Time to rehearse! Trolls Skimpa and Blompa will present “The Trolls and the Tree” at Somerville Community Growing Center on June 2nd. Looking back at the first photos of Ann Wynne, Peter Lehman and I working on this green-themed show, we’re wearing masks. We developed the show during the pandemic and only performed outside — at Arlington EcoFest, at Lexington Community Farm, at Old Schwamb Mill. Rehearsing is easier when you’re not afraid of getting sick.
Cow and Mouse are old enough to help with planting day. Cow plants hay, his favorite food; Mouse plants cheese. With the help of audience members, rain is plentiful. The soil is rich. Why won’t the cheese grow? Only Cousin Rat seems to know.
This interactive story was developed at Lexington Community Farm with advice from the education staff and some wise children. Margaret Moody and Pam Shanley operate puppets; Peter Lehman plays beautiful tunes on mandolin to accompany the action. Everyone helps harvest at the end of the story. Best for ages 3 to 8.
I hope you’ll join me and Marina Strauss this Saturday at 10 am for a fun puppet show, hands-on puppet play — and the joy of creating a puppet with Marina!
“Taking Turns” features two neighbors who don’t want to take turns, and a lot of gentle humor. It’s best for families with children ages 3 to 8. Registration for the show + puppetmaking package is $15: https://www.mysticopenstudio.com/service-page/puppet-play-and-make-your-own-2-8-10?referral=service_list_widget
Mystic Open Studio, 785 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington MA
Temple Master and Monk Tang
A wily river monster is causing a lot of trouble. He demands that villagers put all their food into two giant buns for his delight, and he won’t let the Monk Tang and disciples cross his river. Can the Monkey King and fellow disciples banish the monster and continue their journey? I hope you’ll join me for this action-packed episode of Journey to the West performed with acrobatic Bu Dai Xi puppetry. I’ll be performing with Galapagos Puppets and the Jimmy Zhao Chinese Folk Music Ensemble.
February 1 at 10 am, Acton Memorial Library, free performance : https://actonmemoriallibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/journey-to-the-west-puppet-show-hold/
This performance was made possible with the generous support of Acton-Boxborough Cultural Council, a local agency of Massachusetts Cultural Council.
January 25 – 26, Puppet Showplace Theater, Brookline, MA: https://www.puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2025/01/25/the-ice-river-a-monkey-king-tale-by-galapagos-puppets
Badger Meets the Fairies on Saturday, December 14 at 3:45 pm, Wonder Yoga, 1305 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington
There’s a lot of holiday cheer at the Arlington Heights Holiday Stroll. Come join me for a gentle tale of Mr. Badger, who helps the fairies with a building project. Then it’s complicated: the fairies won’t use cement and Mr. Badger wants to learn to fly. A 35-minute show, so you can get to the tree lighting on time! Admission free, best for ages 4 and up.
MORE SHOWS COMING UP:
The Ice River, a Monkey King story with Jimmy Zhao Music Ensemble, Puppet Showplace Theater, January 25 & 26,
Growing things takes a lot of sunshine, rain — and time. Puppet shows grow best with support, helpful ideas — and time.
Over the past year I’ve been an Artist-in-Residence at Lexington Community Farm, working with Education Director Rachel Curtin to create “Growing Things,” a Cow and Mouse fable about sustainable growing. Rachel patiently shared her work teaching children about how plants grow. And her daughter contributed a plot twist that kept the show interesting: Cow plants hay, while his friend Mouse plants cheese.
At our first programs in May at LexFarm and at Fox Library, I presented the first 3 scenes. Children planted seeds with Rachel. In summer, I performed the second section, where the cheese still hasn’t sprouted, at LexFarm. Children picked cucumbers and tomatoes with Rachel. At each program I got to hear a lot from the audience about what was funny, what was interesting, and what needed to be trimmed.
The children’s reactions helped build the show we were happy to present in full in the LexFarm garden on October 19th. Thanks to Peter Lehman for lively mandolin accompaniment, to Pam Shanley for performing a wicked funny Cousin Rat, and to EVERYONE at LexFarm.
This puppet show was created with generous support from Arlington Commission on Arts & Culture Grants Committee, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and we are grateful.
