A handy little guide
Pittsburgh proclaims Day of Puppetry to celebrate the art form
Pittsburgh joins in the fun happening around the globe Wednesday, taking a cue from the World Day of Puppetry to have a celebration of its own. Courtesy of the Puppetry Guild of Pittsburgh, our day becomes official with the proclamation of the Pittsburgh Day of Puppetry and events scheduled throughout the city.
The Puppetry Guild of Pittsburgh is a program of New Sun Rising, an organization that provides support “to power civic innovation from idea to impact.” Guild president Dave English, former manager of membership and development at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, has written a poem to get the city in the mood for 24 hours of celebrating and appreciating the art of puppetry.
“You’ll see puppets in city hall. / You’ll see puppets up on Polish Hill. / Puppets on the North Side, South Side, West End. / Puppets in Lawrenceville.
It’s a day to raise puppets all over Pittsburgh. / Puppet paupers and puppet kings. / From the puppets who patch our potholes / To Puppets who pull the strings!”
World Puppetry Day was first proposed by Iranian theater artist Javad Zolfaghar at the Congress of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette in 2000. The celebration was agreed upon two years laterand inaugurated in 2003. The 80-year-old organization Puppeteers of America has merged its National Day of Puppetrywith the global celebration so that each falls annuallyon March 21.
The local guild has planned events throughout the day, culminating in the grand finale at the Brillobox in Bloomfield. The 21-andover event, running from 6:30 to 9 p.m., features “warmup shenanigans” by Mr. English and Tom Sarver, music by Unfinished Symphonies, and a presentation by Davey T Steinman.
He’s a theater artist and educator who has developed works “at the crossroads of art, technology and performance.” The solo presentation will include shadow puppetry and video projection Mr. Steinman created as co-founder of Paradox Teatro and work he did recently while on tour in Europe and Mexico.
After the performance, the public will be invited to participate in a hands-on demo of suitcase shadow theater and a Q&A conversation with the artist.
Some schools also are offering puppetry experiences for youngsters that day. Siggi Erlingsson will perform “Alphabet X Peditions” at St. Thomas More School in Bethel Park, and Gwen Bowman will teach Eastern Puppetry traditions at Propel Montour.
Find a complete list of events at https://pgop.org.