Puppet Underground Cabarets

2012-01-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

At this point, most people are probably familiar with the Occupy movement. It started in September with Occupy Wall Street in New York City and has spread to hundreds of cities throughout the world. Arts and Culture committees are common in many of the occupation sites with art projects helping to build community, beautify spaces, enliven actions, and illustrate hopes and visions. And Puppet Underground is proud to be a part of this movement, bringing puppets to the occupation!

In this blog post I will be focusing on just one puppetry project we organized, a cabaret for Occupy K Street. But puppetry is starting to blossom in other occupations, perhaps most notably in New York City with the Occupy Wall Street Puppetry Guild who formed in October and helped organize the Occupy Halloween parade. The Puppet Underground cabaret, “Occupy Kabaret Street”, was organized in coordination with local organizers and activists to support an action—the occupation of a vacant building—planned for November.

The Context:
On November 19th, DC activists identying themselves as Free Franklin occupied the Franklin School building, a publicly owned building in downtown DC that has been vacant for years. From 2002-2008 it housed a homeless shelter but that was shuttered as part of the trend in the last decade to cut homeless services and push shelters to remote areas on the fringes of the city.

Enter the Activists:
With national attention focused on the concerns highlighted by the Occupy camps, local activists and organizers decided to draw some of that attention toward the local issue of how public property is r egularly misused and sold to private developers while there continues to be a severe shortage of affordable housing and homeless services. In recent years the city government has been trying to sell off the Franklin School building to private developers (one proposal was to turn it into a boutique hotel). It was an occupation in 2002 that originally pushed the city to open Franklin as a homeless shelter, so it seemed appropriate that another occupation would serve to highlight the potential public uses of the space.

The Cabaret:
The goals of the cabaret were layered: to introduce new people to Occupy K Street, to educate Occupy K Street activists about social movement history in the area, to creatively provide the story (and local significance) of the Franklin School building, and to provide witnesses to its occupation. (Up until the end of the cabaret, no one had any idea the school had been re-occupied.)

The cabaret was organized like a walking tour: sites related to social movement history were chosen and the shows were set up at each of those sites. Musicians played while the audience was led from one site to the next and activists presented the history of the site at each new location. The final location was in front of the Franklin School and hosted a show about the history of the building. At a dramatically timed moment toward the end of the show, a forty foot banner reading “Public Property Under Community Control” dropped from Franklin’s roof and the show ended with the announcement that Franklin was now occupied. A statement from the occupiers was read and an after-party commenced with pie-eating (OccuPie!) and music to support the activists inside the building.

The Performances:
The Bread and Puppet Theater performed two short shows. Local puppet group The Shadow Senators offered a tribute to Joe Hill. Music was provided by rock band Ugly Purple Sweater and Mexican folk music band Son Cosita Seria. Poetry was read by Zein ElAmine and a monologue was performed by political performance artist Quique Aviles. Puppet Underground ended the cabaret with the show about the history of Franklin School.

Follow Up:
The Franklin School building occupation garnered significant local and national press attention (with several international stories published about it as well). It successfully put the issue of the loss of public property and cuts to homeless services back in the spotlight. Two days after the action a community meeting was held to discuss publicly what longtime community members would want to see happen with the Franklin building. Currently activists and artists are continuing to plan how to use their momentum to support affordable housing campaigns, to broaden public engagement in the issues, and to follow up with communities about their ideas for reclaiming and repurposing their vacant public property.

Links:

PBS News Hour’s interactive tour of the cabaret (capturing pictures, video, sounds and stories from the route):
http://to.pbs.org/sf3D8i

Video of the banner drop and Free Franklin’s statement:
http://freefranklindc.blogspot.com/

Huffington Post article describing the arrests of the activists:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/20/free-franklin-police-raid-protesters-arrested_n_1103509.html

2011-12-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

OCCUPY KABARET STREET: Puppetry joins the Occupy Movement

At this point, most people are probably familiar with the Occupy movement. It started in September with Occupy Wall Street in New York City and has spread to hundreds of cities throughout the world. Arts and Culture committees are common in many of the occupation sites with art projects helping to build community, beautify spaces, enliven actions, and illustrate hopes and visions. And now Puppet Underground’s favorite artform is also starting to make a regular appearance: puppets are increasingly joining the movement!

