Month: February 2020

CANCELLED: “She Thinks She’s Queen Elizabeth But She’s Dirty Gerts To Me” by PuppetKabob on 3/14 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

As part of its 2020 Spring Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present She Thinks She’s Queen Elizabeth But She’s Dirty Gerts To Me by PuppetKabob on March 14, 2020 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. 

Have you ever heard the phrase: “She thinks she’s Queen Elizabeth, but she’s Dirty Gerts to me!”? No? Well now that you have, come and explore the story behind the saying in PuppetKabob’s latest pop-up creation Dirty Gerts—a show about growing pains. Made entirely out of repurposed paper products!

PuppetKabob’s latest creation Dirty Gerts is a paper pop-up extravaganza! A groovy blend of historical fiction, 60s pop culture and colorful confetti! Come on get happy with middle schooler Carol Lee Bell as she finds the fold to fitting in and discovers the best way is to not actually fit at all! This show is 50 minutes long and is recommended for ages 5+.

In their review of the show, the Long Island Children’s Theater stated, “Dirty Gerts is a delightful story of growing up in Vermont during the mid-1960s. Using paper pop ups and old style paper dolls, Sarah shows the challenges a young woman confronts about fitting in, creativity and acceptance. Our audiences were compelled to share their own stories with their children and grandchildren.” 

Sarah Frechette of PuppetKabob splits her time between Vermont, Europe, and Portland, Oregon as a touring puppeteer, arts educator, and stop-motion animation costumer. She trained with master puppeteer Albrecht Roser; graduated from UConn’s Puppet Arts Program; made mini costumes for LAIKA’s feature film ParaNorman and most recently MonkeyPaw Productions’s Wendell & Wild. Sarah’s show The Snowflake Man was awarded an UNIMA-USA citation of excellence.

Upcoming Spring Puppet Performance Shows include:

April 18: Mr. Cuddles is Missing created by Faye Dupras, with music by Max Weigert 

Have you seen Mr. Cuddles? Join the friends at Cozy Corner as they search hither and thither for Rory’s missing lovie and best friend, Mr. Cuddles. In this family friendly show audiences are invited into an interactive magical world full of eclectic neighborhood friends, delightful puppet pals, and live movement-based music.This show is 45 minutes long and is recommended for ages 3+.

May 2: Kitty’s Corner and Other Stories by Dirk Joseph and String Theory Theater

Kitty’s Corner and Other Stories is a puppet show featuring several short vignettes which are sure to delight the entire family. Audiences will be treated to a variety of puppetry formats including marionettes, hand and rod puppets, shadow puppetry, and crankies performed by Dirk and Azaria of Baltimore’s String Theory Theater. This show is 40 minutes long and is recommended for ages 3+.

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8; Kids: $6 (12 years and under).

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. For more information about these performances or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

CANCELLED: “Tobacco: A Crankie Shadow Play” with Gusti Sudarta and Rumput on 3/27 at 7 p.m.

The UConn Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, UConn Puppet Arts Program, and Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry present Tobacco: A Crankie Shadow Play with Gusti Sudarta and Rumput on March 27 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. Shadow master Gusti Sudarta from Bali, Indonesia and the string-band group Rumput from Richmond, Virginia collaborate in an intercultural performance involving traditional arts from Indonesia—specifically wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre) and keroncong (string-band music)—with crankies, or moving panoramas. This production will focus on the history of the global tobacco industry, with an emphasis on Virginia and western Indonesia. This performance is free and open to the public with a run-time of approximately 75 minutes. There are no age restrictions but parents should be aware that old American jingles will be sung.

When the American tobacco industry was hit with lawsuits in the late 90s, companies rebranded and reoriented towards international markets such as Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, tobacco is poorly regulated, ads regularly target children (remember the “smoking baby” on Youtube?), and lung cancer deaths have gone through the roof. Cigarette taxes are now an important source of national income and politicians receive regular kickbacks from the industry. The story of tobacco is a tale of global exploitation in which American capitalists have benefitted wildly from the suffering of Native Americans, African American slaves, blue-collar labor, and the engineered addiction of billions of smokers across the globe. This new “crankie” and shadow play about the story of tobacco, shows how Richmond, Virginia and, today, Indonesia are two of the most important chapters of tobacco as a global industry.

