Puppet Happenings: Live Puppet Theater In-Person & Online
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PUPPET HAPPENINGS - TOP PICKS |
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Playscape Performs *
Good Hearted Entertainment & Hobey Ford
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September 10-11
SATURDAY:
10:30am & 12:30pm - Good Hearted Entertainment - Sock Monkey Circus
2:00pm - Hobey Ford - ANIMALIA
3:15pm - Hobey Ford Workshop
SUNDAY:
10:30am & 12:30pm - Good Hearted Entertainment - Sock Monkey Circus
Playscape Performs comes to a close with Hobey Ford’s celebrated show “ANIMALIA” and a special presentation by Good Hearted Entertainment. Together with his team of adorable “Foamies,” Hobey Ford makes animals of all sorts emerge in movement and music to form a full-on puppet ballet. Watch as the habits and habitats of the world’s mightiest beasts and tiniest bugs come into furry focus right before your eyes. “Sock Monkey Circus” by Good Hearted Entertainment is a full circus performed in miniature! 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!
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Presenter's Grant (2022)
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Puppets in the Green Mountains
Sandglass Theater
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September 9-18
10 days of international performance, community dialogues, and special events that celebrate the ground from which we grow and the future we are creating. Sandglass Theater is thrilled to announce the next edition of the Puppets in the Green Mountains (PGM) international festival, September 9th-18th, 2022. Local and international artists and community leaders bring to life this year’s theme: Roots and Wings. The festival celebrates the thriving art of Puppet Theater as a means of enhancing perspective, generating compassion and celebrating the human spirit. With family shows, shows for adults, workshops and forum discussions, PGM: Roots and Wings has something for everyone. Over the last 25 years, the PGM festival has grown substantially. What began as an event to present unique and inspiring Puppet Theater from around the world, now welcomes thousands of participants. This year will include artists from Germany, Jordan, Mexico, the USA, and a world premiere of a new Sandglass production. This 11th edition of PGM embraces its role as a meeting ground, an educational platform, a space for discussion, and a celebration of Puppet Theater. Sandglass Theater is also celebrating its 40th anniversary as a force for creating innovative theater and community building. Puppet Theater is unique in its ability to give audiences a focused lens to reflect and relate. This edition of PGM will use this lens to explore the notion of Roots and Wings. Special discounts for Students, Seniors, WIC, and Medicaid cardholders
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This and That *
The Institute of Useless Activity, Phil Soltanoff and Steven Wendt
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September 7-24
Wednesdays-Saturdays - 7:00pm
What is THIS? What is THAT? THAT imagines the creation of the universe. Video equipment comes to life by the cranking of tripod knobs, zooming in and out, maneuvering visual feedback loops, dissolving images together and apart, creating an abstract video puppetry before our eyes. No pre-recorded video, no tricks. THIS is about people – their romantic sense of longing, loss, alienation and near miss… a cowboy sleeps under the stars, a family puts their child to sleep for the night, a crooner serenades his lover, a jazz pianist fantasizes while he plays. Hand shadow vignettes, inspired by Henry Moore sculptures, morph from one scene to another.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant (2020)
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Little Amal Walks NYC * - FAMILY
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September 14 - October 2
Little Amal is the giant puppet of a 10 year old Syrian refugee girl, who has travelled over 9,000km with her message of hope and solidarity for displaced people everywhere. From September 14 – October 2 Little Amal Walks NYC in partnership with St. Ann’s Warehouse. She will explore all five boroughs of New York City, meeting artists, civic leaders, community groups, and young New Yorkers of all backgrounds. The start times for each of Amal’s events will be announced shortly. Until then, you can explore the listings below to see how Little Amal will be welcomed throughout the city. All of Amal’s events in NYC are free to attend and are suitable for children and families. Scroll to explore the events that will welcome Little Amal to NYC.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Presenter's Grant (2022)
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The Lion & The Mouse * - FAMILY
WonderSpark Puppets
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September 10 - 12:30pm & 4:30pm
Two amazing Aesop's Fables! It's a puppet show double feature with 'The Lion and the Mouse' and 'The Tortoise and the Hare'. Each fable is highly interactive, plus we learn about forgiveness, the power of kindness, and good sportsmanship.
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Audience by Vaclav Havel
Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre
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September 1-4
Thursday, Friday & Saturday - 7:30pm
Sunday - 3:00pm
"Audience," a dark comedy of spying in a brewery, is staged with live projected closeups of puppets from security cameras in order to suggest surveillance. In the last decade, such use of video has been employed to adapt marionette theater for large houses. The production's concept is by Vit Horejs and Theresa Linnihan, who act the play together. The play "Audience" reflects on the time when Havel had to work in a brewery as penance for writing critically of the Czechoslovak communist government. He ultimately went from prison to the castle, becoming president of Czechoslovakia. Vit Horejs plays Vanek and Theresa Linnihan plays the Brewmaster. Production design is by Alan Barnes Netherton. Marionettes are by Milos Kasal and Jakub "Kuba" Krejci. Costumes and the Vanek marionette are by Theresa Linnihan. Producer is Bonnie Sue Stein/GOH Productions.
