To our wonderful, generous community:
As I reflect on the past year and a half, I am truly grateful. So much has happened, and yet, here we are: Puppets on stage! People in the theater! Children, masked and sitting with a bit more space around them, once again giggling at the adventures of favorite characters. I recently watched the most adorable little fuzzy grey rats besiege the town of Hamelin, much to the chagrin of the puppet inhabitants — and to the delight of the young audience in the theater. And for adults and teens, the Puppets at Night series returned with the season opener, “Flying Lessons,” a stunner with graceful, mysterious shadow puppetry by Caitlin Brzezinski and Libby Schap.
The hands of the puppeteers are often hidden during puppet shows – inside a puppet, beneath the stage, or behind a curtain. But, hidden or not, those hands are needed to tell the story, create the excitement, and bring the puppets to life. Today, we at Puppet Showplace are asking you to lend us a hand.
Over the summer, Puppet Showplace hosted a hugely popular series of free outdoor puppet performances in Brookline. We offered six weeks of summer education programming to aspiring puppeteers, aged 7-10. And, this fall we welcomed audiences back to our historic theater with “A Season of Friends and Neighbors” featuring in-person and virtual shows, and hosted a 5-week adult puppet making class with Veronica Barron.
We are planning for another year of amazing puppetry, featuring classic favorites, new friends, and plenty of puppet antics for all to enjoy: mainstage shows, vacation week programming, a third round of our Creative Residency for Black Puppeteers, physical upgrades to make our theater more accessible to performers and audiences, and new educational offerings for children and adults.
If you have given before, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity: Puppet Showplace is here today because of you! If you are new to Puppet Showplace: Welcome! Whether you are a longtime friend of the theater or new to this magical place, please consider giving to our year-end fundraiser, because every puppet needs a hand!
With gratitude,
Margueritte Murphy
Board President
