|
|
|
|
|
|
To order tickets for specific Programs, use the BUY TICKETS! links in the Program & Performances listings below. Individual programs $20; additional programs $15; kids' tickets half-price.
To order a Festival Pass, click here! You will be taken to the St. Ann's Warehouse site. Festival Pass: $50! Includes admission to all shows, workshops & benefit concert not included.
For assistance, or to order tickets by phone, call: 866-811-4111 or 718-254-8779.
St. Ann’s Warehouse 38 Water St., DUMBO, Brooklyn (Map)
Getting here: A or C to High St.; F to York St.; 1, 2, or 3 to Clark St.
|
23FRI
5:00pm
Toy Theater
Museum
Opening
Reception
7:30pm
Program 1
10:00pm
Program 2
|
24SAT
|
|
26MON
7:30pm
Program 3
|
27TUE
|
28WED
7:30pm
Program 4
9:30pm
Toy Theater Festival
Benefit Concert
and
Reception
Parvathy Baul
|
29THU
|
30FRI
7:30pm
Program 5
10:00pm
Program 6
|
31SAT
|
|
|
|
 Mounted throughout the Warehouse, the finest examples of historical and contemporary toy theaters, representing 100 artists and collectors.
Opening Reception: Friday May 23rd from 5:00 to 7:00pm; FREE!
The exhibit will be open (and free) to the public and ticketholders one hour before showtimes and starting at 2:00pm on May 29 and 30.
|
|
TEMPORARY TOY THEATER MUSEUM PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Jason Adams • Emily Anderson • Morgan FP Andrews • Germán List Arzubide • Danielle Ash • Daniel Baker • Jon Bankert • Alejandro BenÃtez • Michelle Beshaw • Eric Bernard • Ramón Alva de la Canal • David Hyde Costello • Jonathan Cross • Pablo Cueto • Marsian DeLellis • Trish Denton • Andrea Dezsö • Drama of Works • Morgan Eckert • Eric Edelman • Joel Egger • Beth Elkins • El Puente Academy Students & El Puente Leadership Center • Sally Fisher • Sean-Michael Fleming • Jane Freeman • Elvira Gascón • Janie Geiser • Alexandra Gray • Chris Green • Ayesha Hameed • Patrick Harrop • Sarah Hauser • Louise Harter • Serra Hirsch • Island Academy (Rikers Island) • Frances Jetter • Rebecca Kelly • Tine Kindermann • Kieran Kinsella • Mayer Kirshenblatt • Kara Kovacev • Daniel Lang/Levitsky • Jamie Leo • Naima Lowe • P.J. McWhiskers • Johnnie Moore • Ann Neff • El Neto • Ken Nintzel • Judith O’Hare • Oiseaux Sisters (Carolyn Fellman & Susan Andrews) • Erin Orr • Lisa Pietersma • Fiona Pippa • Valeska Populoh & Cause Company • Julio Prieto • Helen Quinn • Kip Rathke • Maddy Rosenberg • Erik Ruin • AE Ryan • Harry Saffren • Toni Schlesinger • Beom Sik Shim • Annie Silverman • Lake Simons • Lydia Stein • Mark Sussman • KT Thomas • Edwin Torres • Amy Walsh • K Webster • Karen Werner • Paul Zaloom/Sean Meredith/Sandow Birk • Danijel Zezelj
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Above (l to r): From Alain Lecucq's A Robinson, Temporary ToyTheater Museum (2006), Great Small Works' Blue Skies
|
|
|
FESTIVAL BENEFIT CONCERT:
Parvathy Baul
Join us for this special concert and reception with international artist Parvathy Baul, a gifted singer, painter and storyteller from West Bengal who has chosen the path of self-training in the Baul order.
Parvathy is known for her electrifying voice and masterful solo performances in the ancient Baul style, dancing and singing while accompanying herself with use of traditional instruments (the duggie, ektara, and nupu).
|
FILM SCREENING:
Dante's Inferno
A film which melds the seemingly disparate traditions of apocalyptic live-action graphic novel and charming Victoria-era toy theater, Dante’s Inferno is a subversive, darkly satirical modern update of the original 14th-century literary classic.
A collaboration between artist Sandow Birk, designer Elyse Pignolet, director/writer Sean Meredith, composer Mark McAdam, and writer/puppeteer Paul Zaloom.
Thursday, May 29 at 10:00pm
Admission: $10 BUY TICKETS!
PUBLIC WORKSHOPS
Learn about the history and construction of toy theater stages and puppets, then create your own story—in a box! All ages welcome.