In this blog post I will be focusing on just one puppetry project, a cabaret, organized by Puppet Underground for Occupy K Street in Washington, DC. But puppetry is starting to blossom in other occupations, perhaps most notably in New York City with the Occupy Wall Street Puppetry Guild who formed in October and helped organize the Occupy Halloween parade. The Puppet Underground cabaret, “Occupy Kabaret Street”, was organized in coordination with local organizers and activists to support an action—the occupation of a vacant building—planned for November.

The Context:
On November 19th, DC activists occupied the Franklin School building, a publicly owned building in downtown DC that has been vacant for years. From 2002-2008 it housed a homeless shelter but that was shuttered as part of the trend in the last decade to cut homeless services and push shelters to remote areas on the fringes of the city.

Enter the Activists:
With national attention focused on the concerns highlighted by the Occupy camps, local activists and organizers decided to draw some of that attention toward the local issue of how public property is regularly misused and sold to private developers while there continues to be a severe shortage of affordable housing and homeless services. In recent years the city government has been trying to sell off the Franklin School building to private developers (one proposal was to turn it into a boutique hotel). It was an occupation in 2002 that originally pushed the city to open Franklin as a homeless shelter, so it seemed appropriate that another occupation would serve to highlight the potential public uses of the space.

The Cabaret:
The goals of the cabaret were layered: to introduce new people to Occupy K Street, to educate Occupy K Street activists about social movement history in the area, to creatively provide the story (and local significance) of the Franklin School building, and to provide witnesses to its occupation. (Up until the end of the cabaret, no one had any idea the school had been re-occupied.)

The cabaret was organized like a walking tour: sites related to social movement history were chosen and the shows were set up at each of those sites. Musicians played while the audience was led from one site to the next and activists presented the history of the site at each new location. The final location was in front of the Franklin School and hosted a show about the history of the building. At a dramatically timed moment toward the end of the show, a forty foot banner reading “Public Property Under Community Control” dropped from Franklin’s roof and the show ended with the announcement that Franklin was now occupied. A statement from the occupiers was read and an after-party commenced with pie-eating (OccuPie!) and music to support the activists inside the building.

The Performances:
The Bread and Puppet Theater performed two short shows. Local puppet group The Shadow Senators offered a tribute to Joe Hill. Music was provided by rock band Ugly Purple Sweater and Mexican folk music band Son Cosita Seria. Poetry was read by Zein ElAmine and a monologue was performed by political performance artist Quique Aviles. Puppet Underground ended the cabaret with the show about the history of Franklin School.

Links:

PBS News Hour’s interactive tour of the cabaret:
http://to.pbs.org/sf3D8i

Video of the banner drop and Free Franklin’s statement:
http://freefranklindc.blogspot.com/

Puppet Nation Occupation!

2011-11-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

In solidarity with the Occupy movement, Puppet Underground has teamed up with folks at Occupy K Street to bring you this year's roving cabaret spectacular...

Occupy Kabaret Street!
WHEN: SATURDAY, NOV 19TH
Show starts at 12:30PM
Tours of Occupy K Street at 12pm
WHERE: Meet at the Statue in McPherson Square (15th and K St NW)
COST: Suggested Sliding Scale Donation $5-$15

Historical characters and roving musicians will lead you from Occupy K Street to other locations downtown with significant grassroots organizing history where you will see puppet shows and musical acts that will start your heart a-pumpin'! Join us to celebrate social justice movements in an exciting cabaret that will send you running to your nearest General Assembly! Wear comfortable shoes, be prepared to walk, and we invite you to stay after the show for OccuPie eating at our Occupy After-Party!

If you arrive late and we've left McPherson, call 646-734-6705 to find out where we are!