Tobacco: A Crankie Shadow Play will feature shadow puppetry by the renowned Balinese shadow master Gusti Sudarta. In addition to the main feature, there will also be several traditional and new works for keroncong (Indonesian string band music) and several other crankies included in the program.

The music ensemble Rumput plays keroncong (a string-band tradition from Indonesia) and explores parallel threads with other traditions, especially old-time string-band music of the United States and British Isles, and Indonesian gamelan. The company produces multimedia performances involving traditional and original music paired with shadow theater comprising elements of American and Indonesian traditions — crankies (scrolling panoramas) and wayang (shadow puppets). Rumput has performed internationally, including tours and residencies in Java in 2017 and 2018, performing with local artists at each stop, and collaborating with Indonesian master artists including Danis Sugiyanto, Peni Candrarini, Endah Laras, Ubiet Raseuki, and Gusti Sudarta.

Dalang (shadow master) I Gusti Putu Sudarta Ph.D., was born into a family of artists in Bedulu village and has been performing music, dance, and shadow theater since he was six years old. He is a permanent faculty member in the puppetry department at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Denpasar (Bali) and holds a master’s and Ph.D. in theater from the National Institute of Arts in Solo, Java. He regularly performs various forms of traditional Balinese music, mask dance, and wayang kulit (shadow puppet theater) in ceremonial contexts and has taken part in several international tours and inter-cultural experimental music and theater productions.

This performance is sponsored by the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut, in collaboration with the UConn Puppet Arts Program and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.

This performance is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For further information or if you require an accommodation to attend, please contact Dr. Matthew Cohen at matthew.i.cohen@uconn.edu.

CANCELLED: “Puppets and Little Shop of Horrors” with Martin P. Robinson on 3/26 at 7 p.m.

For its second installment of the 2020 Spring Puppet Forum Series the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host “Puppets and Little Shop of Horrors” with Martin P. Robinson and UConn Puppet Arts graduate students Robert Ian Cutler and K. William Smith on Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Join famed Sesame Street puppeteer Martin P. Robinson and UConn Puppet Arts graduate students Robert Ian Cutler and K. William Smith in a discussion of puppetry and Little Shop of Horrors. Robinson, who designed, built, and performed all of the Audrey II puppets for the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop, as well as for its Broadway incarnation, will talk with Cutler and Smith about the design and performance of puppets for the professional stage, in the context of Smith and Cutler’s work on the upcoming Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s April 23-May 3 production of Little Shop. Special ticket discounts for the CRT production will be available at this event!

Martin P. Robinson has written, designed, directed, and performed for Broadway, film, and television for many years, including such productions as Little Shop of Horrors, Muppets Take Manhattan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sesame Street, Allegra’s Window, and more. He has performed on Sesame Street as Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster, Slimey, and other characters since 1981. He acts as a Sesame Street International Senior Muppet Coordinator/Teacher in numerous countries worldwide. He recently wrote, designed, and directed the musical All Hallows Eve in New York City, and is currently performing as Mr. Primm in the Apple+ production Helpsters.

William Smith is a second-year UConn Puppet Arts MFA candidate. He received his BFA in puppetry at West Virginia University. Will is designing and fabricating new puppets for Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors. Will has worked as a staff member at the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, as a resident artist at WVU, and has been featured as puppeteer for various productions over his career. Favorites include Dr. Stein: A Puppet Prometheus (WVU), Spacebus 9 (UConn MFA Project),  and Calle Allende (Black Cherry Puppet Theatre).

Robert Ian Cutler is a second-year UConn Puppet Arts MFA candidate. Rob came to UConn following a career in Philadelphia as an actor, carpenter, improvisor, and puppeteer. Rob will be performing the puppets for CRT’s upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors, as well as serving the production as dramaturg. Favorite credits include Spacebus 9 (UConn MFA project), Puppets: Here and There (ComedySportz Philly), Welcome to Ahnedonia (Monkey Boys Productions) and Waterbears in Space (Transmissions Theatre).  

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and experience our puppet exhibitions, as well as the video resources in our library nook. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu. 

