As part of its 2023 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host “Translating Pinocchio for the 21st Century: Puppets and Modern Culture”with Anna Kraczyna, co-author (with John Hooper) of a new, internationally acclaimed annotated translation of Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute).
Scholar, biographer, and translator Anna Kraczyna will discuss with Ballard Institute director John Bell the fascinating complexity of Collodi’s classic story—one of the best-known, and best-loved stories in world literature—and how (different from the Disney version’s focus on the problems of lying) the novel is most interested in universal ideas about the importance of education and learning from one’s own experience in order to be a true human being. Pinocchio, as Kraczyna and Hooper put it, “is one of those rare fictional characters in whom an entire people seem to be able to make out their reflection,” which might explain why, after almost 150 years, the story is still an inspiration to film-makers and artists of all kinds. Copies of The Adventures of Pinocchio will be on sale at Barnes and Noble during this event. This forum is co-sponsored by UConn’s Department of English; the Department of Literatures, Cultures & Languages; and the Italian Literary & Cultural Studies program.
Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or if you require accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.
As part of its 2023 Fall Puppet Forum Series and in conjunction with the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry’s current exhibit, Tradition and Revolution in Indian Shadow Puppetry, the Ballard Institute is pleased to host an Indian Shadow Puppetry puppet forum with Tradition and Revolution exhibition curator Rahul Koonathara and Indian puppetry scholar Dr. Claudia Orenstein, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute).
Rahul Koonathara is a UConn graduate student in the Department of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, and a 12th-generation puppeteer in the Pulavar family of Tholpavakoothu shadow performers in Kerala, India. Dr. Claudia Orenstein is a professor of theater at Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center whose work focuses on performing object theatre and puppetry forms in India and Japan. Koonathara and Orenstein will discuss the spectacular South Indian shadow puppet traditions of Tolu Bommalatta and Tholpavakoothu, as well as recent innovations reflecting the changing nature of the form, all of which can be seen in the current Ballard Institute exhibit Tradition and Revolution in Indian Shadow Puppetry. The exhibition will be on display through Dec.17, 2023.
Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or if you require accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.
About the Speakers
Rahul Koonathara is the younger son of legendary shadow puppet master Padmashri Ramachandra Pulavar and puppeteer Rajalakshmi Ramachandra Pulavar. He was born into a family of puppeteers which has preserved Tholpavakoothu shadow theater traditions for twelve generations. Rahul is currently a graduate student in the Department of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Connecticut, under the guidance of Professor Matthew Cohen, and practices traditional shadow puppetry together with contemporary puppet productions, as well as scholarly research in the puppet arts. Rahul has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, and a Master’s degree in Folklore Studies, as well as a degree in Acting from the National School of Drama in Bangalore. Rahul has performed major roles in traditional and contemporary shadow puppet productions at the Tholpavakoothu and Puppet Centre in Kerala, and at national and international festivals around the world.
Claudia Orenstein, Theatre Professor at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, has spent nearly two decades writing on contemporary and traditional puppetry in the US and Asia. Recent publications: co-edited volumes Women and Puppetry: Critical and Historical Investigations and The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance. She worked as dramaturg on Tom Lee and kuruma ningyō master, Nishikawa Koryū V’s, Shank’s Mare, is Board Member of UNIMA-USA and Associate Editor of Asian Theatre Journal. Current book projects: Thinking Through the Puppet: Essays on Puppet Dramaturgy and a two-volume co-edited anthology with Tim Cusack, Puppet and Spirit: Ritual, Religion, and Performing Objects.
Join us for a special free screening of Dead Vision Productions’ Uncle Sleazo’s Toxic and Terrifying T.V. Hour, on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry!
From Director Lucky Cerruti and Dead Vision Productions comes an evening of truly frightening tales of terror with your favorite horror host, Uncle Sleazo. From blood-soaked creature features, to atmospheric frights and everything in between. UConn Puppet Arts Visiting Assistant Professor in Residence Matt Sorensen co-wrote, acted, and designed and built puppets for Uncle Sleazo’s Toxic and Terrifying T.V. Hour. After the film screening, the film creators will share their insights into the conception and production of the film.