THE LINE UP!:

-The Bread and Puppet Theater is coming with their newest show... about the Occupy movement! One of the oldest activist street theater troupes in the country, Bread and Puppet can make you laugh, make you cry, and make you want to occupy!

-The Occupy Wall Street Puppetry Guild lends us the fabulous puppeteer and musician Jo Robin, who will bring a paper circus of economic proportions!

-Puppet Underground will present a new show about a local organizing struggle to make housing a human right. The show will take us from a look into the past through to the present and into the possibilities of the future!

And more!

We are looking for volunteers to bake pies and to usher! If you're interested in doing either, contact Janelle at: janellevyn@gmail.com

The Flying Donkey Cabaret and Fandango Fronterizo Report Back

2011-02-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

We have two very exciting events in February! We hope you'll come to them! One is our next evening of puppet cabaret madness in the fabulous form of The Flying Donkey Cabaret on Feb 24th and the other is our Fandango Fronterizo Report Back on Feb 27 where we'll share stories, photos and a short documentary video from our trip to Mexico.

See you soon!
Puppet Underground

____________________________________________________________

Puppet Underground is honored to invite you to...

THE FLYING DONKEY CABARET!

WHEN: Thursday, February 24^th at 8 PM

WHERE: Trinity AME Zion Church, 3505 16th St NW (between Oak St and Meridian Pl)

COST: $5-$15 Sliding Scale Suggested Donation

An Evening of Impossible Cardboard & Brass Entertainments brought to you by an illustrious band of traveling puppeteers; a roadshow of puppets, music & genuine good old times featuring lifesize dancing donkeys, a junky trombone, drum & fiddle ensemble & lo fi picture shows of all sorts!

Come see some of our favoritest puppeteers from around the country! We have:

The Dolly Wagglers from Portland, Maine, bringing a fresh lowbrow crudeness to the world of puppetry, with cardboard operettas, crankyshows (low-tech scrolling pictures) and cantastorias painted on the dirty sheets of America.

And Federica Collina originally from Italy but now from every armpit of America she can find. Traveling and touring for the last 4 years, she has worked with every activist puppet theater this side of the Mississippi. She must have learned something by now.

And Jason Hicks from Brooklyn who is a puppeteer with a horn. Or so we're told.

Plus a gargantuan itinerant Cheap Art exhibit and store!

We'll see you there!

If you'd like to contact us about this event, email or call Janelle at janellevyn@gmail.com or 646-734-6705

____________________________________________________________

FANDANGO FRONTERIZO REPORT BACK!

WHEN: Sunday, February 27^th, 5 PM

WHERE: Luther Place Memorial Church
1226 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC
(corner of 14th St, N St and Vermont Ave. NW) by Logan Circle
We'll be in the basement room, entrance on N St NW

COST: Totally Free!

This past December Puppet Underground traveled to Chihuahua, Mexico to partner with several community groups throughout the state doing music and puppetry workshops. The trip culminated in a Fandango on the border between Juarez and El Paso on December 11th. Throughout the trip we got to work with amazing community groups, share some of our skills, learn more about the situation on the border, and be inspired by their struggle to make their communities safer and more just. We would love to share with you our stories, photos and a video we are making about the trip, screened for the first time at this event.

In addition to the report-back from the Fandango Fronterizo, we’ll have a panel discussion about increasing militarization and violence on the border and the role of US policies in contributing to this increase. We’re very happy to have joining us Catalina Nieto and Sanho Tree on the panel.

Catalina Nieto is a National Grassroots Organizer for Witness for Peace. She works for just and fair U.S. policies toward Latin America by helping lead campaigns to foster education, grassroots advocacy and media exposure on issues of trade, migration and military aid.

And Sanho Tree is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. He is the director of the Drug Policy Project, which works to end the domestic and international “War on Drugs” and replace it with policies that promote public health and safety, as well as economic alternatives to the prohibition drug economy.

We’ve also set up a blog with video clips, photos, press, poetry and other elements from the trip!

http://fandangofronterizo.wordpress.com

____________________________________________________________

Help us raise $1,000 for our Fandango Fronterizo Chihuahua Project!

