Our first Fall Puppet Forum features puppeteer Amy Trompetter talking about “Buffa & Belly Laughs: A Return to the Roots of Rossini” on September 17 at 7:30 p.m. Trompetter, the creator of the current Ballard Institute exhibition Opera & Giant Puppets, will discuss the creation of her dynamic puppet production of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and how, in her words, “the magic of puppetry unleashes humor, reveals lyricism, and illuminates the revolutionary spirit of Rossini’s 19th-century opera.”

The rest of the forum schedule includes:

Wednesday, October 1, 7:30 p.m.: Joanne Zerdy and Marlis Schweitzer, Performing Objects and Theatrical Things. Reading, discussion, and book signing for their new anthology from Palgrave Macmillan.

Thursday, October 9, 4:30 p.m.: Dassia Posner, Claudia Orenstein, and John Bell, The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance. Reading, discussion, and book signing for their new anthology from Routledge.

Wednesday, October 22, 7:30 p.m.: Blair Thomas, Liminal Worlds: Design in the Puppet Theater. The celebrated Chicago-based puppeteer talks about his aesthetic process, in conjunction with the premiere of his exhibition at the Ballard Institute.

Thursday, December 4, 7:30 p.m.: Winnie Lambrecht, Puppetry and Politics in 1939: The Vagabond Puppeteers. Anthropologist and Rhode Island School of Design professor Winnie Lambrecht premieres her new film about political puppet theater among dairy farmers in upstate New York.

Forums occur in the Ballard Institute Theater. Admission to these events is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. This forum will also be live-streamed on our page: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/forum-live-stream 

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