The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host a screening of the new puppet horror film Something by UConn Puppet Arts Program undergraduate student Kat Folker ’19 on Friday, May 3 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Something is a short horror film with live actors and puppets inspired by the 1980s written and directed by UConn senior Kat Folker. It follows the story of a teenage girl trying to protect a monster from discovery when heightened suspicions threaten to expose it. 

Kat Folker is a senior BFA student in the UConn Puppets Arts Program from Ashford, Conn., and has been a Waring Award recipient at the Ballard Institute for three years. Something is her University Scholar thesis project and sponsored by the IDEA Grant program. She is interested in pursuing a career in special effects upon graduation. You can also see her work in Let’s Be Friends, a short horror film by UConn Digital Media and Design alumnus Ryan Glista.

Something is recommended for ages 13+ (for violence) and is 15 minutes long.

Admission is free. Due to limited seating, tickets must be reserved by visiting the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, calling 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com. For more information, or if you require an accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

The Ballard Institute will be closed on Sunday, 4/21 for Easter.

As part of its 2019 Spring Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Stevens Puppets of Indiana on April 27, 2019 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

In an enchanted Alaskan forest, join a family of bears as they encounter different perspectives and values, ultimately sharing a common purpose with a salmon, and resolving their conflict with a golden-haired trespasser, who learns precious lessons from them as well as from her bald eagle companion about respect, kindness, apologizing, and forgiveness. This show is 45 minutes long and recommended for ages 3+.

Stevens Puppets was founded in 1933 by the Peabody-Award-winning Martin Stevens, a pre-eminent American puppeteer and a founder of the Puppeteers of America. With his wife, Margi, Stevens created groundbreaking touring marionette shows in the 1960s and 70s. Dan and Zan Raynor have been with Stevens Puppets for over 20 years, each coming from live-theater backgrounds of acting and directing. Dan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater and Zan holds a Master of Theology with a doctorate in Canon Law. Dan has taught theater at the Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts and directed professionally for theaters in several states. He has performed with and directed many professional musicians like Neil Young and Huey Lewis, and acted professionally with many theater companies in California. In addition to performing on stage as an actor and dancer, Zan has directed high school and college theater programs, and designed lights, costumes, and choreography for numerous theater companies in the Midwest and Northeast. Zan has taught every level of school, from Montessori preschool through university classes. The Raynors divide their time between studio artwork, both original and restoration, training other performing artists, managing complex tours, and performing all around the country at schools, libraries, festivals, and fairs.

Our last Spring Saturday Puppet Show will be:

May 11: Everybody Loves Pirates by Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers

Eight-year-old Lucy and her goofy pal, Little Chucky, are searching for buried treasure, but a gang of bumbling pirates keeps getting in the way! The kids get some help from their new ocean-dwelling friends, including enthusiastic superhero Lobster Boy, his reluctant sidekick Crabby, and an overgrown sea monkey. This show by Maine’s popular Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers is 50 minutes and is recommended for ages 4+. 

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.

From April 9 through April 26, Ballard Institute staff will be installing our new exhibitions It’s Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton.  While the main galleries at the Ballard Institute will be closed during this process, the museum will remain open during normal business hours, and The World of Puppetry: From the Collections of the Ballard Institute will be on display in the lobby.

We  invite you to join us for the grand opening of It’s Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton on April 27 at the Ballard Institute. The opening events will include refreshments at noon and a free tour at 12:30 p.m. There will also be performances of Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Stevens Puppets at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets for the shows are available at bimp.ticketleap.com.

For its third installment of the 2019 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Holy Puppets: Performing Objects in the Middle Ages on Wednesday, April 10 at 7 p.m.at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

From puppets of Christ to fire-breathing dragons, the medieval world was full of performing objects. In this talk, Yale University art historian Michelle Oing explores the way in which puppets were used in late medieval European culture to understand humanity’s place in the cosmos.

Michelle Oing is a Ph.D. candidate in the History of Art at Yale University, specializing in medieval art and architecture. Her dissertation on performing objects in late-medieval Germany combines her personal interest in puppetry, as a former member of the Brooklyn-based collective Piehole, with her academic explorations of figural medieval sculpture.

The final Spring Puppet Forum will be:

May 1: Wayang Puppet Theatre of Indonesia: Collective Creativity and Individual Agency with Matthew Cohen

This talk, illustrated by puppets from the unmatched Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest Collection of Indonesian Puppets at Yale University Art Gallery, explores the dynamics of collective and individual agency in wayang during the colonial and postcolonial periods as a reflex of the changing world.

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.

Both performances of Go Home Tiny Monster by the Gottabees are sold out for 3/30.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program at the University of Connecticut will host Yael Rasooly’s internationally acclaimed puppet show Paper Cut for two special evening performances on Friday, April 5 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

A lonely secretary remains in the office. From her little corner, using photos from old film magazines, she escapes into a world of daydreams. But as imagination and reality collide, her romantic tale becomes a Hitchcock nightmare! The language of black-and-white cinema is transformed to the low-tech universe of paper cutouts and object theatre, creating a tension that is absurd, painful, and absolutely humorous. Paper Cut has won several international awards and has toured in over 30 international festivals, such as the International Festival for Puppets in Charleville-Mézières, France; the Schaubude festival in Berlin; Denmark’s Festival of Wonder; the Forman Brothers Theater Boat in Prague, and many others. This show is recommended for ages 15+ and is 50 minutes in length.