ON EXHIBIT: “Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater” and “Shakespeare and Puppetry”

A vibrant, colorful, and thought-provoking exhibition of work by one of the United States’s most dynamic 20th-century puppeteers, Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater celebrates the career of the long-time Artist in Residence at Boston’s Puppet Showplace Theater, in celebration of and in homage to Davis’s 85th year. Paul Vincent Davis’s award-winning productions have ranged from the joyous fun of fairy tales, folklore, and clown circus to works by Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett. Focused primarily on the design, construction, and performance of hand puppets, Paul Vincent Davis has always sought to expand America’s sometimes “limited vision of this amazing art form,” as he put it in his book Exploring the Art of Puppet Theater. In every aspect of his work, from his early years with Carol Fijan’s National Theatre of Puppet Arts in New York City, to his creation of the Repertory Puppet Theatre at the Puppet Showplace, Davis has consistently explored what it means to approach puppetry in the same manner that we approach dance, music, or visual art. Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater will present puppets, props, and stages from such spectacles as Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp, Rumpelstiltskin, Here Come the Clowns, and Bingo the Circus Dog, as well as Richard III, and Shakes versus Shav. View an online version of Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater here. 

Curated by performance artist, and writer Dr. Jungmin Song, Shakespeare and Puppetry presents exciting and thought-provoking examples of the many ways puppets and objects have been used to interpret the works of the greatest playwright of the English language. Ranging from the giant cardboard cutouts of Bread and Puppet Theater’s Out of Joint Hamlet, to Forced Entertainment’s everyday-object performance of Macbeth, the exhibition introduces new perspectives about how dramatic characters are fashioned, and how “things” can be cast in dramas. Shakespeare and Puppetry also includes work by Tiny Ninja Theatre, Jon Ludwig, Hogarth Puppets, Little Angel Theatre, Fred Curchack, Great Small Works, and Larry Reed. Through its juxtaposition of modern and contemporary puppet and object interpretations of Macbeth, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the exhibition invites viewers to contemplate the materiality of character and the physical embodiment of roles, to question our preconceptions of character, and ask what it means for an object to perform onstage. View an online version of Shakespeare and Puppetry here. 

Dr. Jungmin Song completed a practice-as-research PhD titled Animating Everyday Objects in Performance at the University of Roehampton in 2014. Her writings have appeared in Performance Research, Artpress 2, Asian Theatre Journal, and Contemporary Theatre Review. In 2017 she edited a special issue of Puppet Notebook on Shakespeare and puppets and was a researcher in residence at the Institut International de la Marionnette (IIM) in Charleville-Mézières, France to lay the ground for a book on Shakespeare and puppetry. As a puppet maker she has participated in numerous projects, including the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Little Angel Theatre’s co-production of Venus and Adonis (2004).  She has taught in the fields of theatre and fine arts at the University of Roehampton, University of Connecticut, and the University of Kent. 

“Raccoon Tales” performed by Brad Shur on 2/29 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

As part of its 2020 Spring Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present Paul Vincent Davis’s Raccoon Tales, performed by Brad Shur of Paper Heart Puppets on Feb. 29, 2020 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This performance will take place in conjunction with the grand opening of two new exhibits, Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater and Shakespeare and Puppetry, on Feb. 29, 2020 at noon. 

The animals in the forest are always getting into trouble playing tricks on each other. Will they learn their lessons? This hand-puppet show includes three humorous tales inspired by the Native American stories of the Seneca Tribe: How the Fox and the Raccoon Trick Each Other; Why the Blue Jay is Blue and the Gray Wolf Isn’t; and Why the Bear has a Stumpy Tail. This show is 45 minutes long and is recommended for ages 4+. 

Brad Shur is the founder and lead performer for Paper Heart Puppets, based in Poughkeepsie, NY. From 2009-2017, he served as the Resident Artist at Puppet Showplace Theater where he created many of his own shows and studied with Master Puppeteer Paul Vincent Davis. Brad is proud to have the opportunity to help keep his mentor’s work alive by performing Paul’s show, Raccoon Tales, on Feb. 29. 

On Feb. 29 at noon the Ballard Institute will open two new exhibits, including an exhibit of Paul Vincent Davis’s work titled Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater. There will be free refreshments at noon and a tour at 12:30 p.m.

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8; Kids: $6 (12 years and under).

Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com/raccoon-tales/. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. Parking is free for the first two hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a daily maximum charge of $8. For more information about these performances or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

Ballard Main Galleries Closed 2/10-2/28 (Museum is Open!)

