As part of its 2025 Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to present An Hour of Clown by BreakFAST Puppets on July 12 at 11 a.m. outdoors in Betsy Paterson Square in Downtown Storrs.

In this fun-filled production created and performed by UConn Puppet Arts alum Anthony Sellitto-Budney, join Hour the Clown, who carries their life on their back but keeps encountering hilarious problems and mishaps. Enjoy a variety of stunts, tricks, juggling, and puppetry in this funny, nonverbal, and interactive clown show. Recommended for all ages.

Founder and Co-Artistic Director of BreakFAST Puppets Anthony Sellitto-Budney (they/them) is a graduate of the UConn Puppet Arts BFA Program, and a prolific puppeteer currently touring across the United States to great acclaim. Their approach to art and life often overlaps artistically and scientifically, using concepts from both fields of study. Sellitto-Budney is constantly creating, performing, and devising new work for both children and adults.

Reservations are not required. Chairs will not be provided, and audience members are encouraged to bring their own blankets and seating. Seating space will be first come, first served. In case of rain, the shows will take place in the Ballard Institute Theater at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

The Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series is co-sponsored by the Mansfield Downtown Partnership and supported by a generous gift from Phillip Mairorana in memory of his wife Theresa Mairorana and donations by Ballard Institute supporters to UConn Gives.

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 at the University of Connecticut is excited to present its 2025 Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series with free, outdoor, family-friendly puppet shows on three Saturdays in July and August at 11 a.m. on Betsy Paterson Square in Downtown Storrs.

July 12: An Hour of Clown by BreakFAST Puppets In this fun-filled production created and performed by Anthony Sellitto-Budney, join who carries their life on their back but keeps encountering hilarious problems and mishaps. Enjoy a variety of stunts, tricks, juggling, and puppetry in this funny, nonverbal, and interactive clown show.

July 26: The Little Red Hen by WonderSpark Puppets Julia Darden of New York City-based WonderSpark Puppets performs the classic story of a Hen who needs YOUR help to make some bread. The Little Red Hen is an interactive tabletop puppet show that gets kids moving their bodies, calling out and laughing. Every animal on the farm wants to eat the Hen’s bread, but no one wants to help make it. The audience learns the benefits of helping and teamwork while exercising and singing along!

August 2: Whale Tales by Talking Hands Theatre In Massachusetts-based Talking Hands Theatre’s Whale Tales it’s the aquarium that comes to you! As part of Anna Sobel’s musical puppet show you’ll meet a bevy of creatures that live in the sea, including a walrus, a seahorse, a giant beluga whale, and many more.

Reservations are not required. Chairs will not be provided, and audience members are encouraged to bring their own blankets and seating. Seating space will be first come, first served. In case of rain, the shows will take place in the Ballard Institute Theater at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

The Summertime Saturday Puppet Show Series is co-sponsored by the Mansfield Downtown Partnership and supported by a generous gift from Phillip Mairorana in memory of his wife Theresa Mairorana, and by UConn Gives donations by Ballard Institute supporters. 

The Ballard Institute will be closed May 12 through May 31 as we install our new exhibit Art, Movement, Imagination: 60 Years of UConn Puppeteers. Join us for the opening on May 31, with refreshments at 4 p.m. and a free tour at 4:30 p.m.

 

As part of its 2025 Spring Puppet Performance Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is pleased to welcome John McDonough’s Worcester, Massachusetts-based Pumpernickel Puppets to perform their production of Peter Rabbit on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.  

Pumpernickel Puppets presents a lively adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s well-loved tale. Join adventurous and naughty Peter Rabbit, who against his mother’s wishes ventures into Mr. McGregor’s garden for a taste of his favorite vegetable treats. He nearly escapes being made into rabbit stew with the help of his tag-along little sister Flopsy. This colorful and fun production is presented with large hand puppets, live voices and sound effects. Recommended for ages 3+. Runtime is approximately 40 minutes.   

Pumpernickel Puppets, led by John McDonough, has been producing humorous and colorful adaptations of classic folk and fairy tales for over forty years. They present over two hundred fifty shows a year throughout New England. Pumpernickel Puppets have appeared at The Smithsonian Institution, the Center for Puppetry Arts, the International Festival of Puppetry sponsored by the Jim Henson Foundation, and were featured in the Ballard Institute’s 2019 exhibition Living Objects: African American Puppetry. Get tickets: https://secure.touchnet.com/C21646_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=5878 

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

Wednesday, 4/23 | 7 p.m.