To get into the Halloween spirit, we encourage attendees to come in costume for a costume contest, with Dead Vision Productions merchandise awarded to the winners! There will also be free popcorn, and attendees are invited to bring their own snacks. The screening is free to attend, but a reservation is required. Please make a reservation in advance at bimp.ticketleap.com/sleazo. This film contains explicit content and mature themes, recommended for audiences 18+.
If you require accommodation to participate, contact the Ballard Institute at bimp@uconn.edu or 860-486-8580.
As part of UConn Family Weekend, join Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry staff for free exhibit tours at noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 and Sunday, Oct. 15. Each day will also feature short performances by UConn Puppet Arts graduate students Carrie Fowler (Saturday) and Tom Tuke (Sunday) at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. All events will take place at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.
Free museum tours will highlight two exhibitions: The World of Puppetry: From the Collections of the Ballard Institute and Tradition and Revolution in Indian Shadow Puppetry. The World of Puppetry displays the global scope of the artform and the rich variety of the Ballard Institute’s collection. asdTradition and Revolution celebrates the spectacular South Indian shadow puppet traditions of Tolu Bommalatta and Tholpavakoothu, as well as recent innovations reflecting the changing nature of these forms.
Each day will also include a short performance (approximately 30 minutes) by UConn Puppet Arts graduate students at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 14, Carrie Fowler will perform Puppets en Pointe, which features ballet-themed pieces in multiple puppetry media. On Sunday, Oct. 15, Tom Tuke will perform Paloma and the Retreat of Death, a tragicomic hand-puppet show.
Reservations are not required. Seating for performances is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2023 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Friday, Oct. 13, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. in UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, on the lower level of the Jorgensen Performing Arts Center at2132 Hillside Road, Storrs, CT 06269. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature new and experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers from around the Northeast, including Christine Dempsey and New York City’s Emmanuel Elpenord, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students, and music by UConn student punk-reggae band the Solgyres.
New England-based fabricator and puppeteer Christine Dempsey will perform Hunger, a humorous tale of poor decisions made when drinking on an empty stomach; and What We Have Left, a solo performance exploring grief and loss through the objects loved ones have left behind. Coney Island-based puppeteer Emmanuel Elpenord will perform The Choose-Your-Own-Adventures of Turtle Boy, in which shy yet rowdy Turtle Boy leads the audience through an action movie of their own making–Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets John Wick. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will also feature new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program, and, for the first time, a house band: the Solgyres. Funding for the UConn Fall Puppet Slam is made possible in part by the Puppet Slam Network. These performances are recommended for mature audiences. The UConn Fall 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 7:00 p.m. The event will take place in UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, located at2132 Hillside Road, Storrs, Conn. 06269, in the lower level. (use rear entrance). For directions to the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, visit crt.uconn.edu.For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once again offer fall community puppet-building workshops to design and build life-size and over-life-size puppets for a newReading the Book of Mansfieldpageant to be performed at the Celebrate Mansfield Festival in Downtown Storrs. These free workshops will be led by internationally acclaimed puppeteer and pageant director Sara Peattie of Boston’s Puppeteers Cooperative, and will take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23 and 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.
Reading the Book of Mansfieldwill explore places, people, and things that make Mansfield unique! Workshop participants will collaborate to create puppets and masks representing what they love most about Mansfield, and will be invited to perform their creations in the community pageantas part of the 20th-annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 30.
No experience is necessary to participate in these free community puppet-building workshops. Space is limited, so advance registration is strongly encouraged. Participants can come for one or both days but should register for the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or/and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. time slot(s). Minors must be accompanied by an adult. To register for the workshop, visitbimp.ticketleap.com/2023-cmf. If you require accommodation to participate, contact the Ballard Institute at bimp@uconn.edu or 860-486-8580.
This community puppet project is sponsored by the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc. For more information about the 20th-annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, visit downtownstorrsfestival.org.
