The Tenth Annual New Orleans
Giant Puppet Festival
Artist & Venue Lineup
Jeghetto’s Workshop. Leroy’s Place. Night Shade. The Mudlark Puppeteers. Jacqueline Wade. Harmonic Drift. Shadow Girls Cult. Innerworkings Theater. Try Again Better. Cook y Doh. Tooth Lifeless. Cila Puccadella. Tyler Nacho. Mr. Leo’s Wonder Bus. Honey Goodenough. abandoned ships. Flutterbug. SoulFool. BreakFAST Puppets. Parasol Puppets. Midnight Radio Show. Velvet Effigy. Poose the Puppet. Rasputin’s Marionettes. Esmerelda the Puppet. Rabbit Foot Puppets. Toybox Theatre. Nat Allister. Nate Puppets. Bixby & Sierra.
Contemporary Arts Center. Harry Mayronne. The Temple on Dauphine. The New Orleans Healing Center. Luisa Springs. Bywater Wonderland. Spellcaster Lodge. CANOA. Backyard Ballroom. Happyland Theater. The Mudlark Public Theatre. Twilight Room at Allways Lounge.
Contemporary Arts Center
900 Camp Street
Jeghetto’s Workshop
Leroy’s Place
& Night Shade
'The Hip Hopera of 5P1N0K10
by Tarish Pipkins a.k.a. Jeghetto
Using music, video, and magical marionettes, the show spins the story to which its title and Jeghetto’s moniker refer into an Afrofuturist parable about a robot that longs to be a real B-boy in a post-apocalyptic future.
Peek over the shoulder and into the mind of a giant swamp monster as she scrolls through a crafted monster universe on her cardboard smartphone.
NIGHTSHADE
Exquisite Corpse
Witness excerpts from Night Shade's illuminated ZINE ‘Exquisite Corpse’ as 'Necromancer Nadia' & 'Dead Mike' rise from the grave and conjure their own brand of deth rock with their band WHITE KNIVES. Haunting imagery slices across the shadow screen to invoking an esoteric shadow show from the burial realm.
The Temple
3151 Dauphine Street
hosts
The Mudlark Puppeteers
THE MUDLARK PUPPETEERS
‘Mother Catherine and The Temple of the Innocent Blood’
Written and Directed by Pandora Gastelum
a work in ongoing development
The latest puppet operetta by New Orleans’ own Mudlark Puppeteers, this work is a celebration of the life and legacy of local folk hero, activist and spiritual leader Mother Catherine Seals. This is the story of a black woman’s ascension to glory through a life dedicated to healing through spirit.
In the Jim Crow South, Mother Catherine Seals came to hold sway over an interracial flock numbering in the thousands. Her spiritual tenets would be the foundation for one of the largest American religious organizations of the early twentieth century. Her unique style of musical worship, blending Gospel with African drumming and Jazz, would give life to music previously unimagined. But who was Mother Catherine? And why did so many people of different races, classes, genders and ages follow her word as wisdom? Through large scale rod and shadow puppetry and the music of the day, “ Mother Catherine and The Temple of the Innocent Blood” plays out these questions and the threads of life at which they tug, in vivid sound and color.
Our ultimate goal is to premiere this developing work in its entirety, on the site of the Manger in the lower 9th ward in 2025. Please keep up with us and be a part of the journey.
The New Orleans Healing Center
2372 St. Claude Avenue
hosts
Jacqueline Wade,
Harmonic Drift,
Shadow Girls Cult,
Innerworkings Theatre,
& Try Again Better
JACQUELINE WADE
‘Consuewella: Triptych in MOVE’
Conceived, written, and directed by Jacqueline Wade.
‘Consuewella: Triptych in MOVE’ is a moving puppet performance piece about an African American woman’s journey through MOVE, a radical mostly African American back-to-nature activist group from Philadelphia and the system.
This performance is for mature audiences-late teens through adults.
HARMONIC DRIFT
‘Wayang Earth’
Drawing inspiration from Balinese shadow puppetry, “Wayang Earth?!” tells the zany stories of conflict between mythical dual creatures operating over twenty intricately designed stick puppets across their shadow screen. Accompanying the production is the otherworldly musical accompaniment of homemade, gamelan-inspired instruments. Friendly for all ages.