2010-11-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hello wonderful Puppet Underground supporters,

We're writing to let you know about an upcoming project that we're really excited about, and hope that you will be too, and to ask for your help. The project is called Fandango Fronterizo Chihuahua, and its a collaboration between Puppet Underground and community groups and cultural organizations in Mexico that will take place in early December.

Check out our video on Kickstarter to hear all about the project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/844027976/fandango-fronterizo-chihuahua-music-and-art-agains

Our fundraising goal on Kickstarter is $1,000 by the end of November. We need a lot more than this amount to cover all the costs of the project, so we're also trying to raise money outside of the Kickstarter page. If you'd rather send a check instead of donating online, email us and we'll give you the info on where to send it. We're also asking people to donate frequent flier miles, to help buy plane tickets for Puppet Underground members and musicians from Veracruz who are coming to the Fandango, so let us know if you can donate some miles.

Thanks as always for all the ways you support our work, and we'll keep you posted about this project!

Gracias!

-Puppet Underground

Fandango Fronterizo Chihuahua is a cultural action on the US-Mexico border between El Paso and Juarez on December 11th. Artists and community groups from the US and Mexico are joining together in a display of cross-border solidarity to open spaces for positive and creative responses to the violence in Northern Mexico. The state of Chihuahua has seen a dramatic increase in violence over the past several years, related to drug trafficking and the militarization of the border region, and fueled by failed economic, drug and immigration policies. Through the Fandango, we hope to draw attention to this reality, while demonstrating the power of art and culture to express ideas and sentiments that we may feel too scared, unsure, or hopeless to communicate with words.

The Fandango Fronterizo Chihuahua was inspired by similar events that have taken place on the border between Tijuana and San Diego. A fandango is the event in which Son Jarocho music, folk music from the state of Veracruz, Mexico, is traditionally played. In the fandango, communities come together around the tarima, a wooden platform for dancing on while the musicians play. The fandango is a participatory celebration, and people of all ages take turns singing, playing, dancing, and watching.

Leading up to the Fandango, we’ll give a series of workshops with our partner organizations where participants work together to create music, movement and puppetry as a way of breaking free from the daily stress of violence in their communities. The objective of the workshops is for participants to learn and explore how to use these creative tools to collectively express their frustrations and ideas, and to prepare for the fandango on the border. After the Fandango we hope to use documentation of the event to spark discussion about the situation on the border and highlight efforts by local communities to develop creative responses.

We need to raise a minimum of $1,000 dollars for this project to help cover transportation for participants, materials for workshops and logistical costs. Our partners in Mexico, Centro Nigan Tonogue in Veracruz and Consultoria Tecnica Comunitaria in Chihuahua, are also working hard to raise needed funds, but your support is crucial to make the Fandango Fronterizo Chihuahua a success. Please help us meet our goal of $1,000 dollars by making a donation and spreading the word about this exciting project. We have to raise all the funds by the end of November, so don’t wait! Donate today!

Thanks for watching our video and for your support. If you want more information about the project and other ways to get involved, send us an email.

Muchisimas gracias y Fandangeamos!

HAUNTED HALLOWEEN CABARET! OCT 22-23!

2010-10-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Do you like frights? Do you like zombie fights? Do you like ripped tights, dark nights and hallowed sites? Then you can't miss Puppet Underground's...

HAUNTED HALLOWEEN CABARET!

WHEN:

Friday, October 22nd at 7pm
Saturday, October 23rd at 6pm

WHERE:

Friday Show: at St. Stephen's Church (1525 Newton St NW)
Saturday Show: Meet at the Francis Scott Key Park in Georgetown (M St NW, Btw 34th & 35th Sts)

COST:
$5-$10 Sliding Scale Suggested Donation

ONE MORE THING:
Bring your own flashlight for the Saturday show! It will be helpful!

THE FRIDAY 7pm SHOW: Our Friday show will be a cabaret for folks who like their scares and spooky puppets to be found all in one place! (Recommended for those who wouldn't be excited about lots of walking.)

