2023 Grantees
PRODUCTION GRANTS ($7,000)
Maria Camia (Brooklyn, NY)
The Healing Shipment
The Healing Shipment is a spiritual / sci-fi musical play about a grandmother stuck in the future, a mother trapped in the past, and a daughter with her crew who will bring them back to the present moment. Photo: Steven Pisano
Concrete Temple Theatre (New York, NY)
Stranded
An episodic odyssey sparked by the isolation and confusion of our time, Stranded blends puppetry, humor, and a raw understanding of our profound collective reality. Photo Stefan Hagen
Feisty Elephant, Annie Evans (Redding, CT)
Aanika's Elephants
An orphan girl is adopted by a wild elephant herd then must use her ingenuity to save them from poachers. Photo: Martin P. Robinson
Kessto Kreatures, Anthony Michael Stokes (El Paso, TX)
The Scarecrow
Newly appointed his Majesty the Scarecrow is tasked to save the citizens of Winkie country from an ever-increasing horde of crows, and discoveres his life before becoming the scarecrow and the lynching of an African American man. Photo: Stella Gutierrez
Maiko Kikuchi (Brooklyn, NY)
Daydream Tutorial
Daydream Tutorial is a surreal tutorial consisting of various unique puppets, objects manipulations, original sound work, and mask-performances integrated with projected animation.
Photo: Maria Baranova
Tom Lee (Chicago, IL)
Sounding the Resonant Path
Sounding the Resonant Path explores the spiritual connection between the human world and the natural environment, especially the living material of bamboo and trees, harvested and crafted into performing objects -- the flute and the puppet. Photo: Richard Termine
Sandglass Theater (Putney, VT)
Feral
Feral takes us on one woman’s journey exploring the tension between her learned behaviors and intuitive knowledge. This project explores gender marginalization and the resiliency of our more wild natures.
Photo: Eric Bass
ShadowLight Productions (San Francisco, CA)
Sojourner ZY
An original science-fiction play written by Eugenie Chan, original score by Paul Dresser Ensemble produced by ShadowLight Productions in their signature large-scale cinematic shadow puppetry style.
Photo: Jacquelyn Serrano
WORKSHOP GRANTS ($3,000)
Tristan Allen (Brooklyn, NY)
Tin Iso and the Dawn
Tin Iso and the Dawn is a shadow puppet symphony performed alongside an original, full length album. The project shares the origins of an imaginary world created to give age-old magic life through puppetry and music. Photo: Bailey Hein
Alva Puppet Theater (New York, NY)
The Harlem Doll Palace
The Harlem Doll Palace is about a family of dolls, their beloved defender, Lenon Holder “Aunt Len” Hoyte, and the home she created for them in Harlem. Photo: Alva Rogers
Auricular Visions (Narrowsburg, NY)
UNSETTLING
UNSETTLING is an aspiration of breath, an unearthing, a recording, a reflection, and a projection…a continually evolving story about migration to, from, and around North America; one part listening project, one part puppet performance, and one part moving sale. Photo: Isaak Berliner
enormous face (Bellevue, WA)
Offal Unstory
Non[/Anti-]Narrative animistic Puppet-Objects roam the Garbage pits mourning the death of nature, issuing Nornish stabs at Stories-Per-Se & Stories-As-Such with fragments of World Literature sometimes inverting the Hex of being. Photo: Kalan Sherrard
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (Minneapolis, MN)
Phantom Loss by Oanh Vu
Phantom Loss is an original narrative tabletop and shadow puppetry show by Oanh Vu that uses humor and fantasy to explore crimmigration (criminalized immigration), intergenerational trauma, and healing.
Photo: Oanh Vuu
Jerrell L. Henderson (Chicago, IL)
AmericanMYTH: Crossroads
A new genre-defying historic reckoning with five performers mixing live theatre, shadow puppetry and immersive sound.