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Goth Opera
Fairy Tale Marionettes
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September 2-4
Friday - 6:30pm
Saturday & Sunday - 8:00pm
This is a cautionary tale about lust and addiction set in the Downtown Gothic Rock scene of the 1990s. The story is set to gothic rock music. It is performed with marionettes and shadow puppets.
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Migraciones / Migrations *
Paradox Teatro
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September 2-3
Friday - 7:30pm
Saturday - 3:00pm
MIGRACIONES / MIGRATIONS follows a photojournalist’s journey to learn the story of refugees migrating across sand, water, and shadows. Informed by the increasing border conflicts between the Paradox Teatro co-founders’ home countries, the United States and Mexico. This performance creates a unique layering of hybrid body puppets, sand drawings, and shadow puppetry projections to reveal each character’s search for a new home. These visual mediums are scored by live music and poetry in English and Spanish to communicate with audiences across languages and cultures.
* Recipient of a Jim Henson Foundation Production Grant (2019)
Additional Tour Dates:
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Suspended Animation
The Huber Marionettes
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September 9 - 7:30pm
Phillip Huber is like a classical concert violinist or pianist who works to master every note in the score and performs with perfection. He is there onstage with the marionettes - you are aware of him in the shadows, perhaps a dim colored light on his face - but below, his marionettes are alive all by themselves with feelings, passions, attitudes, and personality. Suspended Animation is a series of variety vignettes selected from the Huber Marionettes Characters cast. The lighting is dramatic, the stage presence is elegant, and every moment is carefully timed and choreographed. "The Huber Marionettes are nothing short of riveting" (Los Angeles Times)
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The Day my Father Became a Bush - FAMILY
Waidspeicher Theater (Germany)
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September 10 - 11:00am & 2:00pm
A long journey of a courageous young girl fleeing from war, based on the award-winning children’s book by Joke van Leeuwen. This performance offers a way to present difficult material and subject matter for young audiences with warmth, compassion and marvel. Theater Waidspeicher create a safe space for children to hear the story of Toda. Toda is in fact not named Toda. Her real name is very long and contains the letter ‘K’ four times, but where she now lives nobody can pronounce her actual name. Toda tells the story of her escape. There is a war in the country that she comes from – “one lot are fighting against the other lot.” Toda’s father gets conscripted and learns how to become a bush in order to camouflage himself. For a short time her grandmother looks after the young girl until where they live becomes too dangerous. Toda needs to cross the border to the neighboring country where her mother has been living for several years. During her journey to safety Toda has many different adventures and along the way meets various people: money-grubbing people, smugglers, children who give their toys away and a friendly commander who is unable to command.
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Our Domestic Resurrection Circus
Bread and Puppet
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September 10 - 4:00pm
The circus is coming! The circus is coming! The 58-year-old, Vermont-based Bread and Puppet Theater is presenting its iconic puppet circus at Fort Allen Park here in Portland, Maine. The Domestic Resurrection Circus is a bright, raucous melee of short acts governed by a brass band, addressing the heart of the current moment with diverse puppetry styles and spanning many moods, from slapstick to the sublime.
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WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS, FILMS |
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Sand Drawings & Shadows for Live Video Projection
Paradox Teatro
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September 4 - 2:00pm
An overview of techniques and technology for sand drawings and shadow puppetry on light tables, to perform under a camera for large-scale video projection in live performance. The performance techniques taught by Paradox Teatro artists can be applied to a variety of live performance styles, in addition to filmmaking and animation. The workshop begins with a behind-the-scenes demonstration of how the Paradox Teatro artists perform a scene from their multimedia puppetry performance MIGRACIONES / MIGRATIONS. Participants will next be guided through creating their own shadow puppet. Then participants will gain hands-on experience practicing sand drawings and performing shadow puppets on stage with light tables, cameras, and video projection.
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General Membership Meeting & Tricks of the Trade
The Carriage House - 225 E 67th Street New York, NY
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September 12 - 7:00pm
The Puppetry Guild of Greater New York invites you to
A General Membership Meeting & Tricks of the Trade! How do you tour a show? What do you need? Touring a show locally or nationally can be tricky. What are your tricks of the trade? We would like folks to share about reasonable liability insurance, contracts, light weight and compact set ups for travel, portable sound systems and other tricks of the trade. When signing up to share please include links to these items so that we can create one spreadsheet to be shared with the membership afterwards. We plan to create a google slides presentation for the meeting complete with images!
