News & Events

News & Events

Welcoming the Year of the Dragon

Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask Theater and I are having a lot of fun working on a show together. We will be at the Peabody Museum on January 21st at 2pm. Hope you have a chance to take a look at the videos the folks at the Peabody put together:
Laughing Buddha (Eric Bornstein)
Monkey King (Margaret Moody)
The Peabody calendar is at www.peabody.harvard.edu/calendar.
I’ll be at the Puppet Showplace in Brookline Village on Wednesday and Thursday morning, January 18 and 19, at 10:30 am. For more about the theater, which produces all kinds of interesting puppet shows: puppetshowplace.org.
 — Margaret
News & Events

Trolls in the Kitchen, January 7th

Our Arlington Center for the Arts puppet series continues on January 7th at 2 pm with “Trolls in the Kitchen”, a Swedish tale. When the helpful tomte in Trinka’s kitchen move out, raucous trolls move in. Please join us for the show, and stay for coffee and puppet-play afterwards. Tickets $5 at the door or by e-mailing me at [email protected]

Thanks to all who came out for Maggie Whalen’s charming performance of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears on Decembe 10th.
News & Events

Goldilocks opens the Arlington series. . . and the bears’ house

The porridge is too hot, so the bears go for a walk. Plucky Goldilocks walks right into their house, forgetting her manners altogether.

Please join Maggie Whalen of Magpie Puppets as she opens a lovely and lively new version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” She’ll perform it as a “tabletop” show, so that she is on-stage with her hand-made puppets. Maggie’s website tells more: http://magpiepuppets.com/
The show will be on Saturday, December 10th at 2 pm, the first in the Arlington Center for the Arts series this winter. Tickets are $5, and I can hold a limited number if you e-mail [email protected] before Friday, December 9th. Please come for the show and stay for coffee and puppet-play afterwards. Parking onsite. Directions: http://acarts.org/directions.php
News & Events

Almost spring!

Soon we’ll be able to dig in the warm earth and see beautiful flowers. (I believe it, really!) My puppets are starting early. Please join us for “Badger Meets the Fairies” on Saturday, March 12th at 2 pm at:

Arlington Center for the Arts theater
41 Foster Street
Arlington 02474
And please stay afterwards to make simple puppets from paper and cardboard, play with puppets, and enjoy some coffee or tea.
Tickets are $5, available at the door beginning at 1:30. We’ll also hold up to twenty tickets (total) if you e-mail me at [email protected] by Friday, March 11th.
News & Events


Please come welcome the Year of the Rabbit at Arlington Center for the Arts on Saturday, February 12th. I will perform “Monkey Wreaks Havoc in Heaven”, an episode of the Chinese epic Journey to the West. The magical monkey flies to the Heavens and takes a job in the Jade Emperor’s peach garden. But when the monkey is snubbed by other gods and goddesses, he sneaks into a banquet hall and eats the preparation for the New Year’s celebration. And that’s just the beginning of the trouble.

The show starts at 2 pm at the ACA theater, 41 Foster Street, in Arlington. (directions:http://acarts.org/directions.php). Tickets are $5. Please come for the show and stay for coffee and puppet play afterwards.
We can save up to 20 tickets in advance. If you would like to have tickets saved for you, please e-mail [email protected] before Friday, February 11th. We’ll save the tickets until 2:45 on the day of the show.
News & Events

trolls on puppet TV


I worked on “The Trolls and the Tree” in the hottest part of this summer. The show opened August 13th at the West End Branch Library in Boston. For three weeks before that, I kept the stage up in my living room because my upstairs studio was too hot. I got more work done, too, because the stage was always right there, begging for attention.

