General

BREAD AND PUPPET

Saturday, 20 November 2004
All day

Organizer: Mary Curtin

Bread & Puppet is Here!!!
The most wonderful participatory artistic experience in the entire universe beckons you.

BREAD AND PUPPET THEATER'S
FIRST WORLD INSURRECTION IN CAMBRIDGE

A POST-ELECTION RUCKUS PLAYED OUT FROM NOVEMBER 4-21

(Cambridge, MA) The Bread and Puppet Theater presents the First World Insurrection, a post-election ruckus played out in Cambridge, November 4-21. Performances and Symposium held at the Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre / Durrell Hall, 820 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square, and Art Exhibit installed at the Marran Gallery, Lesley University, Main Quad on Mellen St. (off Mass. Ave.), between Harvard and Porter Squares. Both venues are wheelchair accessible. For advance tickets, on sale from October 18th on, and information on all events call the Cambridge Family
YMCA (www.cambymca.org) at 617-661-9622, extension 706.

Artistic Director Peter Schumann and his band of eight Vermont puppeteers will join forces with 20 local puppeteers and the Cambridge-based Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band. Their residency in Cambridge includes three puppet shows (a double-bill geared towards adults and one "family-friendly" show), a "Now What" political art symposium, and an exhibit showcasing Schumann's visual artwork. Each of these opportunities will include the traditional serving of Schumann's famous sourdough rye bread (baked in a temporary outdoor oven in the YMCA parking lot), drizzled with garlic-laden aioli, and the sale of the theater's "cheap art." In November, the city of Cambridge will indeed be the stage upon which much artistic discontent is set - with a few laughs thrown in!

Double Bill of Evening Shows:
WORLD ON FIRE and HOW TO TURN DISTRESS INTO SUCCESS: a Parable of War and Its Making November 4-14, Thurs.-Sun., 8pm (first week); Wed.-Sun., 8pm (second week) $10 general admission for both shows [groups of 10 or more $8]; held at the Cambridge Family YMCA

Family-Friendly Matinees:
UPSIDE DOWN WORLD CIRCUS
November 6-14, Sat.-Sun., 3pm
$10 / $5 students and seniors / children 2 and under free; held at the Cambridge Family YMCA

Political Art Symposium:
NOW WHAT?
2D ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON SUBVERSIVE PAPIER-MACHE & OTHER TOOLS FOR CREATIVE DISSENT
Monday, November 8, 7pm
including panelists Peter Schumann (Director, Bread and Puppet Theater), Gip Hoppe (Co-Artistic Director, WHAT), Reverend Billy (performance artist) and Reno (performance artist) moderated by Dr. John Bell (Puppet Historian, Emerson College professor and author of Puppets, Masks and Performing Objects) suggested donation $5; held at the Cambridge Family YMCA

Peter Schumann's Visual Art Installation:
THE U.S. SENATE READS AN EMAIL BY THE LATE RACHEL CORRIE TO HER PARENTS
November 9-21, gallery hours, 9am-8 pm daily; opening reception and artist's talk, Tuesday, November 9, 4-7pm free and open to all; held at the Marran Gallery, Lesley University

Featuring the Bread and Puppet Theater's signature masked characters and giant papier-mache puppets, the individual shows and art exhibit are described below.