Yael Rasooly is one of Israel’s prominent independent theater makers. She specializes in contemporary visual and object theater and has directed several Internationally acclaimed performances, both in Israel and Europe, which have been performed in over 30 countries worldwide. Yael was the international guest artist at the 2018 National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. Yael Rasooly is also a singer of international reputation and her cabaret performance, Glamour in the Dark, is currently touring around the world. Yael Rasooly’s work in the United States is supported by the Israel Institute’s Visiting Israeli Artists Program.

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8.

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. 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.

As part of its 2019 Spring Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to present Go Home Tiny Monster by The Gottabees, from Boston, on March 30, 2019 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

One day, Sylvie and her family of handmade creatures suddenly find themselves in need of a new home. Luckily, they have an audience full of people who can help them out. Go Home Tiny Monster features the Gottabees’ trademark mix of puppetry, joyously absurd silliness, physical theater, live music, and surprising poignancy. This show is 40 minutes and is recommended for ages 3+.

The Gottabees are a Boston-based ensemble dedicated to creating inspirational, engaging, and

empowering theater for family audiences. The company is known internationally for uniting simple-but-elegant visual theater with astonishing technique. They apply their interdisciplinary training in music, dance, acrobatics, theater, and design to share original non-verbal stories set to live music

that weave together human and puppet characters in surprising ways. The Gottabees’ work earned a 2017 UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence and won the Artistic Achievement Award for Puppeteers of America’s Northeast Region in 2015. The Gottabees have performed all over, including at the Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta, GA), La MaMa E.T.C. (New York City), Detroit Institute of the Arts (Michigan), Nashville International Puppetry Festival (TN), ICA/Boston (MA), Izmir International Puppet Days (Turkey), and Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland).

Upcoming Spring Saturday Puppet Shows include:

April 27: Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Stevens Puppets

In an enchanted Alaskan forest, join a family of bears as they encounter different perspectives and values, ultimately sharing a common purpose with a salmon and resolving their conflict with a golden-haired trespasser, who learns precious lessons from them as well as from her bald eagle companion about respect, kindness, apologizing, and forgiveness. This show by Indiana’s famed Stevens Puppets is 45 minutes and is recommended for ages 3+.

May 11: Everybody Loves Pirates by Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers

Eight-year-old Lucy and her goofy pal, Little Chucky, are searching for buried treasure, but a gang of bumbling pirates keeps getting in the way! The kids get some help from their new ocean-dwelling friends, including enthusiastic superhero Lobster Boy, his reluctant sidekick Crabby, and an overgrown sea monkey. This show by Maine’s popular Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers is 50 minutes and is recommended for ages 4+. 

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.

For its second installment of the 2019 Spring Puppet Forum Series, and as a part of 2019 UConn Gives activities, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host The Royal de Luxe Giants in Montreal: Poetics and Logistics in the Animation of Urban Space with Dr. Mark Sussman on Wednesday March 27 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This event also takes place as part of the 2019 UConn Gives, a 36-hour giving initiative on March 27 and 28, where you can celebrate your favorite aspects of the University through giving. At this forum, attendees will have the opportunity to donate to the Ballard Institute, receive UConn giveaways, and make a puppet.

This presentation will discuss a rare 2017 appearance of the world-famous Royal de Luxe company in North America. Based in Nantes, France and led by director Jean-Luc Courcoult, the company comprises a large number of designers, mechanics, builders, and engineers who are also, by necessity, storytellers, performers, and community artists. Commissioned by various cities, the company tours the globe with a collection of giants: marionette-like figures operated by expertly trained teams of Lilliputian performers in a series of monumental and architectural interventions in the fabric of daily life.

Mark Sussman is a theatre artist, performance scholar, and a founding member of the Brooklyn-based collective Great Small Works. Dr. Sussman currently lives in Montreal, Quebec, where he is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre at Concordia University, teaching courses in puppetry and performance studies. He is the founder of Café Concret, Montreal’s experimental puppetry cabaret series now in its 13th year, and is a member of the Canadian Consortium for Performance and Politics in the Americas. In 2019, he will be working again with Great Small Works on a new episode of the surreal news serial, The Toy Theater of Terror As Usual.

Upcoming 2019 Spring Puppet Forums include:

April 10: Holy Puppets: Performing Objects in the Middle Ages with Michelle Oing

From puppets of Christ to fire-breathing dragons, the medieval world was full of performing objects. In this talk, art historian Michelle Oing explores the ways in which puppets were used in late-medieval European culture to understand humanity’s place in the cosmos.

May 1: Wayang Puppet Theatre of Indonesia: Collective Creativity and Individual Agency with Matthew Cohen

This talk, illustrated by puppets from the unmatched Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest Collection of Indonesian Puppets at Yale University Art Gallery, explores the dynamics of collective and individual agency in wayang during the colonial and postcolonial periods as a reflex of the changing world.

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. For more information about UConn Gives, visit givingday.uconn.edu.