Saturdays May 24 & 31, 1:00 to 4:00pm Admission: $20 for adults, kids $10
Students from Brooklyn’s El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice will present an original toy theater work inspired by the 1992 Cuban film, “The Last Rhumba of Papa Montero,” and the students’ own reflections on rites of passage. The production stems from Great Small Works’ Toy Theater-making workshops in NYC public high schools (including Island Academy on Riker’s Island), and is a collaboration between El Puente Academy, El Puente Williamsburg Leadership Center, and Great Small Works teaching artists Jenny Romaine, Sam Wilson and Phillip Shung.
Friday, May 30
Brooklyn location & Time TBA
|
F R E E !
TOY THEATER SYMPOSIA
SYMPOSIUM I: New Dramaturgies: Puppetry, Video, and the Miniature Moderated by Mark Sussman
With panelists: Toni Dove, Sha Xin Wei, Grant Guy, and Susan Simpson.
Saturday May 24, 5:00 -7:00pm. FREE!
SYMPOSIUM II: Seriously Fake: The Compressed Powerof the Miniature (A discussion of possibilities for Toy Theater in the 21st Century)
Moderated by John Bell
With: Eileen Blumenthal, Claudia Orenstein, Ravi Gopalan Nair,and Frank Maugeri.
Saturday, May 31, 5:00 – 7:00pm. FREE!
Alejandro Benîtez (see Program 1)
|
|
 |
FAMILY PROGRAM
Sunday 5/25 at 11:00am
and 2:00pm
LIZ JOYCE (Sag Harbor, New York)
The Rooster's Gift
Rooster is proud of his gift, crowing and making the sun rise until one morning, he oversleeps and the sun rises without him! A colorful, traditional Toy Theater puppet show for young children and chickens, written by Pam Conrad.
JUDITH O'HARE, YOU & ME PUPPETS (Reading, MA)
The Crocodile, The Boy, and The Good Deed
A story from the plains of Africa which raises a universal question: “Does a good deed deserve a bad deed?
PETER SCHAUERTE-LÃœKE (Germany)
Zeralda's Ogre
Based on a well-known children’s book by Tomi Ungerer. This ogre likes children very much – to eat.
RON SOPYLA (NYC)
Shadow Screens
The ultimate in low tech shadow puppetry! Cardboard cut outs on a frame made of tinker toys lit by penlight flashlights. Still, they fill a wall with funny, exciting, and dreamlike images to accompany good, silly stories.
|
PROGRAM ONE
Friday 5/23 at 7:30pm
Saturday 5/24 at 10:00pm
HANNE TIERNEY, GAUTAM DASGUPTA
and JANE WANG (NYC)
Das Triadische Ballett
This Bauhaus toy theater features the rise and fall, from 1912 to 1923, of Oscar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet. The story chronicles the pitfalls of collaborations, and is performed by cut-outs of Schlemmer’s costume designs. Jane Wang accompanies on the toy piano.
SPICA WOBBE & PEI-YU SHIH (NYC & Taiwan)
"So Close and Yet… So Far"
A non-verbal poetic story created with shadows and light about a girl searching for a star which looks so close and yet… so far. Performed by Spica Wobbe and Morgan Eckert. Music by Yang Chen and Ming-chang Chen.
LAURA HEIT (Los Angeles)
The Matchbox Shows
Miniature Raconteur and sequined pyromaniac performs teeny tiny puppet shows inside matchboxes.
HUNTER KACZOROWSKI (NYC)
Duncan, Part One -or- The Boy With a Bird in His Heart
A dreamscape of the early life of Duncan Grant (1885-1978), one of the first Post-Impressionist painters in England and an enigmatic playboy of English bohemia. Performed with Dax Valdes, narrated by Charis Jones.
|
|
|
PROGRAM TWO
Friday 5/23 at 10:00pm
Saturday 5/24 at 7:30pm
CAITLIN LAINOFF (Los Angeles)
Le Petite Macabre
A puppet opera inspired by Gyorgy Ligeti, the story of an inept devil heralding the destruction of the world to make way for a cleaner, brighter century. Performed by Jesse Ayala, Danielle Ash, Beom-Sik Shim and Catherine Strecker, music by Daniel Corral–all current students or recent graduates of California Institute of the Arts.
CLARE DOLAN, GABE LEVINE,
and THE MUSEUM OF EVERYDAY LIFE (Vermont)
The Road to Brody
The story by Russian Jewish writer Isaac Babel succeeds to be more than just a lyrical anti-war tome. Turning his keen eye towards the everyday interactions of ordinary people, Babel deftly reveals greater truths about the generosity and avarice of human beings, and the sheer beauty of life, despite all of its brutality and disappointments.