SHADOW GIRLS CULT
"Unraveling: A Cinematic Shadow & Live Animation Show"
a work in ongoing development
This innovative series of shadow puppetry & live animation vignettes by Seattle-based duo Shadow Girls Cult will leave you hooked and haunted!
Each poignantly crafted tale focuses on different moments in time when a world falls apart. Seamlessly blending sci fi, film noir, classic film and surrealism, this multi-genre shadow show is not to be missed!
Whether you are already a fan of puppetry, or are perhaps just a bit puppet-curious, "Unraveling" will leave you breathless. Filled with psychedelic liquid light techniques, shadow masks, human silhouettes and cinematic storytelling, each story is an echo of the question: "Is the world (and by extension, are we) destined to always come apart at the seams?"
INNERWORKINGS THEATER
‘River to the Sky’
A River to the Sky: The Life of Water" weaves together immersive dance, shadow puppets, wearable sculpture, video projection, and somatic meditation to explore how climate change shapes life in a speculative future, drawing parallels with contemporary struggles and ancestral conflicts over water and land. Through the wit and wisdom of a gaggle of opinionated dinosaur spirits observing Earth in 2033, the show embarks on a journey from the ancient past into the distant future, revealing water's forgotten secrets through mirrors and apparitions. From the smallest raindrop to the deepest ocean, "A River to the Sky" invites audiences to reflect on our environmental legacy with both humor and profound gravity.
TRY AGAIN BETTER
‘Life Goes On, Anyway...’
by Nancy Ross and Severin Steensen
A Woman in consideration of ending her life is visited by an old familiar friend from the shadow world. Together, they observe and reflect on the simple things in life that keep us going. An original theatrical folk concert accompanied by a shadow puppet show that fills the room with visual and musical nostalgia; transporting the audience to a space where it’s easy to feel beauty in the stillness. Together, measuring the passing of time watching the grass grow.
Louisa Springs
1701 Louisa Street
hosts
Cook y Doh,
Tooth Lifeless,
Cila Puccadella,
& Tyler Nacho
COOK y DOH
‘The Squirmy Wormhole: a Puppet Musical’
Space researcher and a blue coyote wander the universe from planet to planet through a series of portals in order to return home.
Follow us in this space odyssey puppet musical through the Squirmy Wormhole as we drink from the feeling soup.
It will be a night of luscious, surreal storytelling to facilitate your own process of mythical meaning making.
TOOTH LIFELESS
‘The Pinata Tragedy’
Tooth Lifeless is an experimental performance group from Atlanta, Georgia that creates immersive happenings. Often referred to as ‘the circus’ by its members and community, Tooth Lifeless brings artists, creatives, and people from a variety of backgrounds together to create the unhinged and untamed spectacle. With the help of their community, the circus constructs large sculptures, props, puppets, and environments in order to build a world for the audience and the actors to exist in outside of their casual reality.
CILA PUCCADELLA
‘The Weight of the Sun’
written by Elena Ricciardi with music by Elena Ricciardi and Chris Booth
Grey is a whale tasked with the heavy burden of carrying the sun from one end of the world to the other, to release it every morning for sunrise, and to catch it at every sunset. But what happens when he is given the power to pass this job (essential to the survival of 8.7 million species mind you!) to another? ‘The Weight of the Sun’ mixes shadow puppetry with good old fashioned marionettes. It melds myth with fact to take you from the spellbinding beginning of our solar system all the way to, well, you’ll just have to come see for yourself! New Orleans' very own Eight Dice Cloth joins for live music.
NAT ALLISTER
‘Lethe’
Fox & Beggar Theater director Nat is doing a solo show! "Lethe" (pr: LEE-thee) tells the simple story of a lonely, obsessive creature who lives on a beach. Expect some marionettes, some shadows, and a lot of iambic heptameter. Accompanied by Jack Kelly on fiddle.
