Petrushka & The Caterpillar

By Edward Speck

Petrushka and the Caterpillar is approximately 45 minutes of clowning and puppetry rooted in fairytales. A 6ft wide puppet stage of the old Punch and Judy style is set center.

A curious clown, Petrushka wanders in through the house and discovers a tiny Caterpillar (which grows from one inch to sixty feet long over the course of the play). A family of itinerant puppeteers enter to perform their fairytale theater, and Petrushka joins them.

Petrushka discovers things she doesn’t like about the old fairytales and finds ways to change them, empowering herself and the rest of the characters along the way. The third fairytale, Strega Nona, ends with a 20×30′ fabric of “spaghetti” emanating from the pasta pot into the audience. The themes are care for, and learning from, nature, and our ability to change old narratives to build new community.

Petrushka and the Caterpillar is a collaboration of Theater in the Open puppeteers and former Circus Smirkus clowns. It is built to be modular, with individual fairytales replaced or removed, and can be shortened if necessary. We perform outside usually, and will not require microphones.

Judy Punches Back

By Sarah Nolen

After being pushed around for over 400 years, the famous hand puppet heroine Judy has had enough! Cheer her on as she goes on a quest for respect, justice, and a well-deserved nap. Puppeteer Sarah Nolen delivers an astonishing one-woman performance in this modern feminist interpretation of the traditional “Punch and Judy” puppet show. Audiences young and old will laugh, cry, yell, and gasp in response to this highly-interactive, hilarious, hand-crafted farce.

 

This event is All Ages, suggested Age is 16+ // Valid ID required for alcohol consumption

Each show is around 25 minutes, with a 5-10 minute transition, for a total of 60 minutes 

Show 1 – Saturday May 10, 11:20 am
Show 2 – Sunday May 11, 11:20 am

Tickets are $15 total and provides entry for both shows for the full hour / Festival Pass $75 for entry to EVERY BOSTON FRINGE SHOW!

NO REFUNDS.

Wheelchair Accessibility: Please call the host at (617) 628-4444 to let you in through the elevator in The Gorin Building.