GREAT SMALL WORKS & CENTER FOR ADVANCED VISUAL STUDIES, MIT
Definitely Maybe
Based on a novel by Soviet science fiction writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, which questions the limits of scientific knowledge in the modern world from the perspective of a handful of 1970’s Soviet scientists. A collaboration between John Bell, Larissa Harris and Jessica Rylan through MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies.
RAVI GOPALAN NAIR & PARVATHY BAUL (Kerala, India)
The Story of Radha and Krishna
A singing story-telling performance with small hand-carved wotoden puppets, based on Indian concepts of Toy Theater. The story of Radha and Krishna has inspired men and women from all classes and religions for many centuries; its story of unconditional love brought revolution in human relationships with the freedom to remain unbounded.
|
PROGRAM THREE
Sunday 5/25 at 7:30pm
Monday 5/26 at 7:30pm
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Mini-Performances in The Museum
Small, short, intimate performances take place simultaneously in the Temporary Toy Theater Museum. Peep shows, experiments with light and shadow, pop-ups, and pre-film technology.
Janie Geiser (Los Angeles)
The Reptile Under the Flowers |
Erin Orr with Sxip Shirey and Fabian Gonzalez (NYC)
Armchair Naturalist |
Adhere & Deny (Winnipeg)
The Prampolini Action |
Lake Simons (NYC)
The Old Umbrella Man
|
Daniel Lang-Levitsky (NYC)
Excerpts from muqaddimah |
Chris Green (NYC)
Sleepwalker's Waltz |
Great Small Works & Topological Media Lab (Montreal)
Soil Desire People Dance |
Danielle Ash & Beom Sik Shim (Los Angeles)
Light Cave and Light Surgery |
Alexandra Gray (NYC)
From Ashes |
Ken Nintzel (NYC)
Palindrome |
SUSAN SIMPSON (L.A.)
Concrete Folk Variations
A steely serial noir set in the cop-shops, lesbian bars and streetcars of McCarthy era Los Angeles, just before the rise of the modern gay rights movement.
PETER SCHAUERTE-LÃœKE (Germany)
Jack the Giant Killer -and- The Giant's Tale
Direct from the Burgtheater in a castle near Cologne, two stories about giants: the first a traditional English tale; the second based on a short story by Wolfgang Hildesheimer, whose stories mirror human behaviors with a fine black humor.
ALEJANDRO BENiTEZ & ANA MARTiNEZ (Mexico City)
Leyendas
Based on two popular Mexican fables from colonial times, representing myths still alive in Mexico’s memory: a beautiful sorcerer and a deserving ghost.
|
|
|
PROGRAM FOUR
Tuesday 5/27 at 7:30pm
Wednesday 5/28 at 7:30pm
PUPPETEERS COOPERATIVE (NYC & Boston)
Civility and the Sea
Three women of Marblehead encounter cross-dressing, capitalism, and murder, while remaining perfectly respectable at all times. Performed by Sara Peattie, Theresa Linnahan and Michelle Beshaw, known for large-scale puppet parades, pageants and ceremonies of celebration and complaint.
LITTLE BLUE MOON THEATRE (California)
Nathalie -and- The Widow
Little Blue Moon Theatre is known for its gently erotic and often hilarious toy theatre productions. In Nathalie a French street puppeteer takes off all of her clothes inside her booth puppet stage on a hot day.In The Widow a lamenting widow offers anything for a night of complete satisfaction with a man. Created and performed by Michael and Valerie Nelson (aka Magical Moonshine Theater).
ALAIN LECUCQ, COMPAGNIE PAPIERTHEATRE (France)
A Robinson
Robinson Crusoe, alone-or almost alone–on his desert island, is one of the most famous characters in literature. He was seen on stages all over England and many paper theatres of the 19th century were dedicated to him. Texts from both Daniel Defoe’s novel and historic toy theater adaptations.
TORRY BEND (Los Angeles)
Loser
Adaptation of Aimee Bender’s story of a boy who, after losing his parents, develops a supernatural relationship to objects. Narrator: Julia Paskin; Puppeteers: Brenda Gausch, Catherine Strecker, Caitlin Lainoff, Jesse Ayala; Musicians: Emily Corwin, Daniel Corral; artwork by Cristina Paulos.
|
PROGRAM FIVE
Thursday 5/29 at 7:30pm
Friday 5/30 at 7:30pm
COSMIC BICYCLE THEATRE (NYC)
The Dong with the Luminous Nose
A selection from the upcoming operetta, Mister Edward Lear’s ABSURD-Ditties. Designed, directed and composed by J.E.Cross of The ClockWorks, Inc.
SHODDY PUPPET COMPANY (Philadelphia)
Soldiers and Chickens
In this surreal story of loyalty and love, mythological images from the works of H.C. Anderson and Frank L. Baum unravel allegories of aviation, acrophobia, and antebellum race laws, all converging at a soiree in the belly of a fish.