The main galleries at the Ballard Institute will be closed 2/10-2/28 while our staff installs new exhibits. The museum will remain open during normal business hours and our two exhibitions: The World of Puppetry: From the Collections of the Ballard Institute in our lobby, and the hallway gallery, The Kinetic Life of the Puppet: Photography of Richard Termine will be on display.

Join us for the opening of our new exhibitions Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater and Shakespeare and Puppetry on 2/29 at noon.

“Walt Whitman and Lively Materiality” with Jane Bennett on 2/20 at 7 p.m. and “Colloquium with Jane Bennett” on 2/21 at 9 a.m.

For its first installment of the 2020 Spring Puppet Forum Series the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Walt Whitman and Lively Materiality with Professor Jane Bennett on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs, followed by a Colloquium with Jane Bennett on Friday, Feb. 21 at 9 a.m.

Dr. Bennett, of Johns Hopkins University, is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary political theorist and philosopher best known in the puppetry world for her work on “the material world in performance,” especially her influential bestseller Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Drawing from her forthcoming book Influx and Efflux: Writing Up with Walt Whitman, Professor Bennett will speak at the Thursday Puppet Forum about Whitman’s sense of “lively materiality” and the implications such ideas for puppetry studies and other subjects. Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and experience our puppet exhibitions, as well as the video resources in our library nook. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live.

Dr. Bennett’s visit to the University of Connecticut will continue the following day with a Colloquium with Jane Bennett, Friday, Feb. 21, from 9 a.m. to noon at the UConn Humanities Institute on the 4th floor of UConn’s Homer Babbidge Library. The colloquium will include research presentations by UConn scholars including Associate Professor of English Kathleen Tonry, who will consider connections between Jane Bennett’s work and the 15th-century history of the book; Professor of Art History Elizabeth Athens, who will consider 18th-century naturalist William Bartram’s representations of nature; and Ballard Institute Director John Bell, who will examine Jane Bennett’s influence on contemporary puppetry studies. The presentations will also include short puppet responses to Walt Whitman poems by students in Dr. Matthew Cohen’s Hand Puppetry class. The colloquium offers an opportunity to engage in conversation about Walt Whitman and American poetry, political theory, puppetry studies, object-oriented ontology, and philosophy with Dr. Bennett. This event is free and open to the public. 

These Jane Bennett events at the University of Connecticut are co-sponsored by UConn’s departments of Philosophy, Political Science, and English, the UConn Humanities Institute, and UConn’s American Studies program. 

Jane Bennett is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, in the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Her recent essays have appeared in Grain/Vapor/Ray (on Kafka’s Odradek), Evental Aesthetics (special issue on Vital Materialism), and MLN (on mimesis). She is the author of Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things (2010); The Enchantment of Modern Life (2001); Thoreau’s Nature (1994), and Unthinking Faith and Enlightenment, (1987). Her forthcoming book this spring is called Influx & Efflux: Writing up with Walt Whitman. 

For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend the forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu. For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend the colloquium, please contact Dr. Matthew Cohen at matthew.i.cohen@uconn.edu.

 

2020 UConn Winter Puppet Slam on 2/7 at 8 p.m.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2020 UConn Winter Puppet Slam on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall, located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. 06269. The UConn Winter Puppet Slam will feature short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around New England, including BodyWave and Amy West, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students.

The 2020 UConn Winter Puppet Slam will showcase the work of BodyWave, a Boston-based collective of artists and performers who will present The Good Oak, a crankie (or moving scroll performance) inspired by Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac which incorporates live music and over 30 puppets to show the life of one tree over more than a century. Come early to the von der Mehden lobby to see BodyWave’s Miniature Migration, an audience-of-one show about Sandhill Cranes on Nebraska’s Platte River.  

Amy West, a puppeteer, alumna of the UConn Puppet Arts certificate program, and a writer, photographer, and wedding DJ from Boston, will perform her new work Coming Home to You, a shadow crankie celebrating the annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in the Berkshires.

The UConn Winter Puppet Slam will also feature new works by UConn graduate and undergraduate students from the university’s Puppet Arts Program. Funding for the UConn Winter Puppet Slam is made possible in part by the Puppet Slam Network.

The UConn Winter Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, Conn. For directions to the von der Mehden Recital Hall, visit vdm.uconn.edu. These performances are recommended for mature audiences. For more information about these performances or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.