June 28- July 1

Puppeteers of America present the Southeast Regional Festival, Puppet Paradise! A massive 4 day festival held at the beautiful Warren Wilson College Campus June 28-30 and culminating with a mini-fest to be held on SUN July 1 at Sly Grog Lounge. The festival includes 9 completely different live performances, workshops, gallery show, and a film screening of Handmade Puppet Dreams. All performances as “all ages” and family friendly with the exception of the Saturday night puppet slam, which is recommended for mature audiences. Visitors to Asheville can register for the complete experience including food and lodging or locals can pay a ticket fee per show.

For more information on complete show times, schedules, events, registration, or pre-order tickets visit our website:

https://puppet-paradise.squarespace.com/

Live Performance Schedule:

THURS June 28 Warren Wilson College – Kittredge Theater

6:00 PM Opening Ceremony- Street Creature
Street Creature Puppets a giant puppet collective located in Asheville, NC. We are artists, performers, musicians and tinkerers. We create giant puppets and community based pageantry while empowering the creative people of Western North Carolina to do the same.

7:00 PM Peter and The Wolf – National Marionette Theater
Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf has enchanted audiences since its premier in 1936. Based on the original Russian Folktale, National Marionette Theatre’s version of the story features the beautiful music from Prokofiev’s orchestral score combined with stunning scenery and hand crafted marionettes. Set in turn of the century Russia, our production tells the story of how Peter, along with his animal friends captures the wolf.

FRI June 29 Warren Wilson College – Kittredge Theater

Workshops 10:30 am-12:00 pm (see website for listings)

3:00 PM The Birth of The Moon – Tongues Out Theater Company
This beautiful shadow puppet show tells the origin of the moon told with a new take on traditional Indonesian Wayang shadow puppetry. Tongues Out is a New Orleans based puppet company consisting of four queer and women artists who challenge the space between light and dark, who expand and explore the boundaries of the silhouette. They are both inspired by the ancient tradition of oral and visual storytelling as well as contemporary movements that bring social justice into the realm of artistic expression. Aside from puppetry they are printmakers, painters, writers, and musicians.

7:00 PM Sea Song – Hobey Ford
Sea Song” tells the story of a boy who is addicted to games on his phone. On a Summer vacation to his grandmother’s remote beach home he discovers sea turtles and is transformed. Bunraku style table top and shadow puppetry.

SAT June 30 Warren Wilson College – Kittredge Recital Hall

Workshops 10:30 am-12:00 pm (see website for listings)

3:00 PM The Spinach Dip Pancakes Show – Kevin Kammeraad
Packed with puppets, interactive songs, and his innovative traveling puppet trunk theatre, Kevin and friends are sure to bring a smile to your face in this all ages puppet concert. “Kammeraad has put together an eclectic selection of songs and spoken poems… performed as a contemporary vaudeville and variety show, the goal of which is to inspire creativity in young listeners… This fun and sometimes silly album is a treat for the whole family.” – School Library Journal

7:00 PM Still Life – The Shadow Factory
Matt Sandbank’s Shadow Factory is a one-man traveling shadow theater based out of Austin, TX. Matt has toured nationally since 2009 and performed at the 2014 Nashville International Puppet Festival, the 2016 and 2017 Children’s International Puppet Festivals in San Antonio, TX, and at the 2016 Great Regional Puppet Festival in St. Louis, MO. Matt’s show, “Still Life,” is funded in part by a grant from The Puppeteers of America Endowment Fund. “Still Life” is a collection of funny and surreal shadow puppetry vignettes.

9:00 PM The Wham, Bam! Puppet Slam – Outdoor Pavillion
Puppet Slam! An evening of short-form puppet theater for adults, presented in a variety of puppetry styles, by some of the nation’s best. Hosted by America’s Favorite Cartoon Witch™, Toybox.

SUN July 1 Sly Grog Lounge

11:00 AM Time Machine – Tarish Jeghetto Pipkins
Join the puppeteer from the Missy Elliot & Pharrell music video, WTF, as he entertains with a breakdancing robot, a dinosaur, and so much more!

12:30 PM Handmade Puppet Dreams Film Series
An enchanting, funny, quirky, collection of short puppet films by some of the best and most acclaimed live puppeteers and animators from around the world. Produced by Heather Henson and curated by Alex Griffin. Presentation will to be followed with a Q/A by some of the filmakers being presented.

2:00 PM The Bean&Bear Show!
Bean & Bear are the best of friends and want to be your friend too! They perform puppetry, magic, and other bizarre stuff for live, adult-friendly kid shows!