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The
Puppet Co. is a non-profit organization, founded in
1983, which creates puppet theatre, especially for children,
as an art form synthesizing the visual and performing
arts. Hand Puppets, rod puppets, body puppets, marionettes
and shadow puppets are used in the fully staged productions
of the stories, traditional and original, which comprise
our ever-growing repertory.
Allan Stevens, Christopher
and MayField Piper have combined their varied sculptural,
mechanical, costuming, scenic and administrative talents
to form the artistic and managerial core of The Puppet
Co.. Together, their training amounts to over 100 years
of hands-on puppet experience. The Puppet Co operates
in cooperation with the National
Park Service, Montgomery County and the Glen Echo
Park Partnership for Arts and Culture which administersGlen
Echo Park for many artisans.
The Puppet
Co Playhouse is a 200-seat theater created in June of
1989, and is the only year-round theatre between New
York and Atlanta dedicated entirely to the Art of Puppetry.
This resource to the Washington DC area brings great
music and literature to life for students, teachers
and parents with live, fully-staged productions of some
of the finest children's theater in the country.
The Puppet Co has about 20 productions in repertory.
Productions change
approximately every six weeks with performances each
week, totaling more
about 475 performances each year. Besides our own work,
we feature
productions by other puppet companies about twice a
year.Our annual spring exhibit, "Puppets, Puppets, and
More Puppets!" presents an up close view of the artist
work. About 6000 people attend the week-long display
of new and favorite works. Hands-on areas offer attendees
a chance to experiment with some of the safer puppetmaking
materials. Slide shows, an interactive computer presentation
and demonstrations round out the activities. In addition,
we occasionally feature other puppet companies performances
as part of our season.
The Puppet Co. is a member of the National
Capital Puppetry Guild (Mid-Atlantic Region),
Puppeteers of America,
and UNIMA
(Union Internationale de la Marionette).
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