To kick off its 2023 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host Shadow Puppetry and Digital Animationon Monday, Sept. 18, 2023 at 7 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. The forum features Song of the North director Hamid Rahmanian and UConn alumni now performing as puppeteers in the production. It will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute).
In conjunction with the performance of his latest production, Song of the North,at UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, designer and director Hamid Rahmanian will join puppeteer cast members Esme Roszel, Ray Dondero, and Harrison Greene (all UConn alumni) and Ballard Institute director John Bell in a discussion about the innovative combinations of live and digital puppetry which Rahmanian and his colleagues have developed. Rahmanian’s initial interests in illustration and graphic arts shifted to theater, and his ground-breaking work with shadows and digital media to create numerous theater productions, including the UNIMA-USA award-winning Feathers of Fire (2016). Together with company members he will discuss how the design, construction, and performance of Song of the North came about. Song of the North will be performed on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are now on sale. This forum is co-sponsored by Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. To learn more about this forum, visit bimp.uconn.edu/2023/08/22/rahmanian-forum/.
Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or if you require accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.
To kick off its 2023 Fall Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to bring back the popular Stevens Puppets, directed by Dan and Zan Raynor, to perform their marionette production The Sleeping Beauty on 9/16 at 11 a.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.
The famed Stevens Puppets company, founded in 1934, brings to life this classic tale with hand-carved, beautifully costumed marionettes, sets, and scenery, creating a spellbinding spectacle with magical effect. Accompanied by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s celebrated 1890 ballet score, the production features a compelling script by Martin Stevens (the acclaimed founder of the company), and spectacular costumes by Marge Stevens. Recommended for all ages. The show runtime is approximately 40 minutes, with a demonstration after the show.
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 the 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. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 orbimp@uconn.edu.
Stevens Puppets was founded in 1933 by the Peabody Award winning Martin Stevens, preeminent American puppeteer and founder of the Puppeteers of America. With his wife, Margi, Martin Stevens created ground-breaking touring marionette shows which are featured in books, in museums, and on tour. Stevens’ marionettes and stage design have influenced generations of puppeteers in America and abroad, often cited as artistic benchmarks and industry standards. Dan and Zan Raynor, the owners, have been with Stevens Puppets for over 20 years, each coming from live theatre backgrounds of acting and directing professionally. Dan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and Zan holds a Master of Theology with a doctorate in Canon Law. Dan has taught theatre at the Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts and directed professionally for theatres in several states, including televised events in California. He has performed with and directed many professional musicians like Neil Young and Huey Lewis, as well as acting professionally with many theatre companies in California. In addition to performing on stage as an actor and dancer, Zan has directed high school and college theatre programs, as well as designing lights, costumes, and choreography for numerous theatre companies in the Midwest and Northeast. Zan has taught every level of school, from Montessori preschool through University classes. She has been a high school principal as well as theatre and Latin teacher. They divide their time between studio artwork, both original and restoration, training other performing artists, managing complex tours, and performing themselves all around the country at schools, libraries, festivals, and fairs.
Mindful that they are stewards of this important legacy, Dan and Zan Raynor lovingly restore the original Stevens’ productions, ensuring that future generations continue to enjoy these historic treasures. They also create new productions of classic stories with hand-carved casts of characters in the tradition of the master and manage tours throughout the country performed by puppeteers they have personally chosen and apprenticed. Dan and Zan have recently completed the restorations of “The Sleeping Beauty”, Rumplestiltskin”, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, “Aladdin”, and “The Wizard of Oz”. These marionette plays feature Martin and Margi Stevens’ original puppets, Margi’s period costumes, the Stevens’ hand painted scenery, all lovingly and authentically restored or re-created by Zan and Dan Raynor. Fun fact. The “fly-apart” marionette of Rumplestiltskin was the first of its kind, an original innovation of Martin Stevens and a keystone of his company’s patrimony. In February 2018, Zan began writing the script for the first new marionette show since 1999, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. In February 2019 she completed the artwork for the show and it happily joined the lineup of touring shows.