THE SATURDAY 6pm SHOW: For our Saturday show, we will lead our audience through the shadows of haunted Georgetown as each spooky show unfolds in different and frightfully bone-chilling locations! (Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a flashlight if you have one! And be aware that this night's events may not be appropriate for children.)

********************************************************
THE LINE UP:

--"The Only Good Corporation is an Undead Corporation" by RPM Puppet Conspiracy brings you corporate America. It's alive and endowed with the rights of humanity, but can it also get the flu? Chicken pox? Zombie virus? Watch as capital invests in its own infection!

--"A Matter of Life and Death" a new show from the Possibilitarian Puppet Theater in which Death dances, drums and plays the fiddle and Life shuffles and sings on. Mr Nobody has trouble finding a reason to live until The Boogey Man finds it for him.

--"Two Local Tales of Terror" by the Shadow Senators is a shadow puppet show about the curse of the Hope Diamond and the legend of DC, the Demon Cat who haunts the Capitol Building.

--"The Washington Tragedy" A puppet melodrama about a true-life scandal full of murder and intrigue from pre-Civil War days in the District by Puppet Underground.

--"The Girl in the Glass" A young girl meets an unexpected friend in this spooky show by Greenfield Greetings with musical accompaniment by Tunan Chews. (This show will only be performed Friday night.)

--A fire show by Nancy M. (This will only be performed Saturday night.)
********************************************************

Feel free to direct any questions to Puppet Underground at: PuppetUndergroundDC@gmail.com

For help finding us in Georgetown the evening of the show, call Janelle at: 646-734-6705

(We are sorry that the Saturday show is not wheelchair accessible. However, the Friday show is. Wheechairs can gain access to St Stephen's through the sanctuary entrance.)

Bread and Puppet Circus & Parade! Sept 27-29

2010-09-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Bread and Puppet supporters,

Bread and Puppet is coming to DC Sept 27-29, but only by the skin of their paper mache teeth! They are taking a special trip down from Vermont to support Appalachia Rising, a wonderful event challenging mountaintop removal, and will perform their circus for us Sept 28 & 29! However! They have not been able to find any paying gigs along the way, so we are trying to drum up a little travel fund to help them with their expenses.

It's up to us, DC, to help Bread and Puppet! Please come on out to one of the circus performances (announced below)! And if you have a little extra money you were thinking to use for another round at bingo night, consider donating it to our B&P Travel Fund instead!

(Travel Fund donations can either be put in the donation hat at a circus performance or sent to: Bread and Puppet Travel Fund, Attn: Linda Elbow, 753 Heights Rd, Glover, VT 05839! Checks can be made out to "Bread and Puppet Theater")

Thanks so much! See you at the circus!

Puppet Underground
===============================================

Parade with Bread and Puppet
in Appalachia Rising's Day of Action!

WHEN: Monday, Sept 27th
Meet at 10am if you want to learn a puppet
March from 11am-12:15

WHERE: Meet at Freedom Plaza (13th and Pennsylvania Ave NW)
Look for the big puppets!

Appalachia Rising, an event which will take place in Washington DC from September 25-27, is a national response to the poisoning of America’s water supply, the destruction of Appalachia’s mountains, head water source streams, and communities through mountaintop removal coal mining. It follows a long history of social action for a just and sustainable Appalachia. Appalachia Rising strives to unite coalfield residents, grass roots groups, individuals, and national organizations to call for the abolition of mountaintop removal coal mining and demand that America’s water be protected from all forms of surface mining.

The weekend conference, Sept. 25-26, Voices from the Mountains will provide an opportunity to build or join the movement for justice in Appalachia through strategy discussions and share knowledge across regional and generational lines.

Monday, Sept.27, is the Appalachia Rising Day of Action which will unify thousands in calling for an end to mountaintop removal and all forms of steep slope surface mining though a vibrant march and rally. An act of dignified non-violent civil disobedience will be possible for those who wish to express themselves by risking arrest.

For more information, visit appalachiarising.org

========================================================================

And don't miss Bread and Puppet Theater's
Decapitalization Circus!