Please join me and my performing partners for these summer shows:
Alice, or the Red King’s Dream based on “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass, performed by Dream Tale Puppets on: July 12 at 5pm, Woods Hole Community Hall ($10); July 16 at 1pm, Chatham Public LIbrary, free. More: https://dreamtalepuppets.org/shows/alice/
The Trolls and the Tree: An Environmental Fable, featuring Ann Wynne as Squirrel, me playing trolls and fairies, and Peter Lehman on lute. July 18 at 3pm, Medford Public Library, free. More: https://medfordlibrary.org/event/the-trolls-and-the-tree-ages-4/
The Ice River: a Journey to the West story performed by Madeleine Beresford and me with Bu Dai Xi puppetry, and live music by the Jimmy Zhao Chinese Music Ensemble. July 29 at 7pm, Puppet Showplace Theater, free. 
Planting Time: Cow and Mouse in the Garden, August 14 at 5:30, Lexington Community Farm. Join me and LexFarm Education Director Rachel Curtin to find out if the cheese has grown in Mouse’s garden, and for a fun hands-on garden activity.
Puppets and Planting on Saturday, April 27, 3:30 pm at Fox Library
Join me and Rachel Curtin, Lexington Community Farm Education (LexFarm) Director for a free Ecofest program where puppets plant new seeds — and so can you. As this year’s resident artist at LexFarm, I’m working on a new show featuring Cow — who wants to plant hay — and Mouse, who plants her favorite food. I will perform a part of the new show, Rachel will lead planting, and we’ll have time for children to try out puppets.
Malden Public Library, 36 Salem Street
A dream come true! I’ve always wanted to perform Bu Dai Xi in the traditional way, with musicians watching the puppets and creating rhythms and melodies for them. In “The Ice River”, our puppets’ movements are powered by musicians Jimmy Zhao and Kai-syin Hou on traditional instruments. Madeleine Beresford and I perform the story with choreography learned with Taiwan’s master, the late Li Tien-lu . Best for ages 5 and up, free to the public. Sponsored by Chinese Culture Connection with generous funding from the Malden Cultural Council, a local agency of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Lexington Community Farm, Lowell St, Lexington MA. Rain date April 7 TIME TBA
Join Lex Farm Education Director Rachel Curtin and I for a program about how plants grow. I’ll perform a vignette from a new story we are developing at Lex Farm: “Cow and Mouse in the Garden.” Cow wants to plant hay, while Mouse plants cheese, her favorite food. Then Rachel will lead songs and show everyone a good way to plant a seed. All children are welcome. $15 per family.
“Puppets and Planting” is funded by a generous grant from Arlington Cultural Council, a local agency of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
More Puppets and Planting dates at Lex Farm: 5/18 (rain date 5/19); Saturday October 19 (rain date October 20)
December 9: Monkey Makes Mischief in Heaven, 4pm, Wonder Yoga, 1305 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, as part of Arlington Heights Holiday Stroll.
The Chinese Monkey King soars into the heavens and delights in his new job in the Heavenly Peach Garden. But when he is left out of the Jade Emperor’s Peach Blossom Banquet, Monkey flies off to make mischief in the Heavens. This episode of the epic Journey to the West features traditional Bu Dai Xi puppets and choregraphy, which I studied with Taiwan’s I Wan Jan Troupe. Best for ages 5 and up.
November 12: The Trolls and the Tree (11:15) and Badger Meets the Fairies at Arlington Open Studios, 20 Academy Street, Arlington
Join a lively bunch of fairies and trolls for a show at a wonderful Open Studios day! Ann Wynne and I perform puppets; Peter Lehman brings rich accompaniment with lute and mandolin. All shows are free, best for ages 4 and up.
Cow and Mouse were happy to be invited into the lovely barn at Mack’s Apples in Londonderry, NH on September 8th. A fun crowd of people watching, and some sweet sheep in the yard outside.
On October 14, I’ll be in the Greenwoods Puppet Festival in Norfolk, Connecticut, performing Bu Dai Xi in “The Ice River” with Madeleine Beresford of Galapagos Puppets; and appearing in “Alice in Wonderland(s)” by Dream Tale Puppets. The festival goes all day and everything is free, with the support of the Norfolk Library and the Battell Foundation. More here: PuppetFestival 2023 final