MEREDITH HOLCH (Vermont)
Picture Perfect
An animated video featuring cut-out pictures and kids’ farm toys come to life. The result is an inventive and poignant look at development’s effect on Vermont’s landscape and its disappearing rural traditions.
CHINESE THEATRE WORKS (NYC)
Two Horses
Combining Peking Opera techniques and Western paper theater to tell a story of cultural change and continuity: CTW founder Kuang-Yu Fong’s journey towards becoming a Peking Opera artist in late-20th-century Taiwan. Created by Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin and performed by Ms. Fong, Mr. Kaplin, Yayun Teng and Jing Shan.
ERICA HARRIS (NYC)
The Big Ship
An animated video.
|
|
|
PROGRAM SIX
Friday 5/30 at 10:00pm
Saturday 5/31 at 7:30pm
FRANK MAUGERI & SETH BOCKLEY (Chicago)
Laika's Coffin
A miniature opera with miniature Soviet-inspired sets, based on the biography of the doomed first animal in space. Created and directed by Frank Maugeri of Redmoon Theater and Seth Bockley, with music by Kevin O’Donnell, puppets by Kass Copeland, and art direction by Angela Tillges.
PETER SCHUMANN (Vermont)
University of Majd: The Story of a Palestinian Youth
With the help of a violin, a pair of cardboard wings and a pile of paper dolls, Bread and Puppet Theater’s director tells the real story of a Palestinian youth in an Israeli prison.
PAUL ZALOOM & LYNN JEFFRIES (Los Angeles)
Abecedarium N to Z
Puppeteer and political satirist Zaloom and renowned designer and nightclub puppeteer Jeffries pack a wallop in a series of rapid-fire vignettes.
GREAT SMALL WORKS (NYC & Boston)
Blue Skies
Scenes of flood, tornado, wind and rain question the politics of weather disaster. Created and performed by Isaac Bell, Trudi Cohen, Ron Kelley, Cate Kelley and Jonathan Kelley.
|
TOY THEATER CABARET
HOSTED BY GREAT SMALL WORKS
Saturday 5/31 at 10:00pm- One Show Only
BUY TICKETS!
Be terrified! Be Amazed! Be Inspired! The Angel of History lords over a carnival of short toy theater wonders ranging from the low to high tech, from traditional to inventive, from political to personal to fantastic.
BONNIE DUNCAN (Boston)
Alva's Companion
A tiny lamplit meditation on love and loss. Music by Valerie Opielski.
HOWIE LEIFER (NYC)
The Preacher and the Flood
A cautionary tale based on a song by Rick Nestler.
EMILY DeCOLA & JONATHAN FARMER ( NYC)
Unearthed
A photographer attempts to capture the soul of his beloved in the heart of his camera.
KATE BREHM (NYC)
Pig and Pepper
Alice is followed down a toy theater video rabbit hole, using classical Alice in Wonderland illustrations as puppets, and a camera as an overhead projector.
ISAAC BELL (Boston) & JONATHAN KELLEY (Vermont)
Manifest Destiny
A rotting lump of a post-apocolyptic world in the confines of a rather large wooden box. Inspiration from Dante’s Inferno and Dawn of the Dead, with lyrics from Radiohead, a poem by Claire King and soundtrack by Ron Kelley, Jonathan Kelley, and Isaac Bell.
JIM NAPOLITANO & TIM LAGASSE (CT)
The Rag
The latest in “Wayang Zerox,” the form these two UConn Puppet Arts graduates invented in 1992, combining Victorian Toy theater, a video camera and the daily news.
ALISSA HUNNICUTT (NYC)
Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Based on a song by Samuel Barber with text from a James Agee prose poem depicting the sights and sounds of Knoxville, Tennessee. A story of childhood memories and love of family.
Toy Theater Cabaret
Saturday 5/31 at 10:00pm
One Show Only
BUY TICKETS!
|
|
|
Great Small Works is:
John Bell, Trudi Cohen, Stephen Kaplin, Jenny Romaine,
Roberto Rossi (on leave), and Mark Sussman
Toy Theatre Festival: Co-Designer Rob Ebeltoft • Museum Associate Emmy Bean • Program Associates Lake Simons, Erin Orr • Production Manager Meghan Williams • Lighting Design Jeanette Yew • Stage Managers Andrea Rideout, Gregory Corbino • Graphic & Website Design Sean-Michael Fleming
Great Small Works wishes to thank the following for their generous support of the Eighth International Toy Theater Festival: National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Jim Henson Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Kornfeld Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Sonya Staff Foundation, Asian Cultural Council
|
