Following last weekend’s jam-packed three days of parades, puppet shows, and gala celebrations, the festival continues for another weekend of world-class entertainment for all ages, engaging public dialogues, and much more.
This Friday evening at New England Youth Theater, Sandglass Theater will perform the final local showing of D-Generation: An Exaltation of Larks, their multiple-award-winning production based upon stories written collaboratively by groups of people with late-stage dementia. At Sandglass Theater, Kimi Maeda will present Bend, a performance drawn in sand that addresses issues of war, memory, home, and trans-cultural identity.
On Saturday at Hilltop Montessori School, Thingamujig Theatre of England performs Hullaba Lulu, the whimsical tale of a colorful, joyful bird who teaches a tug-boating couple what’s really important in life: love, play, and sometimes, how to say goodbye. For adults, Kimi Maeda of the U.S. performs Bend at Sandglass Theater. At NEYT, Theater Waidspeicher of Germany presents Romeo and Juliet, a silent, unexpected version of the classic tale in which Juliet awakens from her deathly sleep to witness her continuing dreams and destiny.
Saturday also brings two interviews in the Brown Bag Lunch Interview Series. Kimi Maeda and Julie Lichtenberg will be interviewed by Jon Potter for Generations of Otherness in America, and Ruben Dario Salazar, Director of Teatro de las Estaciones of Cuba, will be interviewed for Puppet Theater in Cuba Today. Both events will take place at the Brattleboro Museum and Arts Center.
The Cuban company Teatro de las Estaciones, after a long battle to secure their visas, will present a rare treat on Sunday: El Patico Feo, or The Ugly Duckling. This performance for all ages, filled with full-color Cuban exuberance, will take place at Hilltop Montessori School. At the Brattleboro Museum and Arts Center, Eric Bass and Roberto Salomon will speak at the third Brown Bag Lunch Interview Series event, addressing this summer’s performance of Natan el Sabio (Nathan the Wise) in El Salvador.
Puppets in the Green Mountains will also offer several wonderful options for mid-week audiences: Bend on Wednesday, and El Patico Feo and Hooray for Hollywood (a film by Raven Kaliana that raises public awareness about the trafficking of children) on Thursday.
This incredible biennial festival is off and rolling. Be sure to join in the fun! Purchase your tickets at http://puppetsinthegreenmountains.com/, where you’ll find plenty of choices for the whole family: a range of meaningful dialogues, workshops, and events along with outstanding puppet shows for both children and adults. Take advantage of the extraordinary array of performances in this once-in-a-lifetime event!