WHEN: Tuesday, Sept 28 at 7pm and
Wednesday, Sept 29 at 7pm

WHERE: St. Stephen's Church in the Sanctuary
1525 Newton St NW

COST: $5-$15 Sliding Scale Donation

The Decapitalization Circus demonstrates in numerous death-defying stunts the phantastic effects of the capitalization of life in the U.S. and citizens’ courageous efforts of decapitalization. The performers represent the whole scale of the social spectrum from benign billionairism to despicable homeless anti-social-elementarianism. All the acts are FDA and FBI certified displays of patriotic correctness and defy all imaginable forms of terrorism. The Possibilitarians, a multi-instrumental variety ensemble, provide the appropriate-inappropriate sounds for the circus.

HAUNTED HALLOWEEN CABARETS! OCT 22-23!

2010-08-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

SAVE THE DATE...

For Puppet Underground's next foray into roving puppet shows! You can't miss (well, you can but you shouldn't) our nights of fright at our soon-to-be-infamous:

HAUNTED HALLOWEEN CABARETS
OCTOBER 22 & 23

*Friday, October 22nd at 7pm* will be at St. Stephen's Church and will be a cabaret for folks who like their haunted puppet shows to be found all in one place.

*Saturday, October 23rd at 6pm* will start at an as yet undisclosed location and will lead a bike brigade of audience members around DC to different haunted sites where haunted puppet shows will be performed!

We've got some ghoulishly fabulous puppeteers coming in from out of town for this show. And you might even learn some new DC ghost stories!

Feel free to contact us with any questions! PuppetUndergroundDC@gmail.com

2010-03-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

Puppet Underground is pleased as punch to host...

Bread and Puppet Theater: The Dirt Cheap Money Circus and Cabaret!

WHEN:

The Cabaret is Thursday, April 15th at 7pm

The Circus is Friday, April 16th at 7pm AND
Saturday, April 17th at 3pm

WHERE:

All shows at St. Stephen's Church (how we love them!)
1525 Newton St NW

COST:

$5-$15 Sliding Scale Suggested Donation

The Dirt Cheap Money Cabaret

The latest edition of Bread and Puppet Theater’s cabaret series, the Dirt Cheap Money Cabaret, features the Jolly Battle between Mountaintop Removal Protesters and Mountaintop Machinery; an ancient take on bananas, a President, and a Chair; and much more, all interspersed with commentary from Karl Marx. The Even Cheaper Accordion and String ensemble will provide soothing sounds for winter-weary nerves.

The Dirt Cheap Money Circus

The Dirt Cheap Money Circus features the billionaire bonus celebration dance, the logic of the US Healthcare System, the history of humanity and the removal of a mountaintop, interspersed with appearances by Karl Marx, who confronts the 2009 economic situation with his existential thoughts about money and our relationship to it. And much more. As always, this year’s circus performs to a live band.

Some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, but accompanying kids can usually explain them. After each performance there will be an opportunity to savor the troupe's famous sourdough rye bread, smeared with garlic aioli, and to purchase the theater's Cheap Art.

About The Bread and Puppet Theater

Bread & Puppet has performed social justice theater with giant puppets for 45 years since forming on the streets of New York City in the 1960s. Their earliest work was on the subjects of war, rats, garbage collection and rent strikes. They pioneered the use of giant puppets in street protests against the Vietnam War. Bread & Puppet is internationally honored and performs each year on their farm in rural Vermont throughout July and August. In the off season, they tour domestically and internationally. So come see them while they're here!

Questions? Contact Puppet Underground at PuppetUndergroundDC@gmail.com

Puppets In The Cold!

2010-02-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

On the eve of this impending snowpocalypse, in this chilliest of months, Puppet Underground invites you to mark your calendars as we proudly brrrrrrrrrrrring you an international collection of puppeteers at:

The Chilly Day Cabaret!

WHEN: Saturday, February 20^th at 7pm

WHERE: St. Stephen’s Church (Auditorium)
1525 Newton St NW

COST: $5-$10 Sliding Scale

(And bring your own bowl!)

