Bread & Puppet Theater at Theater for the New City: "The Circus of the Possibilitarians" December 16, 2012

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Crystal Field, Executive Director
presents

BREAD & PUPPET THEATER

"The Circus of the Possibilitarians"
(family-friendly)

Sunday matinees (3 pm and 6 pm) through December 23

Bread & Puppet Theater: The Possibilitarians and Dead Man Rises, along with The Circus of the Possibilitarians (family-friendly). Presented by Theater for the New City. Performances run December 6 through 23. Theater for the New City (Johnson Theater), 155 First Ave. (at E. 10th St.), New York City. For advance tickets, visit http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net or call 212-254-1109.

Soon to begin celebrating its 50th anniversary, the award-winning Vermont-based Bread & Puppet Theater, featuring Artistic Director Peter Schumann and his troupe of puppeteers, returns for its 41st annual visit to Theater for the New City, bringing their signature powerful imagery, masked characters, and giant papier-mâché puppets. This year, the 3 week residency includes the evening double bill The Possibilitarians and Dead Man Rises (recommended for ages 12 & older) and Sunday performances of The Circus of the Possibilitarians (for children of all ages), along with the sale of Bread & Puppet’s legendary Cheap Art and the opportunity to savor Schumann’s home-made sourdough rye bread spread with garlic-laden aioli.

All the visuals are created by Schumann, including sculpting and painting of all the major masks and puppets, with input from the company. Although all Bread & Puppet events have a seriousness of purpose — a few laughs are always thrown in!

“… surprisingly warm and lively,
despite the grim subject matter …
It’s hard not to be charmed by
[Schumann’s] twinned passions
for puppetry and lefty politics,
still vibrant after all these years.”
[Village Voice, Dec. 7, 2011]

Detailed listings information:
Family-Friendly Performances:
Bread & Puppet Theater: The Circus of the Possibilitarians
3 pm and 6 pm Sunday performances: Dec. 9, Dec. 16, Dec. 23
$12 general admission [$6 for those under 12, ages 2 & under free]
Running time: 1 hour w/o intermission.
Description:
The Circus of the Possibilitarians is a satirical horse and butterfly circus, addressing pertinent national and international issues in a clownish fashion, including rotten ideas, a wild dancing horse and some mellow lions, a solemn salute to the world's casualties and much more! The Dire Circumstance Jubilation Ensemble provides a little bit of brass and plenty of noise. Performed by Peter Schumann and the Bread & Puppet company, along with a large number of local volunteer puppeteers and musicians. Please take note that even if some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, accompanying kids can usually explain them. After each performance, the audience is welcome to examine all the masks and puppets and to peruse the Cheap Art, posters, and banners for sale.

BRIEF BACKGROUND ON BREAD & PUPPET THEATER

Bread & Puppet Theater is one of the oldest and most unique theatrical companies in the United States. The theater champions a visually rich slapstick style of street-theater that is filled with huge puppets made of paper maché and cardboard, combined with masked characters, improvisational dance movement, political commentary, and a lively brass band for accompaniment. The company’s performances are described by The New York Times as "a spectacle for the heart and soul."

Bread & Puppet is based on a large farm in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. It was founded by Peter Schumann, German born artist-dancer, in 1963, and for the next decade his giant puppets figured prominently in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in New York City, Washington DC and other cities in the US and abroad. Indoor performances were both simpler and more complex, ranging from quiet, intense masked shows ("Fire", "Man Says Good-Bye") with 4-6 players, to huge, lengthy spectacles ("Cry of the People for Meat").

In 1970, an invitation from Vermont's Goddard College to be theater-in-residence, facilitated a longed-for change to country life. "Our Domestic Resurrection Circus," an outdoor festival of music, art, puppetry and pageantry, began then, and ran almost every summer, growing to crowds of tens of thousands, until 1998. Since then, a smaller (but with giant puppets intact), more dispersed version continues on Sundays in July and August; the company continues touring and workshopping the rest of the year in New England and around the globe; and Schumann continues as director and artist — and bread baker — with a vengeance!

Bread & Puppet is one of the oldest, nonprofit, self-sustaining theatrical companies in this country. http://.breadandpuppet.org

Official Website: http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net/bread.htm