Sat 3/23-Sat 11/30
Puppets have enthralled audiences for centuries, and often adults were just as likely to be their audience, as they acted out dramas with grown-up themes.
Now the Cleveland Public Library is opening a special exhibit with appeal to both adults and children called The World of Puppets: From Stage to Screen. It includes puppets from different countries, both modern and vintage puppets, and uppets from theater, film and TV. Many will be familiar to most visitors such as Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street and Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. Even Nutso and Shirley from Cleveland’s Hickory Hideout are in the show.
The library has a host of special activities planned for opening day, in partnership with the Puppeteers Guild of Northeastern Ohio, among them puppet crafts, workshops, a talk on how puppets work, character appearances by Sesame Street’s Walkaround Elmo, and numerous performances including a Punch & Judy performance by Puppets With Pizazz; The Shoemaker and the Elf and Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Great Lakes National Puppet Theater and Jungle Book featuring the Frisch Marionettes.
“Puppetry is an art form with a rich and varied history that appeals to both children and adults,” writes Melanie Guzmán McCarter of the Library’s Outreach & Programming Services. “This exhibit celebrates that history while providing educational, hands-on opportunities for families. The Library has a long history of supporting the art of puppetry, and in our anniversary year, we’re excited to show why this art form is such a treasured part of our culture.”
Cleveland, OH 44114