Photo: Jerrell L. Henderson
'It Figures' (Brooklyn, NY)
unspun
In a post-human world, all remaining life forms have been devastated by environmental collapse. A nameless protagonist , the last of its kind, has a chance encounter with another being. A symbiotic relationship grows and the distinction between merely existing and living becomes apparent.
Photo: Dave Glista
Josh Rice Projects (Perry, NY)
KAYFABE
Pro wrestling meets puppetry in this absurdist semi-autobiographical metafiction--a tabletop puppet sports entertainment spectacular!
Photo: Kat Kuo
Moira Lael MacDonald (Los Angeles, CA)
Blue Waves
Lily Golden (an African-Soviet Scholar) and Svetlana Alliluyeva (the daughter of Joseph Stalin) carefully navigate 1960’s Moscow in search of personal freedom. Photo: Gina Marie Napolitan
Andy Manjuck & Dorothy James (Brooklyn, NY)
Parched
Parched is a sci-fi/western revenge story about humanity’s complicated relationship with water. Photo: Evan Barr Photography
Marcella Murray (Brooklyn, NY)
Other Atlantas
Other Atlantas is a celebration of the marginalized who remain in spaces left off and left behind for the sake of some other entity’s idea of progress. Photo: Steven Pisano
Odd Savvy (Oakland, CA)
The Ground
The Ground is a sonic/visual poem exploring the intersection of nature and technology through the journey of a lone tabula rasa. Photo: Fred C. Riley III
Rogue Artists Ensemble (Sun Valley, CA)
Happy Fall: A Queer Stunt Spectacular
An original highly immersive live stunt show about a queer closeted stuntman’s journey in a world of faux masculinity, unmasking the importance and danger of being true to oneself.
Photo: Courtesy of the Artist
Rough House Theater, Mike Oleon (Chicago, IL)
Melodies from the Void: A Puppet Seance
An intimate performance in which spirits of both the living and the dead communicate through a collection of fantastical objects designed, built, and animated by puppet artist, Mike Oleon.
Photo: Evan Barr Photography
Second Sister Productions, Aaron Haskell (Brooklyn, NY)
The Pact
Fearing a future filled with separation and destruction, two wolf siblings are called upon by the ancestral mother on a mission to change our path, imbued with the strength to lead the way through love and unity.
Photo: Steven Pisano
Joseph Silovsky (Brooklyn, NY)
Who's Oklahoma
Who's Oklahoma unravels the disparate traumatic creation stories of the “Sooner” state, revealing what we all really want to know - why is it shaped like a pan? Photo: Teddy Wolff
Jaerin Son (Chicago, IL)
Dogs or Cats; Augmented Body
Dogs or Cats; Augmented Body, based on Jaerin Son's own immigration experiences, tells the story of a female robot and her human physical therapist’s burgeoning friendship. Photo: Kerberus Production
FAMILY GRANTS ($4,000)
Chinese Theatre Works (Long Island City, NY)
The Tiger of Zhao
An original blend of traditional Chinese shadow theater and contemporary overhead projection performance, based on a story from Pu Song Ling’s 17th century classic Strange Tales from Make-do Studio.
