In honor of twenty years of larger than life puppetry in the Triangle, Paperhand Puppet Intervention presents: Radicackalacky! A festival of radical puppetry. Two nights of performances feature puppeteers from throughout the Southeast with an array of puppetry styles, including table top monsters, life-sized paper sculptures, and reverential shadow puppetry accompanied by song. The festival, which also includes two days of public workshops and a late night cabaret, is a celebration of how puppetry can be used to affect radical change.
Admission is $15 or pay-what-you-can.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25th @ 8pm
Artist group: abandoned ships
Artist bio: abandoned ships is puppet artist Milissa Orzolek and the talented beings she has been able to gather together. In the past, Milissa has worked with Cirque Du Soliel and Wayne White and many other companies in Detroit, New Orleans, and Durham, North Carolina. She has performed in slams and festivals around the country. In 2016, abandoned ships received a Jim Henson Foundation Family grant for its original production What Keeps Us.
Performing: Waiting: Two experimental Puppet Tales (30 min)
Show Description: “Waiting: Two experimental Puppet Tales” consists of “Insomnia” and “In the morning.” “Insomnia” is a table-top and object theatre piece about the intimacy of and longing for sleep. In the morning is a table-top show about the need and struggle to believe in a better tomorrow.
Artist: Edwin Salas
Artist Bio: Edwin Salas is a puppeteer and performer with a background in dance from Mexico City currently based in Asheville, NC. He has toured all over the world, and was most recently seen at the National Puppetry Festival in Minneapolis.
Performing: Frijolito and The Orange Monster (45 min)
Show Description: Our hero called “Frijolito,” which means “Tiny Bean,” is second-generation Mexican immigrant in the USA. Made in the style of glove puppet influenced by the tradition of the Comedia del Arte le Guarattele Napolitane from Italy, this puppet show follows Frijolito as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend from an ICE detention center, confronts racism, and cheats death.
Artist: Toybox Theater
Artist Bio: Toybox Theater is a multi-award-winning company, performing for audiences of all ages for 20 years. Awards include: “Fan Favorite and Best Performance at the National Puppetry Festival, funding from the Jim Henson Foundation, and a UNIMA Citation for excellence in The Art of Puppetry, the highest award given in the field.
Performing: Toybox Theater (45 min)
Show Description: America’s favorite cartoon witch blends stand up comedy, deft character acting, and puppetry for one unique performance. His work runs the gamut of emotions but will always leave you in tears.
THURSDAY SEPT. 26th @ 8pm
Artist: Miranda Elliot Rader
Artist Bio: Miranda Elliot Rader is a puppeteer and performer from the west coast. She currently lives in Charlottesville, VA.
Performing: Creation (10 min)
Show Description: “Creation” is a feminist retelling of Genesis 1 and John 1, “Creation” tells the story of the creation of the world from before the beginning of time to the present day.
Artist: Rae Red
Artist Bio: Rae Anna Hample is a puppeteer, animator, visual artist and musician, encouraging laughter in the face of darkness by translating everyday realities into play. Their work exposes magic and wonder within our daily functions, from the wizardry of sight and color theory to the way water invisibly keeps our lives flowing smoothly like a ghost within the walls. They have presented their work in every type of space imaginable from dive bars and the backs of donut shops to The Museum of Human Achievement, High Concept Labs, and The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.
Performing: Shadow Ballads (40 min)
Show Description: A collection of traditional ballads about death adapted by Rae Red to be sung along with shadow accompaniment. Using the simple technology of an overhead projector, Rae creates an eerie yet beautiful experience of storytelling and song.
Artist: Lyon Forrest Hill
Artist Bio: Lyon Forrest Hill has been a practicing puppet-maker and puppeteer for 20 years. He is the Artistic Director for the Columbia Marionette Theater in South Carolina. In addition to family-friendly entertainment, Lyon has enjoyed recognition for his work in puppetry for adults. He has performed at the Puppeteers of America’s Regional and National Festivals, as well as a number of National Puppet Slams at the Center for Puppetry Arts. He has also attended the O’Neil Puppetry Conference in Waterford, CT, and the Puppets in Prague workshop in the Czech Republic.
Performing: Tales of Woe: Works by Edgar Allan Poe (45 min)
Show Description: A Harlequin host guides us through the dark and beautiful works of Edgar Allan Poe. Wire sculptures come alive, a life-sized paper man is murdered, and painted dreams drift by in this two-person show by Lyon Forrest Hill. Tales of Woe takes a fresh look at classic and obscure works by the master of the macabre using a unique integration of puppet, illustration, and performer. This piece of was work-shopped at the Eugene O’Neil Theater Center in Waterford, CT and was performed at DragonCon in 2018.
