UConn hosts 2015 National Puppetry Festival Aug. 10-16

Puppeteers from 12 nations on five continents and from 40 U.S. states will converge on the campus of the University of Connecticut during the week of Aug. 10-16 for the 2015 National Puppetry Festival, a whirlwind week of puppet-related activities including workshops, master classes and performances. www.nationalpuppetryfestival2015.com

The festival is presented by Puppeteers of America and is expected to be the largest and most extensive gathering of its kind that will also mark the 50th year of the internationally renowned UConn Puppet Arts Program, which was founded by the legendary Frank W. Ballard. The last time the festival was hosted by UConn was in 1970.

Highlights of the festival will include 20 public performances by more than 25 national and international puppeteers, 30 professional workshops, six visual art exhibitions, “Puppetry in Film” series, a giant puppet parade and nightly Festival Pub Showcase.

Four master puppeteers also will be honored: Caroll and Debbie Spinney of “Sesame Street,” Peter Schumann of the politically radical Bread & Puppet Theater and Chuck McCann, the New York children’s television star and voice actor.

Among the performances that will showcase the innumerable approaches to the art of puppetry will be:

Shadow puppets by Drama of Works of Brooklyn, NY;

Bunraku and shadow styles of award-winning Bulgarian-born puppeteer Margarita Blush of the UConn faculty;

Brazilian hand-puppets by Chico Simões;

Classic rod puppetry by Chinese Theatre Works of Queens, NY;

Late Night with Eugene O’Neill, a variety show that is based on a late night talk show format.

There will also be new interpretations of “The Wizard of Oz” by The Frisch Marionettes of Cincinnati, Ohio, and productions of “The Pirate, the Princess and the Pea” by Crabgrass Puppet Theatre and “White Like Me: a Honky Dory Puppet Show” by Paul Zaloom of Los Angeles. For a complete schedule of performances go to website for the National Puppetry Festival.

Puppeteers of America was created in 1937 not long after the success of its first annual gathering of puppetry practitioners in 1936. The national non-profit organization has produced over 160 national and regional festivals to celebrate and share the art of puppetry. The organization has also published their quarterly magazine, The Puppetry Journal, since 1949. www.puppeteers.org/festivals/past-festivals-at-a-glance www.facebook.com/PuppeteersOfAmerica

UConn’s Puppet Arts Program is a unique subdivision of the school’s Department of Dramatic Arts. The program was founded in 1965 by Professor Frank W. Ballard, who had joined the faculty of the theater department as a set designer and technical director eight years earlier. After three years, the demand for these courses had grown so drastically that the department had to limit enrollment in puppetry classes. In 1990, Bart P. Roccoberton, Jr. succeeded Frank Ballard as Director of the Puppet Arts Program, which now offers BFA, MA, & MFA degrees in the puppet art form. Over 500 student puppet productions have been presented since 1964. www.drama.uconn.edu/programs/puppet-arts www.facebook.com/UCONNPuppetARTSProgram

The Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry was created through the efforts of UConn Puppet Arts Program alumni and community supporters of Professor Frank W. Ballard, beginning in 1987, to preserve Professor Ballard’s work and create a national home for puppetry in the United States. The Institute received its name in 1992, and in 1996 established a museum, archives, and storage facility on the University of Connecticut’s Depot Campus. In March 2014, the Ballard Institute moved into a brand-new location in Storrs Center, where it offers exhibitions, workshops, museum tours, lectures, forums, performances, and other programs that promote the global arts of puppetry. www.bimp.uconn.edu www.facebook.com/pages/Ballard-Institute-and-Museum-of-Puppetry/119039334775261

Additional sponsors for this year’s National Puppetry Festival include: UConn School of Fine Arts, UConn Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, UConn El Instituto (Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies), UNIMA-USA, Jane Henson Foundation, and Bob’s Discount Furniture Charitable Foundation.