“The Tale of the Hungry Mouths: A Soup Opera” by The Brothers Harrell

A soup opera served warm. A candlelight observance on six stages. Hailing from the rich tradition of southern puppet families, the Bros. Harrell dish up an evening of ultra low-tech neo-contemporary mixed-media performance art. Bring your own bowl.

“The Suitcase of Life” by Papermoon Puppet Theatre

Papermoon comes to us from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a group experimenting with puppetry through international and multi-cultural collaborations. "The Suitcase of Life" is an interactive puppet play exploring selling the unsellable…

And one more surprise guest artist!

Keep cozy!

Melissa, Ximena, Anna, Janelle and Lily
of Puppet Underground

A Mount Pleasant Puppetry Posada! Dec 19th!

2009-11-18T22:04:00.000-08:00

Oh, it's been so long, DC! But never fear! Your local puppet collective is here! With the holidays fast approaching, we would never dream of leaving you without the appropriate political puppetry spin necessary to make it through!

So! Without further ado, we proudly ask you to SAVE THE DATE for...

[Dum! Da Da Dum! Da Da DUM!]

A Mount Pleasant Puppetry Posada!

WHEN: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19TH
The Puppetry Posada starts at 7PM (Promptly!)
The After-Party starts at 9:30PM

WHERE: THE POSADA: Meet at La Casa Community of Christ
(3166 Mt Pleasant Street NW)

THE AFTER-PARTY: 3168 17th St NW (behind the Bestway)

COST: $5-$10 Suggested Donation (No one turned away)

RSVP: Please let us know that you're coming! Email your RSVP to: PuppetUndergroundDC@gmail.com

What is a Posada?
Las Posadas are a 9-day (December 16th to 24th) Catholic celebration, that recount Mary and Joseph's search for a shelter in which to give birth. In the same spirit as caroling, folks go to a different neighbor's house on each of the 9 days, and sing to ask for shelter. The neighbors open their homes and offer food and drinks, and the 9 days often end with more festivities.

And a Puppetry Posada?
Inspired by the community spirit of this celebration, our Puppet Posada will be a more secular one-night version where, accompanied by musicians, we travel to several different Mount Pleasant homes for performances drawing from a mix of holiday and non-religious traditions. At each house participants will be treated to snacks or hot drinks and the evening will culminate in a party at the final stop!

What you'll see!
We'll have an exciting set of puppet and other shows for you, including excerpts from a legendary Mt. Pleasant-based Hannukah show, a Yiddish folk tale, a cantastoria, and more!

So come on out in your warmest layers next month and join Mount Pleasant community members to roam the neighborhood and party with us puppeteers!

We'll see you in December!

Anna, Melissa, Ximena, Lily and Janelle
of Puppet Underground

Co-Sponsored by Hear Mount Pleasant

(All shows are family friendly. Unfortunately the houses we will be visiting are not wheelchair accessible.)

District of Cabaret! June 5th!

2009-06-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

Do you ever miss the days when you would get your local news from singing Renaissance minstrels instead of CNN?

Do you ever watch old Marx Brothers movies and think, "They don't make 'em like that anymore"?

Do you ever wake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, wondering when Puppet Underground will stop serving spaghetti?

If you answered "Yes" or "No" or "Maybe" to any of those questions, then you're in luck!! Because Puppet Underground proudly presents our very first...

DISTRICT of CABARET!
A cabaret all about DC with all DC artists!

WHEN: Friday, June 5th at 7pm
(Doors open at 6:30pm! Show starts promptly at 7!)

WHERE: St. Stephen's Church (in the auditorium)
1525 Newton St NW

SUGGESTED DONATION: $5 - $10 sliding scale
Proceeds benefit Visions to Peace; details below.

What you'll see!
Puppet Underground is honored to bring together so many fabulous DC performers including Quique Aviles, Anu Yadav and more!

We will have excerpts from Classlines, a new multi-media theatre project exploring issues of class in the DC Metro Area.