WORLD ON FIRE
A group of National Emergency Clowns demonstrates official reactions to the ultimate emergency. The music is by the Asymmetric Prisoner-of-War Orchestra, consisting of local volunteer performers, and their conductor, the Fire Chief.
HOW TO TURN DISTRESS INTO SUCCESS: A Parable of War and Its Making
With the help of the National More-More-More Society, the Student of Success is taught a lesson: how the transformation of distress into success transforms success. The Population is a child in the arms of Truth. But Truth gets employed by the Executive to ready the Population for war. War is learned in a butcher's shop. The dance of the Collateral Damage Dancers concludes the lesson. The puppets are from cardboard; the music is live and includes an ancient Georgian chant.
UPSIDE DOWN WORLD CIRCUS
The circus features upside-down figures, a group of First World representatives trained by a lion, Thomas Jefferson and his patriotic cheerleaders, Gerrard Winstanley and his band of Diggers, the Rotten Idea Theater Company's distillation of political issues and much more, all accompanied by the B&P Circus Band. Political fun for the whole family!
THE U.S. SENATE READS AN EMAIL BY THE LATE RACHEL CORRIE TO HER PARENTS
Peter Schumann dedicates this installation to Rachel Corrie who died at the age of 23 in Palestine in 2003 as she tried to stop a bulldozer from destroying a Palestinian home. Her email is dated February 27, 2003.

(Background of the theater) The Bread and Puppet Theater was founded in 1963 on New York City's Lower Eastside by 70-year old Silesian-born sculptor and choreographer, Peter Schumann. In 1969 a nine-month tour of Europe won recognition and critical acclaim for Bread and Puppet. In 1970, the Theater moved to Vermont as theater-in-residence at Goddard College, letting itself be influenced by living in the countryside. Four years later the Theater moved to a farm in Glover in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, where a 100-year-old hay barn was transformed into a museum for veteran puppets. Bread and Puppet Theater does massive spectacles in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Their pageants have a broad theme-oriented appeal to large non-elite audiences. They address social, political and environmental issues or simply the common urgencies of our lives. Some of the awards received by Peter Schumann and Bread and Puppet are the Obie Award, the Erasmus Award from Amsterdam, the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, UNIMA-USA's Citation of Excellence and the Puppeteers of America President's Award. Bread and Puppet is one of the oldest non-profit, self-supporting theater companies in the United States. For more information on the Bread and Puppet Theater: http://www.breadandpuppet.org/, http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/bread_puppet/bibliography.html and http://www.chelseagreen.com/2004/items/rehearsingwithgods/Preface.
For more information on John Bell's Puppets, Masks and Performing Objects: http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=784AF1B0-3864-4-
824C-8947CCC171B&ttype=2&tid=4192
For an example on Peter Schumann's outdoor bread-baking technique (press on arrow to view photos):
http://www.wildhack.com/bedrosian/temp/bp/bread.html

Who: The Bread and Puppet Theater
What: First World Insurrection
When: A post-election ruckus played out in Cambridge, November 4-21. Events include:
World On Fire and How To Turn Distress Into Success: a Parable of War and Its Making (a double bill), November 4-14, Thurs.-Sun., 8 pm (first week); Wed.-Sun., 8 pm (second week) Upside Down World Circus (family-friendly), November 6-14, Sat.-Sun., 3pm Now What?: the 2d Annual Symposium On Subversive Papier-Mache And Other Tools For Creative Dissent, Monday, November 8, 7pm
The U.S. Senate Reads An Email By The Late Rachel Corrie To Her Parents, November 9-21, gallery hours, 9 am-8pm daily; opening reception and artist's talk, Tuesday, November 9, 4-7pm
Where: Performances and Symposium held at the Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre / Durrell Hall, 820 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square. Art Exhibit installed at the Marran Gallery, Lesley University, Main Quad on Mellen St. (off Mass. Ave.), between Harvard and Porter Squares. Both venues are wheelchair accessible.
Tickets:
World On Fire and How To Turn Distress Into Success (double bill), $10 general admission for both shows [groups of 10 or more $8]
Circus, $10 / $5 students and seniors / children 2 and under free
Symposium, suggested donation $5
The Late Rachel Corrie art exhibit, free
For advance tickets, on sale from October 18th on, and information on all events:
Call the Cambridge Family YMCA (www.cambymca.org) at 617-661-9622, extension 706

"dedicated to staging insightful entertainment, particularly in non-traditional venues"

Location:
Cambridge Family YMCA (www.cambymca.org)

Cost: varies

URL: http://www.marycurtinproductions.com