Jeghetto’s Variety Show is an action-packed performance featuring Jeghetto’s unique style of finely crafted and ingeniously engineered cardboard puppets. This show is for all ages. The show runtime is approximately 30 minutes. Jeghetto is a self-taught master builder and puppeteer residing in North Carolina. His puppets are abstract moving sculptures made of mostly found and recycled materials. He has received two grants from the Jim Henson Foundation prior to becoming a Foundation board member himself. Jeghetto has worked with Missy Elliott, Pharrell Williams, Alec Baldwin and Terence Nance; was a guest on The Steve Harvey Show and performed puppetry on The Voice and HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness. Jeghetto performed and exhibited his work in the Ballard Institute’s landmark Living Objects: African American Puppetryexhibition and festival in 2018 and 2019. To learn more about Jeghetto, visit jeghetto.com.
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 atbimp.ticketleap.com. There will be open seating.
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will present the grand opening of its new exhibition Tradition and Revolution in Indian Shadow Puppetryon Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, with refreshments served at 4:30 p.m. and an in-person exhibition tour at 5 p.m. by curator Rahul Koonathara and Ballard Institute director Dr. John Bell, which will also be streamed on Ballard Institute’s Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute/). The opening events will also include a performance and workshop on Aug. 5 by world-renowned puppeteer Padmashri Ramachandra Pulavar of the Tholpavakoothu and Puppet Centre and his son Rahul Koonathara. All events will take place at the Ballard Institute, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.
Tradition and Revolution in Indian Shadow Puppetry, curated by puppeteer and University of Connecticut graduate student in the Department of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies Rahul Koonathara, celebrates the spectacular South Indian shadow puppet traditions of Tolu Bommalatta and Tholpavakoothu, as well as recent innovations reflecting the changing nature of the form. For over thirteen generations Indian puppeteers have performed myths, customs, and rituals based on two Hindu epics, The Ramayana and The Mahābhārata. In recent years new variations in design, construction, and content have re-shaped traditional performances, which in many cases have shifted from temple performances to secular locales, and included new subjects such as the lives of Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus, and the animal characters of the Panchatantra, as well as contemporary social and political themes. Please note that this exhibition contains nudity. The exhibition will be on display through December 17, 2023.
The 5 p.m. exhibition tour on August 4 will be followed at 6 p.m. by a free 45-minute long performance ofTholpava Koothu: The Shadow Puppet Play of Kerala byPadmashri Ramachandra Pulavar and his son Rahul Koonathara. This ancient, ritual-based performance is based on selected verses from the epic Kamba Ramayana. Seating is limited; reservations are required: bimp.ticketleap.com/tholpavakoothu.
On Saturday, August 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Padmashri Ramachandra Pulavar and Rahul Koonathara will lead a day-long workshop on shadow puppet design, carving, and manipulation, with a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m. (lunch not provided). The workshop fee is $25 per person. Space is limited, so advance registration is required bimp.ticketleap.com/indian-shadow-workshop/. Minors must be accompanied by an adult.
Please note that the Ballard Institute will be closed July 10-Aug. 3 as we install this new exhibition.
About the Curator
Rahul Koonathara is the younger son of legendary shadow puppet master Padmashri Ramachandra Pulavar and puppeteer Rajalakshmi Ramachandra Pulavar. He was born into a family of puppeteers which has preserved Tholpavakoothu shadow theater traditions for twelve generations. Rahul is currently a graduate student in the Department of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Connecticut, under the guidance of Professor Matthew Cohen, and practices traditional shadow puppetry together with contemporary puppet productions, as well as scholarly research in the puppet arts. Rahul has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, and a Master’s degree in Folklore Studies, as well as a degree in Acting from the National School of Drama in Bangalore. Rahul has performed major roles in traditional and contemporary shadow puppet productions at the Tholpavakoothu and Puppet Centre in Kerala, and at national and international festivals around the world.
As part of its 2023 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host “Translating Pinocchio for the 21st Century: Puppets and Modern Culture” with Anna Kraczyna, co-author (with John Hooper) of a new, internationally acclaimed annotated translation of Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs. This forum will also be broadcast via Ballard Institute Facebook Live (facebook.com/BallardInstitute). 
Join us for a special free screening of Dead Vision Productions’ 
