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Doggie and Mathilda at Mystic Open Studio

the bouncy house!
Taking Turns
neighbors

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

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“The Ice River: A Monkey King Story” with Bu Dai Xi and Chinese Folk Music

 

Temple Master and Monk Tang

Temple Master and Monk Tang
Buns offered to the Monster King
Monkey King and Monster

 

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

 

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“Growing Things” at LexFarm

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.

 

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Puppets and Planting, April 27 at Arlington Ecofest

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.

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Fall Shows

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

 

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“The Trolls and the Tree” at Fall River Library

On July 13, Peter Lehman’s lute music brought the peaceful sense of a fairy woodland to the Elm Street tent outside Fall River Library.  Children gathered on a rug, ready to meet fairies, squirrels . . . and trolls! In this interactive show, Peter, Ann Wynne and I want our audience members to have opinions — but we were surprised at how strongly they spoke to Skimpa the troll. “No, you can’t push down the tree!” “But I need space for my beautiful new chair,” she whined. “NO!” the children said.

 

When the trolls persisted in knocking over the tree, our faithful audience helped them plant a baby tree for distraught fairies. And, after trolls, fairies, puppeteers and our amazing musician took their bows, the children arrested the trolls! We know they will take good care of trees in the future.

Fall River Children’s Librarian David Mello with his own tree puppet.

THANK YOU, FALL RIVER CULTURAL COUNCIL!! This show was supported by a grant from the Fall River Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. And thank you to librarian David Mello for his incredible support of children and those who perform for them.

 

About

About

Come soar with the Monkey King, fly with fairies, dig in the mud with a happy little pig. I love the way puppets carry us into different worlds with the flip of a hand.

On this site you’ll see photos of solo shows I perform in schools, museums, on playgrounds and in homes for groups of people ages 3 and up. I had the good luck to study traditional Taiwanese hand puppetry with the I Wan Jan Troupe. Watch for lively movements of that style in every show from Monkey King stories to farm adventures.

Mostly I perform in New England, making little journeys from my home in Arlington, Massachusetts. If you’re further away, e-mail me. I like big journeys, too.