"Anansi, Spiderman of Africa" by Crabgrass Puppet Theatre

THIS WEEKEND AT PST
Saturday & Sunday | April 2 & 3 |
1pm & 3pm

About the show: This side-splitting selection of famous African folktales are brought to life by the award-winning Crabgrass Puppet Theatre, with a dynamic blend of traditional African design, infectious music and fabulous puppetry. These hilarious stories star Anansi the Spider, whose appetite always overrules his intellect. Anansi loves to eat and hates to work, so he tries to trick other animals out of their food. But it's not free lunch for Anansi—all of his schemes leave him hungrier than ever!

Featuring colorful and beautifully hand-crafted rod puppets.

About the performer: Crabgrass Puppet Theatre is an award-winning touring puppet theatre founded in 1982 by Jamie Keithline and Bonny Hall. Their shows have featured a variety of innovative and unusual puppets both large and small, including a seven-foot crocodile, a smoke-breathing dragon, and an animated garbage heap!

Crabgrass Puppet Theatre has twice been awarded the prestigious Citation of Excellence from the American Center of the Union Internationale de la Marionette (UNIMA-USA), the highest honor in American puppetry, in 2001 and again in 2005. In 2008, Bonny Hall received a Commendation for Design in the Puppet Theatre from the Arlyn Award Foundation.

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More about… “Sleeping Beauty" by National Marionette Theater - PST PREMIERE!

FEBRUARY SCHOOL VACATION WEEK
Friday, Saturday & Sunday | February 25, 26 & 27 | Fri: 10:30AM & 1PM; Sat/Sun: 1PM & 3PM

About the show: The princess Aurora has been asleep for almost one hundred years when our hero, Prince Steffon learns of her story. He resolves to find the sleeping princess and rescue her from the evil fairy Belladonna. Told from the prince’s point of view, our newest production combines beautifully crafted marionettes with the timeless music from Tchaikovsky’s ballet.

Performed with marionettes. This show is recommended for ages 4 and up.

About National Marionette Theatre: National Marionette Theatre is one of the oldest continually running marionette theaters in the United States. Founded in 1967 by artistic director David A. Syrotiak, this award-winning company has been entertaining audiences around the world with their extraordinary productions for over forty years. Noted for their amazing manipulation technique and imaginative fully staged productions, National Marionette Theater is committed to bringing you the very best in family entertainment.

The company has received critical acclaim both here in the United States and abroad and was the first American Marionette Theater to receive the prestigious UNIMA award for excellence in puppetry.

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More about… “The Legend of The Banana Kid" by Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers

FEBRUARY SCHOOL VACATION WEEK
Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday | February 22, 23 & 24 | 10:30AM & 1PM

About the show: Chucky, a boy with a dream, goes West. Along the way, he meets a mysterious cowboy who takes him to a remote western town that is being harassed by a seedy group of outlaws. Pretending to be a local hero – “The Banana Kid” – Chucky leads an effort to outsmart the thugs and bring justice back to the town.

Performed with hand puppets. This show is recommended for ages 5 & up.

About Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers: Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers is a puppetry troupe based in Bar Harbor, Maine, comprised of three siblings: Erik, Brian, and Robin Torbeck. They’ve been performing mostly “down east” at festivals, schools, libraries, and “some of the finest petting zoos on the East Coast.” They’re also an audience favorite at the Puppet Showplace Theatre!

The Torbecks write their own shows and make all of their puppets. They have brought other wonderful shows to the Puppet Showplace Theatre stage in years past, including The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow and Everybody Loves Pirates.

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More about… “The Banana Princess" by Galapagos Puppets - PST PREMIERE!

FEBRUARY SCHOOL VACATION WEEK Saturday, Sunday & Monday | February 19, 20 & 21 | Sat/Sun: 1PM & 3PM, Mon: 10:30AM & 1PM

About the show: The monk Tang and his disciples find their path to India blocked by a blazing fire mountain. Only a magical fan owned by the powerful Banana Princess can put out the fire, but she doesn’t want to lend it. The disciples use their powers of transformation and persuasion before finally winning the fan.

Please note that the Chang Chung Hsi ('theater of the palm of the hand') tradition includes "wen", or literary, characters such as princesses, scholars and emperors, as well as "wu" characters who are often warriors. Galapagos puppeteers include some of the skillful gungfu of the "wu" puppet tradition. Children may see sword or gungfu fighting in our shows, presented as contests of gungfu.

Performed with traditional Chang Chung Hsi puppets and choreography. This show is recommended for ages 5 and up.

About Galapagos Puppets: Margaret Moody loves the way two hands and a few puppets can present a whole story. She studied with master puppeteer Li Tien-lu of Taiwan for three years, and continues to use the intricate puppets and choreography of Chang Chung Hsi (‘theater of the palm of the hand’) in performance. Margaret lives in Arlington with her family and many puppets.

Galapagos Puppet Theater was founded in 1987 by Margaret Moody and Madeleine Beresford. Their work has been funded in part by grants from organizations such as the Henson Foundation and the Puffin Foundation.

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More about… “A Woodland Cinderella” by Deborah Costine, Puppeteer!

Wednesday and Thursday | February 16 & 17 | 10:30AM

About the show: In this original version of Cinderella, the story takes place in the land of the Woodland Fairies. The King of all Woodland Fairies wants his son to marry a fairy princess, but they are very rare. So the King hosts a great ball and commands that every single young fairy maiden in the land must attend. He is hoping that the missing fern fairy princess will come, and he knows the secret to identifying a true fair princess. Will he find her? Come and find out!

Performed with hand puppets. This show is recommended for ages 3 & up.

About Deborah Costine, Puppeteer!: When Debbie was 10 years old, she made her first puppet. She had no idea how to go about it, but she made a papier mache puppet which sits in her puppet studio today!

Debbie designs and performs shows for young audiences, and was recently awarded an UNIMA Citation of Excellence for her show “Cinderella, A Woodland Fairy Princess”. The UNIMA Citation of Excellence is the highest honor in American puppetry.

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