Renowned puppeteers to bring their magic and creativity to town

By Eileen Fitzgibbons
Photo, of Alex and Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) with their puppet Milo the Magnificent, by Sean Dennie

This month, by the light of the Harvest Moon, puppets tiny and mighty will find their way to the first Greenwoods Puppet Festival. On Sept. 13 to 15, an extraordinary range of puppets and their creators will entertain both children and adults at the Norfolk Library.

On Friday evening, second-generation puppeteer Jana Zeller from Spybird Theater will perform a story about survival. “Puppet Crimes” is the tale of a puppet’s endurance in the face of tyranny, war and economic oppression. Using German hand puppets in the style of Punch and Judy, this show is an action-packed, satirical, dark comedy for adults and older teens. The performance also demonstrates how hand puppets have been used for centuries to speak out against the evils of the day and to reflect the views of the common people. Zeller is the daughter of EricBass and Ines Zeller Bass, creators of the Sandglass Puppet Theater in Brattleboro, Vt. 

Known for her versatile, witty work, puppeteer and filmmaker Sarah Nolen will open the festival Saturday morning with her family show “The Fairy Tailor.”The tailor is hard at work in her enchanted shop where everyday garments are transformed into extraordinary characters. There will be brave tales of Little Red Riding Hood(ie), and a giant that the audience can help banish. This innovative, interactive production is designed for audiences of all ages. Sarah earned an MFA in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut. In 2015, she received the Mister Rogers Memorial Award Scholarship in support of her television pilot “Treeples,” a show aimed at empowering girls.

Can you have have lollipops for breakfast? What mischief will Sylvie and Bird get into if they try? Winner of the 2017 Unima-USA Award for Excellence, Bonnie Duncanof the Gottabeesweaves her show “Lollipops for Breakfast”entirely without words, featuring multiple styles of puppetry, original music and tiny bits of acrobatics. The Gottabees have been creating homemade puppet shows blending puppets, dance and physical theater for the past 16 years. Intended for children ages three and up, “Lollipops for Breakfast”is poetic with a sweet twist. 

Older children (ages 13 and up) should enjoy the improv show “Moth Jamboree,” by Doran Hamm. Hamm has worked with youth theaters throughout the United States, including the Virgin Islands, and in Italy. Hamm frequently takes his one-man show, packed in a steamer trunk brimming with props, costumes, masks and puppets, to schools and libraries. On Saturday afternoon, his puppet Moth will be ready to charm and perhaps tease the audience. 

No puppet festival is complete without marionettes, so on Sunday afternoon the zany Cripps Puppets will perform. While Madison Cripps was working on a farm in the Berkshires in 2006, puppets became his passion. In 2008, the Massachusetts Cultural Council awarded him a grant for the Cripps Walking Theater Project. Cripps became an active member of the performing arts scene in Asheville, NC, and was awarded an UNIMA Citation of Excellence. Cripps is now back in New England with his unique cabaret style of marionettes. His show “A Slice of Crazy Pie”is full of interaction, song and puns.

 The internationally acclaimed puppet theater company Alex & Olmsted will wrap up the festivities with “Milo the Magnificent.” Milo aspires to be an illusionist, although his tricks and experiments don’t always go as planned. A Jim Henson Foundation Grant honored “Milo the Magnificent” for being a highly engaging show using stunningly innovative puppetry. Creators Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas have been members of the Happenstance Theater since 2012.

The puppet festival is not limited to indoor shows. Animating the outside will be the mystical birds from Mark Alexander’s series “Mortal Beasts and Deities.” Alexander, creator of Larger than Life Puppetry and Splendiferous Stilt Dancers, will grace the festival with his impressive puppets. On Saturday, look up for “Raven” and on Sunday, around 11 a.m., “Dove” will grace the village green.

All the performances at the Greenwoods Puppet Festival are free thanks to the generous support of the Norfolk Library Associates, the Battell Arts Foundation, the Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation and the Town of Norfolk. The only catch is that you must register for each performance that you wish to see. To register, go to the library’s website, www.norfolklibrary.org, or call the Circulation Desk at 860-542-5075.