets of beloved characters. Adapted and directed by Tony Award®-winner John Caird (Les Misérables), two unique casts and performances were filmed during the show’s acclaimed 2022 run at Tokyo’s historic Imperial Theatre, featuring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro.
9000 Paper Balloons * - Film
Maiko Kikuchi & Spencer Lott
Photo by: Richard Termine
HERE - URHERE, online
here.org/shows/9000-paper-balloons-urhere/
Inspired by the stranger-than-fiction secret weapons that floated over America during World War II, 9000 Paper Balloons is a poetic and eerie performance that examines distance – the distance between two friends, between two enemies, two cultures and two generations. Japanese artist Maiko Kikuchi and American puppeteer Spencer Lott blend puppetry, animation and mask as they weave their own family histories into a surreal and visually stunning collage that speaks to the past and the future. 9000 Paper Balloons is available on demand on URHERE, a one-of-a-kind, rigorously curated virtual platform for outdoor and digital premieres. URHERE aims to occupy an important part of the art ecosystem which nurtures experimentation, sparks dialogue, and creates engagement with the local community.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2020) and Workshop Grant (2019)
Available on-demand on URHERE
Symphonie Fantastique * - Film
Basil Twist
Photo by: Richard Termine
HERE - URHERE, online
here.org/shows/symphonie-fantastique-urhere/
Twenty years ago in 1998, Basil Twist debuted his boundary-breaking response to Berlioz’s 1830 “Symphonie Fantastique” to universal acclaim. In this revival, accompanied live by virtuosic pianist, Christopher O’Riley, the exquisite Liszt transcription, Symphonie floats and swirls in a 1,000-gallon water tank neatly disguised as a puppet stage. For the many who never saw it, and for those who relish seeing it again and again, the return of this tour de force to HERE is the event of the season. Watch on-demand on URHERE.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (1998) and Workshop Grant (1996)
Available on-demand on URHERE