Back at the beginning of February, I got an intriguing press release from a company of puppeteers:
An intimate puppetry experience intertwining stories of the
Jews crossing the Red Sea and the Cherokee Trail of Tears
A Watch it, Make it, Take it Event
Z Puppets welcomes people to take a place at the table for a uniquely intimate puppetry experience intertwining stories of the Jews Crossing the Red Sea and the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Sliding across centuries and continents with the live global music fusion of Greg Herriges, these stories travel the rich emotional landscape from struggle to triumph. Directed by noted arts activist Laurie Witzkowski.
WATCH IT: Award-winning puppetry artists Shari Aronson and Chris Griffith, a Cherokee Tribal member, share stories inspired by their own ancestry. A 3500 year-old Jewish woman and a 6-yr old Cherokee boy fill in parts of history that often go missing.
MAKE IT: After the 1-hour performance, Z Puppets leads the audience step by step to make "power figures" — small puppets to represent someone to call on for strength when facing hardship.
TAKE IT: People take their power figures out into the world to find the next steps through life's narrow passages!
Each event is limited to 25 seats and advance tickets are encouraged. Last year's performances sold out quickly. Tickets and a Before You Go Guide available at zpuppets.org.
Audience members who attended Through the Narrows in 2019 commented: "It felt like a spell was over the whole place; like it was alive with all the ancestors of that place and all of us who were there," and "Very glad that this story about how to get through narrow passages in life is being told in such a thoughtful way."
ABOUT Z PUPPETS ROSENSCHNOZ
Z Puppets Rosenschnoz is a Minneapolis company that brings people into the power of playfulness for feats of imagination, through performances, workshops and interactive environments.
Led by Shari Aronson and Chris Griffith, their performances combine hand-crafted puppetry, quirky humor and live music. Their work has won honors from the Ivey Awards, Ordway Center for Performing Arts, Jim Henson Foundation and Puppeteers of America.
Shari Aronson has written plays and developed exhibits for the MN History Center, Science Museum of MN, Mill City Museum, MN Children’s Museum and the City of Maplewood. Shari’s stage adaptation of Eric Kimmel’s beloved children’s book Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins has been produced by professional and youth theaters across the country, including the MN Jewish Theatre Company.
Chris Griffith began as a solo juggler/street performer before falling into a life of a puppetry and arts education with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre, Galumph Interactive Theatre, and Children’s Theater Company. In 2009, Chris won an Ivey Award for his puppetry design. Through the Narrows is the first in a series of work Chris is developing based in the family stories, research, and personal experience of being an enrolled Cherokee tribal member.
Greg Herriges is an internationally recognized virtuoso performer and composer with musical expertise that spans international and improvisational traditions (Middle East, Asia, India). A Bush and McKnight Foundation grantee, Greg has composed and performed music for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, performer Zaraawar Mistry, Twin Cities Public Television, and independent film soundtracks.
Through the Narrows is directed by Laurie Witzkowski, a theater maker and community activist whose work has been featured locally (In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre, Theater Mu, Mixed Precipitation, TigerLion Arts, Bedlam) and internationally, in venues from Lincoln Center to war zones, prisons and sacred sites.
Got all set up with press tickets for their opening next Saturday, and then, Friday evening, another email:
"Due to COVID19, we are canceling our live performances of Through the Narrows.
On March 21, to Celebrate World Puppetry Day, we will be releasing a high quality online audio performance, featuring photos of scenes by Bruce Silcox.
Click here to see our short video message about this audio webcast: https://vimeo.com/397542382
As a ticket holder, you will automatically receive the password for this webcast on March 21st.
Like many other artists, we are facing a significant loss of income due to COVID19.
If you would like to offer your purchase as a contribution to Z Puppets, we truly appreciate your support, and no further action is needed.
The Through the Narrows audio webcast will be available for free to all Native American tribal members and by pay-what-you-will donation at this link: https://zpuppets.org/store/through-the-narrows-audio-web-cast
As people who are around elderly and those with compromised immune systems, we take the mission of flattening the curve of COVID19 very seriously. We also believe that now more than ever the arts are a vital way for us to keep our spirits and community alive.
Let's find the next step through life's narrow passages together!
Thank you and be well!
Shari & Chris
Creative Directors, Z Puppets Rosenschnoz"
"Due to COVID19, we are canceling our live performances of Through the Narrows.
On March 21, to Celebrate World Puppetry Day, we will be releasing a high quality online audio performance, featuring photos of scenes by Bruce Silcox.
Click here to see our short video message about this audio webcast: https://vimeo.com/397542382
As a ticket holder, you will automatically receive the password for this webcast on March 21st.
Like many other artists, we are facing a significant loss of income due to COVID19.
If you would like to offer your purchase as a contribution to Z Puppets, we truly appreciate your support, and no further action is needed.
The Through the Narrows audio webcast will be available for free to all Native American tribal members and by pay-what-you-will donation at this link: https://zpuppets.org/store/through-the-narrows-audio-web-cast
As people who are around elderly and those with compromised immune systems, we take the mission of flattening the curve of COVID19 very seriously. We also believe that now more than ever the arts are a vital way for us to keep our spirits and community alive.
Let's find the next step through life's narrow passages together!
Thank you and be well!
Shari & Chris
Creative Directors, Z Puppets Rosenschnoz"
So, they've already come up with a creative solution for still getting the art to people. I'm really looking forward to seeing/hearing it, even if I can't be in the same room with the puppets, or make a puppet of my own (nothing stopping me from making a puppet by myself, I guess - but should I be trusted to make a puppet alone without professionals to oversee the project)
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