Tue 9/29 @ 7PM
Bread & Puppet Theater was founded in New York City in 1963 before decamping for Vermont in 1970, probably a more suitable environment for its grassroots leftwing political sensibility, often referred to as “radical street theater.” (Another native New Yorker, Bernie Sanders, moved to Vermont about the same time.) They still tour the country, presenting its makeshift free and low-cost “anti-capitalist” theater and offering the audience free sourdough rye bread, which gave the group its name.
Still, there’s a little something odd about their upcoming appearance being at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds (I saw them at Kent State in the early 70s) and offering free admission to children under 12. (Adults $20, no one turned away for lack of funds). Their current production is called The Upside Down World Circus. It features puppets (of course) as well as stilt walkers, papier mache animals and a brass band — that all sounds like stuff kids would enjoy.
But, B&P founder/director Peter Schumann says, “Possibilitarians! We must demonstrate humanity’s upside-down situation in the face of the government’s depraved falsehoods. Luxury silence and despair must be replaced by revolt orchestras that radically oppose the radically wrong system. It is time to unforget the revolution-in-progress and aim for the evermore on the universe’s shore.”
Be warned and prepare the little ones. There will be free sourdough, and books, posters, pamphlets, banners and more available for sale at the merch booth.
Go HERE for tickets. Anyone needing financial assistance with a ticket should email tickets@breadandpuppet.org.