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PUPPETRY FESTIVALS, NATIONAL |
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Great Plains Puppet Train
Puppeteers of America Great Plains Regional Puppet Festival
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September 8-11
Located close to Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa and the internationally renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop, West Liberty is an iconic small town, with an active main street and midwestern hospitality. The Regional Festival will take place in various buildings downtown, all within a distance of about four to six blocks, starting Thursday evening with registration, finger foods, a show, and a party. Friday will include workshops, performances in our opera house, and a Puppet Slam. Saturday will feature the West Liberty Children’s Festival, complete with five puppet performances and lots of street food and activities, A street dance with a Latino band, and finally a delicious catered dinner and another performance. Sunday: breakfast, one last show, and farewells to friends, old and new!
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Houston Puppetry Festival
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September 15-17
Two Days of PUPPET WORKSHOPS: Make puppets and learn to use them!
Make Shadow Puppets, Nancy Refro Puppets, Favorite Stories Puppet Show, Puppets In Prague: An In-Depth Experience From Design to Performance, Make Peter Rabbit Glove Puppet, Puppet City: Memorable Standards Based Social Studies Through Puppetry, Top Ten Reasons to Use Puppets in Classroom, Make a Monster Puppet, Developing Character Voices, Make Abiyoyo Puppet, Make Newspaper Puppet, Make Walk-Around Stage, Make Talking Sock Puppet, Make Grocery Bag Puppet, Make Spider Glove Puppet, Simple Stage Ideas, Shadow Puppetry Illusions, Mix-methods of The Ware House Puppets, The Variety Puppet Show: Why and How, and more! Educators and Librarians Earn 7-14 Texas Education Agency Continuing Professional Education Clock Hours (7 hours per day)
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MUSEUM & GALLERY EXHIBITS |
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August 6 - September 18
Opening Reception:
August 6 3-6pm
Artist talk and screening of Puppet (2010) Directed by David Soll
August 27 3-6pm
Gallery Hours:
Friday and Saturday : 11am-5pm
Sunday : 12pm-4pm
and by appointment
“A motel is a liminal space, situated inconclusively between a departure and an arrival. It is a way station between what happened before, and what happens next. A motel is a temporary detention center of sorts, (albeit a voluntary one) where the inhabitants hold up and wait with eager anticipation for the future, or a fearful dread of it. MOTEL was initially inspired by a scene from a puppet play I've been developing called BISMARCK. Born out of a reaction to the Trump era attacks on immigration and on immigrants themselves, the play concerns a young woman coming to the United States for the first time whose intentions are completely misread by those she meets. But with MOTEL, the woman's intentions, and her over-arching narrative, have intentionally been left up to the viewer."
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ACCEPTING SUBMISSSIONS / APPLICATIONS |
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Puppeteers Wanted for Little Amal's Visit to the Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo & The Tank
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September 25
Course Dates: January 16 - March 11, 2023
The Tank is supporting an event as part of The Walk Productions’ and Handspring Puppet Company’s Little Amal organized by Dau Yang Enrico Wey. It is being presented with support by Saint Ann’s Warehouse the afternoon of Sunday, September 25th near the Bronx Zoo. The event is part of Little Amal’s journey through New York City’s five boroughs- an act of continued effort towards migrant visibility and a growing concern for climate refugees worldwide.
On September 25th, we are staging a large-scale puppet intervention in the Bronx with puppet animals you have built for past productions and your team of puppeteers to share a moment of urgency and solidarity. Amal will discover and release these animals from The Bronx Zoo and venture out from the gates together in search of new homes and habitats. The event will not exceed three hours and there is a $150 stipend as a thank you to each puppeteer.
I am wondering if you might be interested in participating? We are looking for folks to provide their own animal puppet. If you are interested, you are welcome to email Hanna Yurfest directly at hyurfest@thetanknyc.org with a photo or two of your puppet or you can complete this google form.
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Chicago Puppet Lab - Accepting Applications
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Deadline Extended: September 5
The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is excited to announce the 2nd year of The Chicago Puppet Lab, a developmental lab for Chicago artists creating new, original puppet theater work. Co-directors Tom Lee and Grace Needlman will mentor a cohort of 6-8 artists/artist groups over a 8-month period culminating in a mini-festival of works-in-progress.
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PUPPET HAPPENINGS - COMPLETE LISTINGS |
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The Jim Henson Foundation's Puppet Happenings Listings are updated every Friday.
Puppet Happenings Submission Form:
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