In “The Trolls and the Tree”, trolls Skimpa and Blompa garden-sit for woodland fairies for a week. They move their TV in and watch a shopping show. Will Adams-Keane, a college student of many talents, filmed a nice little shopping episode, edited it, and added music. See the result on this page. Audiences and the trolls see the video through a digital photo frame, mounted on the stage. For the first show, Will and I pieced together bird and car sound effects and terrific fairy music from Alison Plante. Then, in September, Alison and I had time to work on a more complete sound track. Now the show has original, evocative music from Alison, a video segment, and a toaster that makes troll toast.
Puppetry events in Boston this fall include the “Incubator” at the Puppet Showplace in Brookline. Every other Tuesday puppeteers meet to advise and inspire each other. Schedule: puppetshowplace.org.
Also, renowned puppet artist Basil Twist will present “Petruschka” Nov. 11 to 21 through Arts Emerson and Celebrity Series. see artsemerson.org
News & Events

going green, slowly

From Margaret:
After a busy fall and winter, I have studio time again. It seems like every puppet needs fixing! This cat is getting improved eyes and whiskers.

And slowly, I am working on a show called “The Trolls and the Tree.” In it, Swedish trolls Blompa and Skimpa agree to take care of the fairies’ garden while the fairies are away. But they don’t take care of it. They bring in their satellite dish, and pull up a tree that they think takes up too much space. Without the tree, there are no birds, and it’s really hot in the garden. Can the trolls bring the tree back? What will the fairies do? Can trolls go green?
April 24th was the National Day of Puppetry. With 12 other members of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry, I went on a puppet parade through downtown Boston. We took our puppets on the T from Brookline to the Children’s Museum, and then back on the T to the Common and the Public Garden. Our puppets met a lot of people! If you love puppets, please check out the Guild: www.bagop.org
Madeleine, who represents Galapagos Puppets in New Jersey, has just performed “Esther’s Story”, made from diaries her aunt kept in Germany during the Holocaust. And now she is in the middle of finals in graduate school.
News & Events

Spring Show at Arlington Center for the Arts


Welcome spring with a trip to the fairies’ blooming garden. Margaret will perform “Badger Meets the Fairies” on March 21st at 2 pm, Arlington Center for the Arts, 41 Foster Street, Arlington MA. Tickets are $5. Please stay for puppet-play and coffee after the show.

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The Trolls and the Tree

The Trolls and the Tree: an Interactive Puppet Show will open on June 4, 2022 and be performed again in July and September! We welcome people to come into our fairy garden and be a friend to the plants, animals and fairies that live there.  Best for children ages 5 to 10 and their families. Outdoors.

The trolls want to take good care of the fairies’ garden, but they also want a LOT of stuff. When there’s not enough space for their breakfast nook, what should they keep — their deluxe toaster or the fairies’ cherished tree?

Nature-based educator Ann Wynne, stringed instrument virtuoso Peter Lehman and I have enjoyed building this show together, rehearsal by rehearsal.

June 4: Please call Old Schwamb Mill at 781-643-0554 for tickets, $15 per family group. Single tickets $5.

July 13: Fall River Public Library, 11am, under the Elm Street tent (unless weather moves us inside).104 N. Main Street, Fall River MA. No reservations needed.

September: Lexington Community Farm, check back for the date.

THANKS TO OUR FUNDERS AND SPONSORS! The Trolls and the Tree has been produced with the generous support of the Arlington Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Our show in Fall River has been generously supported by a grant from the Fall River Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

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News & Events

Come in From the Cold!

Please join Margaret Moody for puppet shows in Arlington. The shows last around 40 minutes and we hope you’ll stay for coffee and puppet-play afterwards.

“Cow and Mouse’s Picnic” and “Mathilda’s Bath,” two lighthearted shows for children 4 to 7, and their families. Saturday, January 16th, 2 p.m. at Arlington Center for the Arts, 41 Foster Street, Arlington, 02474.
Tickets are $5.

Two more dates in the series:
Sunday, February 7th, 2 p.m. “Trolls in the Kitchen”
Sloppy, raucous trolls move into Trinka’s kitchen. Best for ages 4 to 10.

Sunday, March 21st, 2 p.m. “Badger Meets the Fairies”
Gentle Mr. Badger flies away to help the fairies. Best for ages 4 to adult.

Other public shows coming up:
February 3 and 4, “Badger Meets the Fairies”, 10:30 a.m.
Puppet Showplace Theater, Brookline, MA

February 10, 5 p.m., “Monkey Wreaks Havoc in Heaven”, 5 p.m.
Robbins Library, Arlington MA