Children's International Puppet Festival, San Antonio, May 6 - 12, 2015
54 performances by six different companies, all taking place at The Tobin Center in three venues and the Plaza. Multiple shows, lasting 45 minutes to an hour, will be available each day.
This is a special project of the Children's Fine Arts Series.
Puppetry is a popular genre of performing arts. It is an art form that dates back to the Middle Ages. There is something magical about a miniature inanimate "character" that comes to life, speaks, sings, and dances. The professional touring companies presented at the Festival are some of the best and most skilled in the world.
The following will perform in the Festival :
May 6, 7 "When Animals Were People," and “The Lazy Bee” by TEARS OF JOY THEATRE, Portland, OR,
(six performances) Tears Of Joy performs an innovative show for both adults and children bringing to life folktales from Mexico and Argentina. The stories are told in both Spanish and English. Inspired by a tale from the Huichol Indians of Mexico, descendants of the Aztecs, "When Animals were People" tells a tale where all the animals contribute to a potluck dinner- Wolf arrives and drools after the turtle, vulture and squirrel. "Lazy Bee" is based on a story by Argentinean, Horacio Quiroga. The performance incorporates simple Spanish words and phrases giving the children a brief cultural immersion.
All Ages, West Rotunda, Limited seating: 100, Running time: 55 minutes
May 6, 7, 8, "Fragile," by LE CLAN DES SONGES, Venerque, France,
(nine performances) Embarking on a strange journey, this little, fragile and lonely man has a unique companion: a bag enclosing an entire magical world. This is a poetic show that explores imbalance and instability and an upside down universe in which happiness is won when we cross our own limits. In silent theatre, music becomes language as much as the images and the lighting. The puppeteers mainly use the Bunraku theater technique (three-man puppet manipulation), which gives the moving object its magic by allowing rapid movement and weightlessness.
Ages 3 and up, Carlos Alvarez Studio Theatre, Limited seating: 90, Running time: 50 minutes
May 9, 10, 11, 12, GOLDEN DRAGON WATER PUPPETS OF SAIGON, Vietnam,
(13 performances). This company is one of Vietnam’s national treasures, a company that furthers the magical and time honored tradition of puppetry on water. This astonishing art form, which is now over a thousand years old, offers a glimpse of a cultural tradition that defines the essence of Vietnam. The program consists of short vignettes, which contrasts lyrical contentment with playful action and comic turns. We learn the myth and folklore of this bright and bold country through inspired and centuries old choreography and dance, as well as the daily life of the fishing and farming villages. The action is accompanied by the music of a small orchestra played on centuries-old instruments. The musicians sing and provide voices for the puppets.
Ages 3 and up, Carlos Alvarez Studio Theatre, Limited seating: 200, Running time: 50 minutes
May 7, 8,9,10, "Landscapes," by MIMIKA THEATRE, Leeds, Yorkshire, UK,
(14 performances) This is a non-verbal explanation of the atmosphere, movements, rhythms and sounds of four contrasting areas of the natural world. A theatre of remarkable visual effects and transformations are set inside a beautiful calico dome. The sun rises over a buzzing DESERT, a chick hatches—the Eagle leaves the nest in search of food. The journey begins. The RAINFOREST where Apes, butterflies, spiders and birds are all drawn to a clutch of eggs on the riverbank. The Crocodile is always on guard. SEA—a crowded kaleidoscope of constant movement, the large and small; the speedy and slow; the beautiful and ugly; the familiar and bizarre. ANTARCTIC where snow, wind, cold and ice provide a harsh but beautiful background for the setting sun at journey’s end.
Ages 3 and up, East Rotunda, Limited seating: 30, Running time: 50 minutes
May 9 "Out of the Mist a Dragon" by WOOD AND STRINGS THEATRE, Centerville, TN,
(four performances) A pompous samurai overlord arrives at the shrine of Benten, the goddess of good fortune, to ask for a suitable husband for his beautiful daughter, Lotus. The goddess sends a humble fisherman to meet the daughter. They fall in love but Yukio, the young man, feels he is unworthy. The father, outraged, changes the fisherman into a dragon. Using elegant reproductions of the classic Bunraku puppets of Japan, a romantic poignant drama unfolds that reaches into the world of myth and legend to portray a young man’s journey of self-discovery. His encounters with traditional folk puppets from North America, England and Indonesia give exotic glimpses of different puppetry styles. A post show informance examines the various styles of puppetry and the cultures that create them.
Ages 7 and up, West Rotunda, Limited seating: 100, Running time: 50 minutes
May 10 “Escape From The Zoo!” by WOOD AND STRINGS THEATRE, Centerville, TN
(two performances) This is an interactive strolling puppet experience featuring a truly wild cast of characters. For months they have planned the perfect escape, a breakout from the city zoo! They are free from their cages and on the run. With the determined (but dim) Zookeeper hot on their tails, net in hand, the fugitive animals must blend in with the regular folk. Their very freedom depends on their ability to pass themselves off as human. Who would suspect a rhino in a Hawaiian shirt?
Wood and Strings uses the captivating and comprehensive nature of art to engage the imagination, create experiences full o meaning, and provide tools to build positive solutions for life’s challenges.
All Ages, Tobin Center Plaza
May 11, 12, "Little Red Riding Hood," by PAUL MESNER PUPPETS, Kansas City, MO,
(six performances)The telling of this classic tale comes with a very contemporary twist. When Little Red finds the wolf disguised in her Grandmother’s clothes, she uses her self-defense moves to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget! The goal is to have fun and laugh often. From this classic tale Paul Mesner Puppets brings to the fore some quirky and unusual detail of this oft told story. These variations offer vivid glimpses into our rich cultural heritage and a different approach to the story we all know-or think we know-so well.
Paul Mesner has worked as a puppeteer for more than 30 years. He was chosen as one of fifteen pupeet-artists from around the world to study with master puppeteers at the International Institute of Puppetry in Charleville-Mezieres. In 1992 Pal received the highest honor in puppetry, the UNIMA/USA Citation of Excellence in Puppetry. An Award created by Jim Henson. Ages 3 and up, West Rotunda, Running time: 50 minutes