Photo: Stephen Kaplin
The Gottabees (Boston, MA)
Don't Make Me Get Dressed
Don’t Make Me Get Dressed is a show about the feelings we have when we choose our clothes… but also about when our clothes come to life and choose us. Photo: Courtesy of the Artist
Deva North & Zach Bramel (Louisville, KY)
Time & Energy: A Puppet Show about Thermodynamics & Rabbits
Full of animals, humor, music, and minor injuries, this silly yet poignant play uses The Four Laws of Thermodynamics to illustrate how the scientific truths that govern our world might also compel us to care for ourselves and to help each other. Photo: Courtesy of the Artists
Red Herring Puppets (Tucson, AZ)
Latino Tales: The Barking Mouse, Blue Frog & Chupacabra / El Ratón que Ladra, La Rana Azul & Chupacabra
A bi-lingual hand and rod puppet show based on folktales from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Photo: Katie Popiel
String Theory Theater (Baltimore, MD)
Defrag
Defrag follows a young boy on a surreal journey into his inner world to stop a war and collect the lost parts of himself. Photo: Dirk Joseph
PRESENTER’S GRANTS
Winter-Spring 2023
59E59 Theaters – $5,000
– The Immortal Jellyfish Girl – Wakka Wakka Productions
BAM – $5,000
– Dimanche – Chaliwaté Company (BELGIUM)
HERE Dream Music Puppetry Program – $10,000
Puppetopia 2023
– Mother Mold – It Figures
– Tin Iso and the Dawn – Tristan Allen
– Deeper Closer Warmer – Poncili Creación & The Daxophone Consort
– The Emotions – Sachiyo Takahashi & gamin
– Offal Unstory – Kalan Shh (enormousface)
Japan Society – $5,000
– Akutagawa – Tom Lee
New Victory Theater – $10,000
– Baobab – Théâtre Motus and the SÔ Company (CANADA & MALI)
– Wink – Spellbound Theatre
– Nehprii Amenii – New Victory LabWorks Artist
The Public – Under the Radar Festival – $5,000
– Moby Dick – Plexus Polaire (FRANCE)
Summer-Fall 2023
The Battery Conservancy – $5,000
– Playscape Performs at ShowBox
Dixon Place – $5,000
– Puppet BloK 2023
Flushing Town Hall – $5,000
– Tiger of Zhao – Chinese Theatre Works
– The Paper Play – Puppet Beings Theatre (TAIWAN)
– Cardboard Explosion – Brad Shur’s Paper Heart Puppets
– Pomela – Ombres Folles (CANADA)
La MaMa – $10,000
2023 Puppet Festival
– Motel – Dan Hurlin (installation)
– Sounding the Resonant Path – Tom Lee
– The Pact – Aaron Haskell
– Tricyckle – Les Sages Fous (CANADA)
– The Healing Shipment – Maria Camia
– Daydream Tutorial – Maiko Kikuchi
– Jump Start 2023: Work-in-Progress Presentations
– Come Home Tiny Monster – The Gottabees
– Woods – Puzzle Théâtre – (CANADA)
St. Ann’s Warehouse – $10,000
Life & Times of Michael K. – Adapted for the stage by Lara Foot, in collaboration with Handspring Puppet Company
The Tank – $5,000
– Behind the Attic Wall – puppetry by the Ladies of Mischief
– The Human Dream Project – Admiral Grey
Teatro SEA – $5,000
– 3rd International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC
ALLELU AWARD
Janni Younge (South Africa) – Hamlet – Chicago International Festival of Puppet Theater, Chicago, IL USA January 26-28, 2023
Andy Manjuck & Dorothy James – Bill’s 44th – London Mime Festival, London, UK January 31-February 4, 2023
O’NEILL RESIDENCY
Kessto Kreatures, Anthony Michael Stokes
The Scarecrow
This original adaptation of an OZ story follows the newly appointed “His Majesty the Scarecrow,” as he is tasked to save the citizens of Winkie country from an ever-increasing horde of crows. The narrative follows his journey back down the Yellow Brick Road to discover his life before becoming a scarecrow and the lynching of an African American man that ended that life. Joined by his companions; the Wogglebug, Sawhorse, the Patchwork girl and a perpetually puckish crow, his journey explores connections between Oz and the United States in the early 1900’s.
SPECIAL FUNDING
$50,000 awarded to Center for Puppetry Arts in support of future productions and presentations.
– $25,000 for Center for Puppetry Arts production of Pancho and the Coyote, September 2024
– $25,000 for Touring Works:
– Packrat – Concrete Temple Theatre – February 28-March 10, 2024
– Human – Nehprii Amenii – January 17-28, 2024 (Puppetry NOW)
– The Emporer’s New Clothes – Grey Seal Puppets – March 12-24, 2024