Of Wings and Feet 2017

Paperhand Puppet Intervention’s 18th Annual Pageant-Play-Spectacle!

See great photos by Lee Capps Photography here.

Giant Tortoise from Paperhand’s 2017 Summer Show “Of Wings and Feet”, Photo by Lee Capps

Of Wings and Feet

Join Paperhand this summer for a whimsical, paradoxical juxtaposition of myriad forms and flights of fancy. Everything moves! And yes, we move. Forward hopefully.

Spend an enchanted evening discovering what it means to be human… when you’re a bird. Or, a turtle. Or, in a circus of traveling revelers. Witness the living land and waters breathing and moving with the sky in an epic pageant of the ages. See, hear, and feel all this and more at our 18th annual giant puppet spectacle for all!

Using masks, big puppets, stilts, painted cardboard, shadows and illumination, Paperhand explores story, reflects on life’s mysteries, deepens our connection, and inspires young and old. An all new original score by an all-star Paperhand band with Shana Tucker, Beverly Botsford, Jonathan Henderson, Will Ridenour, Quran Karriem, “pro” Pete Lewis!


Father Sky from Paperhand’s 2017 Summer Show “Of Wings and Feet”



Read INDY Week’s article: Paperhand’s Magic and Mastery Take Full Flight in ‘Of Wings and Feet’, by Byron Woods, photo by Alex Boerner

Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins with the Resistance Goddess from Paperhand’s 2017 Summer Show ‘Of Wings and Feet’


Watch ABC11’s video: The Power of Puppetry

ABC11 News video: ‘The Power of Puppetry’ shot during rehearsals of Paperhand’s 2017 Summer Show ‘Of Wings and Feet’ at the Forest Theatre


Thank You!

Thank you to our sustaining Patreon Patrons, our Kickstarter Supporters (New record: 258 backers!), our Work/Play Volunteers, our audiences, our beautiful venues: Forest TheatreNC Museum of ArtThe Carolina Theatre of Greensboro, our Front of House and Performance Volunteers (So wonderful to have you as part of our team!), and last, but not least, our immensely talented, courageous, beautiful inside and out, Puppeteers, Musicians and Crew.


Our lively, hardworking and skilled interns from 2017 ‘Of Wings and Feet’! Back row: Kelly Washatka, Maya Patrick, Hannah Tishkoff; Front row: Jake Brower, Nyssa Collins, Sally Slade, and Emily Brink


Over 130 Work/Play Volunteers!

We send a humongous heartfelt Thank You to each one of our over 130 Work/Play community volunteers. Our shows take an incredible amount of people power and we love you powerful people! We can’t create this summer show without your help and are so grateful for the support of our community.

THANK YOU: Karin Abell, Joanne Andrews, Leila Akbar, Avelyn Batts, Anne Batts, Roald Batts, Vincent Batts, Gabriel Batts, Magnus Batts, Christy Batts, Erin Belford, Tracy Bersley, Zuzu Bersley, Josh Burton, Sarah Burton, Dalya Burton, Miri Burton, Jane Cable, Lani Chaves, Lingling Chen, Terri Clark, William Clark, Eise Clark, Nancy Collins, Christina Dodson, William Dodson, Patricia Dorio, Molly Dubose, Charlie East, Debbie Edmonds, Andy Edmonds, Gemmy Edmonds, Rosie Edmonds, Kathryn Eudy, Sarah Faircloth, Talia Felgenhauer, Tyler Felgenhauer, Jack Felgenhauer, Joe Garay, Martha Girolami, Atticus Graysmith, Heloise Hedlund, Connie Hoffmann, Quinn Hoffmann, Sadie Hoffmann, Starr Hogan, Mayana Humek, Shiva Humek, Gaura Humek, Alexis Hunter, Christopher Huysentruyt, Margaret Huysentruyt, CC Jones, Andi Jones, Sujan Joshi, Mary Glenn Krause, Susan Krause, Ken Krebs, Josephine Krenitsky, Ting Lam, Shelby Lattimore, Theresa Lattimore, Madison Lattimore, Sydney Lattimore, Natalie Lyons, Elise Lyons, Tina Mansfield, Erin Mansfield, Sian McLean, Tom McQuiston, Sheila Minihane, Shirley Morris, Joe Morrone, Anika Morrone, Henry Mueller, Caroline Mueller, Elise Mueller, Anna Myers, Florence Nash, Jaybird O’Berski, Kate O’Brien, Rachel Oeschger, Eli Oeschger, Heidi Paulsen, Abbey Piner, Ellie Pritchard, Laura Pritchard, Paul Pritchard, Serra Proctor, Cypress Proctor, Milo Ramirez, Camila Ramirez, Geo Ramirez, Kyra Ramirez, Abra Rearte , Lyla Rearte , Apolo Rearte , Ruby Rearte , Manuel Rearte , Ande Richardson, Alexander Ross, Angela Sawyer, Dylan Sawyer, Simon Sciaky, Hammond Sherouse, Liz Shipman, Stewart Shirey, Emma Skurnick, Niko Skurnick, John Snyder, Liz Snyder, Nate Snyder, Evan Snyder, Lily Spillane, Hersh Tapadia, Lila Fern Teague, Ted “The Savage” Teague, Rebecca Tighe, Vladimir Tilchtman, Anya Tilchtman, Emmett Tilchtman, Elias Todd, Solomon Todd, Shad Todd, Deborah Wallace, Jennifer Weideman, Ann Wilson, Lindsey Womack, Trinity, Matthew, Ava & Ewan!


