Join us for Puppeteers' Happy Hour! 

This recurring informal gathering is for puppet artists and enthusiasts to share their work and ideas, catch up on the latest puppet dirt, and hang out. 

For this very special happy hour, Trudi Cohen and John Bell, of Great Small Works theater company, will offer a 90-minute introduction to the art of Toy Theater (also known as Paper Theater). 

Starting with a light-hearted history lesson presented by Professor John Bell, attendees will be introduced to the Victorian roots of Toy Theater, and both traditional and contemporary applications of the form. They will be shown some basic techniques and materials for creating one’s own Toy Theater – with stage, sets, and characters. And they will be encouraged to discover the possibilities of this intimate, accessible parlor entertainment for telling the grandest of tales with the simplest of means!

Don't miss Great Small Works' performance of short-format toy theater work in three acts, with "We Love Trees" on Saturday, June 17 at 7:30 PM & Sunday, June 18 at 5:00 PM.

This workshop is intended for an adult audience, but all are welcome.

Free to the public; donations encouraged!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Trudi Cohen and John Bell are theater makers, puppeteers, festival organizers, musicians, and founding members of Great Small Works, a visual theater collective created in 1995 in New York City, whose six members share roots in Bread and Puppet Theater. Its members are now dispersed, with outposts in Brooklyn, NY's Hudson Valley, Montreal, and Cambridge, MA. Bell and Cohen anchor the New England base in Massachusetts.

John Bell is the Director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and an Associate Professor of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut. He was a member of the Bread and Puppet Theater company from 1976 to 1986. He received his doctoral degree in theater history from Columbia University in 1993 and is a respected scholar in the field of puppet theater. He is an organizer of the Honk! Festival of Activist Street Bands in Somerville, Massachusetts; and a trombonist in the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band. He received the 2011 Research Prize from the Institut International de la Marionette in Charleville-Mezieres, France; and the Puppeteers of America's 2019 George Latshaw Award for puppet scholarship.

Trudi Cohen was a full-time member of Bread and Puppet Theater's resident company in Vermont for 10 years and has performed as a puppeteer in productions directed by Peter Schumann, Janie Geiser, Amy Trompetter, and David Neumann. She was Director of Great Small Works' 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2020 (online) International Toy Theater Festivals and has curated dozens of the company’s Spaghetti Dinner events. She plays the bass drum with the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band, and is a founder and organizer of the HONK! Festival in Somerville, MA. She was secretary of the Board of UNIMA-USA for 6 years.

Together Bell and Cohen received Puppet Showplace Theater's 2014 Paul Vincent Davis Award for artistry and mentorship; and New England Foundation for the Arts' 2017 Rebecca Blunk Award for outstanding New England artists.

COVID-19 POLICY

Audience members, staff, and volunteers will be asked to mask while not actively eating, or drinking.

Mayo Street Arts is committed to the safety of everyone at our events and will adhere to all Federal & Maine CDC guidelines on the day of the event. As we anticipate mid-season changes to our COVID-19 policy, please click here to visit our website and view the most current information.