We also welcome ONE DC's (Organizing Neighborhood Equity DC) "Weaving Shared Visions", a digital storytelling project exploring multi-ethnic organizing.

Also expect to see poetry, a puppet melodrama about an old DC scandal, and a real, live accordianist!

See you then!

Janelle, Melissa, Anna, Ximena, Lily
of Puppet Underground

Money from this cabaret will be benefiting Visions to Peace, a youth leadership development and movement-building project located in Washington, D.C. Visions to Peace uses arts, media, and education to build and strengthen youth-led community action and organizing for safety and peace. You can find out more about them at: www.visionispower.org

Spaghetti Dinner Variety Show: May 9th!

2009-04-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Puppet Underground proudly presents our THIRD (can you believe it??)...

SPAGHETTI DINNER VARIETY SHOW!
Benefiting Teatro Indigena de la Sierra Tarahumara

When: Saturday, May 9th at 7pm
Where: St Stephen's Church (In the Auditorium)
1525 Newton St NW

Suggested Donation: $5-$10 Sliding Scale

What is a Spaghetti Dinner?
A Spaghetti Dinner is a variety evening combining pasta, performance and music. It is a venue for performing artists to show excerpts of new work or shorter pieces. It is essentially a works-in-progress cabaret and it welcomes performing art of various mediums from puppetry to dance to music! And we always serve a meal of vegetarian spaghetti. (Though it's hard to anticipate how much pasta to make, so arrive early to get enough food!)

Spaghetti Dinners were founded in 1978 by toy theater company Great Small Works (New York City) for neighobrhood residents and theater artists. We are happy to continue the tradition here in DC!

Supporting Teatro Indigena de la Sierra Tarahumara
This particular Spaghetti Dinner will be raising money for Teatro Indigena, an indigenous puppetry group located in Chihuahua, Mexico. Teatro Indigena works with indigenous youth throughout the state of Chihuahua, travelling from rural towns to urban cities. They create puppet shows with participating youth that comment on social and political conditions, on topics ranging from sustainable agricultural practices to international immigration policy. Recently their funding was entirely cut and they are struggling to find new financial resources to continue their work.

If you can't make this Spaghetti Dinner, but would like to donate to Teatro Indigena, contact Ximena at: luz.sonora@gmail.com

The Line Up:
We will have a shadow puppet show, poetry, animation by Teatro Indigena, Cuban hip hop and more! More lineup details will be announced soon!

Cheap Art:
Local artists will have their art for sale! And it'll be cheap, in true dedication to the Cheap Art movement. Look forward to bottle cap earrings, patches, block prints and more!

So come on out and help us show Teatro Indigena some love!

Melissa, Ximena, Janelle, Lily, Anna
of Puppet Underground

2009-03-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Bread and Puppet Returns to DC

WHEN: SATURDAY, APRIL 4TH at 7pm and again at 9pm! (Two showings in one night!)

WHERE: At St. Stephen's Church, Auditorium: 1525 Newton St NW

Suggested Donation: $5-$10 Sliding Scale (No one turned away)

THE BREAD & PUPPET THEATER returns to DC as The Lubberland National Dance Company in “27 Dirt-Cheap Dances,” a topical play for these trying times of economic crisis. Bread & Puppet’s itinerant Lubberlanders will enact problem-solving dances for our problems, collateral damage dances for victims, victory dances for victories, wedding dances for hostile populations and their rulers, funeral dances in response to the most recent wars of Lubberland, and total peace and harmony dances with no meaning whatsoever. Karl Marx makes a cameo appearance to duke it out with Uncle Money, and yeah, there will be giant puppets, the notorious Cheap Art Store, and maybe even some sourdough bread after the show.

We need volunteers to be in the show!! Both performers and musicians!

The rehearsal for the show will be on Saturday afternoon, April 4th from 2:30-6:30pm in St. Stephen's auditorium, followed by the two performances. (Anyone can participate! No dance, theater or music experience necessary!)

Volunteers should RSVP to PuppetUndergroundDC@gmail.com

See you soon!