Cast of 2017 ‘Of Wings and Feet’!


Pigeon Flight School Scene from Paperhand’s 2017 Summer Show “Of Wings and Feet”, photo by Lee Capps

Performance Pieces:

Learning to Fly

The Cycle Circus of Beginnings and Ends

The Living Land & Sky


Living Land, Sea and Sky from Paperhand’s 2017 Summer Show “Of Wings and Feet”, photo by Lee Capps

Of Wings and Feet

Written and directed by: Jan Burger and Donovan Zimmerman in collaboration with the cast and the community.

Original Music by: Beverly Botsford, Jonathan Henderson, Quran Karriem, “Pro” Pete Lewis, Will Ridenour, Shana Tucker, and Donovan Zimmerman

Puppeteers: Jake Brower, Jan Burger, Chris Carter, Nyssa Collins, Claudia Lopez, Piper Finn, Holmes Graybeal, Makayla Graybeal, Sarah Howe, Karen Kelley, Lawruh Lindsey, Cosmo Magoo, Jimmy Magoo, Zella Magoo, Tommy Noonan, Maya Patrick, Tarin Pipkins, Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins, Cameron Prevatte, Sol Ramirez, Sally Slade, Sarah Smith, Hannah Tishkoff, Lisa Turner, Kathryn Wall, Kelly Washatka, Donovan Zimmerman

Stage Manager: Piper Finn

Assistant Stage Manager: Kathryn Wall

Sound: Charles Jones of Synergen with Assistants Watson Jones and Aaron Vallejo

Engineering and Effects: Chris Carter

Lead Studio Artists: Meghan Dombrowski, Tarish Pipkins

Seamstress: Ginger Lipscomb

Interns: Emily Brink, Jake Brower, Nyssa Collins, Maya Patrick, Sally Slade, Hannah Tishkoff, Kelly Washatka

Theatre House: Sue Zimmerman, Meghan Dombrowski, Sally Dombrowski, Andy Benditt

Admin, Website and Media: Martique Lorray & Amber Baptiste Tarter

A Special Thank You to: Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, The People’s Channel, Lee Capps Photography and the Ink Spot Copy Shop

Theatre House Volunteers: Coming Soon

Performer Volunteers: Joanne Andrews, Shannon Baxter, Alan Britt, Carolina Christopher, Khallori Cosmey, Elaine Farstad, Matthew Ford, Candy Fuller, Michelle Gonzales-Green, Catherine Harkey, Lexie Harvey, Ginger Lipscomb, Katie Moorehead, Trinity Pellas, Julian Phelps, Abbey Piner, Katie Rebich, Sammy Rivas, Allison Royal, Alexis Rudolph, Karen Terry, Ivy Walbert, Lindsey Womack, Jovenna Young


About our Summer Shows

Each year we write, create, build and perform a large summer pageant-play-extravaganza.

These performances last about an hour, include an ensemble of professional musicians who create an original score of music and involve a cast of puppeteers, which has included as many as twenty-eight performers.

Our summer extravaganza is attended by over 16,000 people!

We are grateful to be funded by donations from supporters through a Spring Kickstarter fundraiser and, year-round, through Patreon. We open our studio to the community every Saturday in June and July for Work/Play Days where folks of all ages and persuasions get messy building puppets and props for the Summer Show.

Through our annual summer performance, Paperhand Puppet Intervention helps create a community that shares picnic blankets, ideas, experiences and a love of wonder. We hope you can join us.


Summer Show Questions & Answers here.

View our past shows here.