Ballard Institute Theater

FREE | Reservations recommended

Join us for a special combination performance and post-show discussion with celebrated Czech puppeteer, graphic artist, set designer and cartoonist Jan Bažant, who, as a member of Prague’s Hura Collective, will perform Erben: Vlasy, a shad  ow-puppet production based on the dark fairy tales of 19th-century Czech folklorist K. J. Erben. The performance will be followed by a Puppet Forum with Jan about the ways his work in design, graphic arts, and comics influences his puppetry. Erben: Vlasy is an adult-oriented shadow production about King who loves to hunt in the forest, but falls prey to evil deeds, which lead him to a dark destiny. Jan Bažant is the author of numerous graphic novels, some of which he has transformed into theater productions. He has won numerous awards for his graphic art and scenography, and is the director of Echt Street Puppets, a giant puppet troupe that performs in Europe and Asia.  

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), but seating reservations are required. 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.  

Reserve your free tickets: https://secure.touchnet.com/C21646_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=5957

The Ballard Institute will be closed on Sunday, 4/20. The museum will reopen for regular hours on Wednesday, 4/23.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2025 UConn Spring Puppet Slam on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 8 p.m. in UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, on the lower level of the Jorgensen Performing Arts Center at 2132 Hillside Road, Storrs, CT 06269. The UConn Spring Puppet Slam will feature new and experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers, including Tau Bennett and Charlotte Lily Gaspard from New York City, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students. Mansfield’s Waldron’s Studios 88 will return once more as the Puppet Slam house band.

The 2025 UConn Spring Puppet Slam welcomes acclaimed Brooklyn-based puppeteers Tau Bennett and Charlotte Lily Gaspard. Bennett will perform Herbert’s Lament, which explores how life isn’t easy when you’re not only broke, but also narcoleptic. Shadow puppet artist, educator, entertainer, and “bona fide fairy princess” Charlotte Lily Gaspard will perform her crankie production A Mermaid’s Life Story and Strange Bird, a shadow-puppet show played with an umbrella screen. The UConn Spring Puppet Slam also features new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Funding for the Slam is made possible, in part, by the Puppet Slam Network. These performances are recommended for mature audiences.

The UConn Spring Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in UConn’s Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, located at 2132 Hillside Road, Storrs, Conn. 06269, on 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.

As part of its 2025 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host Puppetry and Photography, a Puppet Forum with Richard Termine on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 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 in person or online on Wednesday, April 2 for a Puppet Forum discussion with famed photographer (and UConn Puppet Arts alumnus) Richard Termine, whose compelling work is celebrated in American Puppet Theater Today: The Photography of Richard Termine, the current Ballard Institute exhibition. Termine, who has documented American puppet theater for over 30 years, will share his insights on the arts of photography and puppetry, and how they can combine in stunning still images evoking the powerful movement potential of the material world in performance. Termine is the lead performing arts photographer for The New York Times and has been the in-house photographer for Sesame Street since 1988. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, People, American Theatre, USA Today, and other publications around the world.

Richard Termine attended the University of Connecticut and completed his MFA in Puppet Arts in 1978. In 1980, he began his association with The Jim Henson Company as a puppet designer and builder for a variety of Muppet productions. While working on the set of Sesame Street, Termine began photographing behind the scenes, leading to a new career as a performing arts photographer. He has been the in-house photographer for Sesame Street since 1988 and has been on the board of The Jim Henson Foundation since 1987, currently serving as the Foundation’s Vice President.

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 2025 Spring Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is pleased to host Puppets and Masks in Star Wars, a UConn Puppet Forum with Professor Colette Searls, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 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).

Professor Colette Searls, of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will discuss the essential role of puppets, masks, and performing objects in the many different aspects of the venerable and popular Star Wars epic. Based on her 2023 book A Galaxy of Things: The Power of Puppets and Masks in Star Wars and Beyond, Dr. Searls will examine how, since 1977, creatures, droids, masked figures, and other material characters have been central to Star Wars trilogies and stories, telling meaningful stories that conventional human characters can’t, through the powers of what Dr. Searls calls “distance, distillation, and duality.” 

Colette Searls is Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) where has directed over twenty productions, including award-winning works of puppetry and material performance. Other directing credits include Noah Haidle’s Vigils at The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (four Helen Hayes Award nominations), Kendra’s Bay at the inaugural Light City Baltimore International Arts Festival, and Fixed Boundary at San Francisco’s Exit Theatre (winner of the Best of the San Francisco Fringe Festival award). She has received grants from the Jim Henson Foundation, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Puppeteers of America for her original works in found-object puppetry. Her book A Galaxy of Things: the Power of Puppets and Masks in Star Wars and Beyond received the 2024 Nancy Staub Publications Award; she is also the performance review editor for the journal Puppetry International Research (PIR).

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.