FRIDAY SEPT. 27TH
Open Studio at the Paperhand Studio in Saxahapaw
10am-3pm
with guided tours by co-director and founder Donovan Zimmerman
PUPPETRY LECTURE: Wayang, The Puppetry of Indonesia
1pm-2pm
Lecturer: Gordon Hensley
Free, sponsored
The centuries old culture of puppetry in Indonesia has been shaped by multiple influences resulting in diverse and colorful puppetry practices. Gordon Hensley was recently awarded a Fulbright grant from the U.S. Department of Education to travel to study in Indonesia. In this session he shares an overview of Indonesian puppetry and photos of mask and puppet work. See a demonstration of wayang kulit shadow puppetry, and have hands-on exploratory time with kulit and golek puppets from Indonesia.
Gordon Hensley was recently awarded a Fulbright grant from the U.S. Department of Education to travel to study in Indonesia. In this session he shares an overview of Indonesian puppetry and photos of mask and puppet works.
PAPERHAND PUPPET INTERVENTION presents WE ARE HERE
at The Forest Theater
7pm-8:30pm
$20 Suggested Donation
WE ARE HERE is the 20th anniversary celebration spectacle of unlikely proportions by North Carolina’s own intrepid and ponderous puppet troubadours, Paperhand Puppet Intervention. WE ARE HERE to illustrate and illuminate our shared human experience using giant puppets, masks, stilts, and shadows in movement to live original music, while also looking at the perspective of foxes, bees, box turtles, woodpeckers, mushrooms, and the majestic trees. WE ARE HERE to grapple with some of the emerging monsters that we all create through our unconscious behaviors and to imagine the solutionary Earth-defending creatures (including us!) that rise to transform them into a sustainable future. Join us to be a part of the action!
LATE-NIGHT PUPPETRY CABARET at The ArtsCenter
(Recommended for adults)
10pm – 12am
$15 Suggested Donation
Join us for an evening of miniature puppetry performances on Friday night after The Paperhand show. Radicackalacky performers, Paperhand puppeteers, and community members present a a musical at the bottom of the sea, a shadow puppet show inside a suitcase, traditional ballads brought to life with puppetry and song, an object theater piece about a piece of paper, and much more. Guaranteed to make you laugh and cry and… gasp indignantly.
Participating Artists:
Donovan Zimmerman
Milissa Orzolek/ abandoned ships
Rae Hample/ Rae Red
Alan Best
Anna Wagner and Kelley
Nina Plocek, Ansel Dow
Sol Ramirez and Friends
Cameron Prevatte
Benjamin Sota and Friends / The Zany Umbrella Circus
…and more
SATURDAY SEPT. 28TH
ALL-DAY PUPPETRY WORKSHOPS!
At the Paperhand Studio in Saxahapaw
10am-5pm
Come participate in an array of puppetry and circus related workshops at The Paperhand studio all day Saturday!
THE ZANY UMBRELLA CIRCUS presents Beppe’s Elephant
at The Forest Theater
6:15-7pm
In Beppe’s Elephant, an Italian circus artist thinks he can take the circus one step further. He dreams of the big, the impossible, and the ridiculous, believing that he can be the first to train none other than an elephant to walk on a tight wire. Will Zany Umbrella Circus help realize this dream? Find out what Beppe does as circus arts, high wire, masks, puppetry, and music combine to tickle your imagination.
PAPERHAND PUPPET INTERVENTION presents WE ARE HERE
at The Forest Theater
7pm-8:30pm
$20 Suggested Donation
WE ARE HERE is the 20th anniversary celebration spectacle of unlikely proportions by North Carolina’s own intrepid and ponderous puppet troubadours, Paperhand Puppet Intervention. WE ARE HERE to illustrate and illuminate our shared human experience using giant puppets, masks, stilts, and shadows in movement to live original music, while also looking at the perspective of foxes, bees, box turtles, woodpeckers, mushrooms, and the majestic trees. WE ARE HERE to grapple with some of the emerging monsters that we all create through our unconscious behaviors and to imagine the solutionary Earth-defending creatures (including us!) that rise to transform them into a sustainable future. Join us to be a part of the action!
PAPERHAND’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY
at The Forest Theater
8:30pm – late
Join us after the show on Saturday to celebrate 20 years of giant puppetry in the Triangle and 100 years of the wonderful Forest Theater – our home for many years. Music, drinks, snacks!