TYLER NACHO
‘Death to Realism’
A dance party, puppet show, and mystical experience. ‘Death to Realism’ infuses positive energy and motivational concepts with magical thinking and comedy. It is an existential thought experiment about the ways the ideas you hold often hold you back.
Bywater Wonderland
3405 Royal Street
hosts
Mr. Leo’s Wonder Bus
&
Honey Goodenough’s Sock Monkey Circus
HONEY GOODENOUGH
Sock Monkey Circus
This performance features the magical talents of the host "Funny Honey" and her clever monkeys, who are trained to juggle, dance, and swing on a flying trapeze! All this while traveling in their very own circus train car that converts into a miniature stage. These silly monkeys continually outsmart our host, all while performing a variety of circus routines. Everyone is welcome to monkey around with the Sock Monkey Circus!
Emily Schubert
A suitcase, crankie, puppet cabaret! Including Kraut -a suitcase style puppet show about a rogue cabbage who sings about his life and what might happen if the pesky farmer finds him, and Worldwoman - a scrolling shadow story about a wise woman of old who learns from nature and calls us all to our part in it. Also featuring a special guest…. if you can get him to come out and say hello!!!!
CANOA
4210 St. Claude Avenue
hosts
abandoned ships,
Flutterbug,
SoulFool,
& BreakFAST Puppets
ABANDONED SHIPS
‘we need to talk’
(work in progress)
As the climate crisis deepens, storm language is changing faster than we are learning how to read it. “we need to talk” considers how our own behavioral patterns are affecting our ability to learn and translate the stories today's storms are creating.
Two puppeteers, speaking different languages, fight over the direction of the narrative. The narrative talks about how different elements of the weather affect humans.
FLUTTERBUG
Flutterbug presents 'Seance'. If you like dark twisted macabre tea parties and a good old fashion seance, please join Flutterbug for an event of puppet resurrection that will surely give you haunting nightmares for days… And do feel free to dress in your best funeral attire!
SOULFOOL
Show of Hands
Hans und Frans, two hands performing in a tiny circus, human canonball into the audience, discover humans, uncover the master puppeteer and foment a rollicking revolution. Drea of SoulFool is a master puppeteer and comedian who will bring you with her to a world of play and unhinged delight.
BreakFAST PUPPETS
Oversouled
BreakFAST Puppets is an up and coming puppet company based in the New England area. They believe it is important to remember that artists are researchers processing the ephemeral around us into a communal experience that helps us better understand ourselves, others, and the world.
Oversouled is a puppet show with bizarre figureheads who (through wikipedia) try to convince you to explore different personal practices.
Spellcaster Lodge
hosts
Peter Allen and Debbie Lutzky Allen
of
Parasol Puppets
PUNCH AND JUDY
Audiences enjoy this show because it is loud and silly and allows the crowd to laugh, cheer and shout encouragement to the puppets. When this show was awarded the 2019 Unima-USA Citation of Excellence, reviewers wrote “Truly a Punch Professor, Peter Allen deserves a citation for presenting this enduring tale so masterfully” and “Punch & Judy by Peter Allen is Funny, satiric, but always family-friendly!”
The Backyard Ballroom
3519 St. Claude Avenue
hosts
Midnight Radio Show,
Velvet Effigy,
& Poose the Puppet
MIDNIGHT RADIO SHOW
The Dragon's Laugh and Other Tales
"Bona fide fairy princess" Charlotte Lily Gaspard of Midnight Radio Show brings all original fairytales to life using intricate handmade shadow puppets. Fun for the whole family, Midnight Radio Show is known for their theatrical enchantments.
VELVET EFFIGY
Eyes of the Beholder
Caught in a web of romance and deception, a Beautiful Priestess must choose between The Queen's wishes or her newfound feelings for a Bestial Baroness.
Join us as we reimagine Villeneuve's Classic
"Beauty and The Beast"
POOSE THE PUPPET
Poose Presents: The Dizzy Dangerfield Experience
Poose, star of Poose The Puppet, introduces the world to her new best friend Dizzy Dangerfield. Dizzy is the new face and representative of Poose while she prepares backstage but who is Dizzy and where did he come from? He says he's famous and everyone's bro yet no one seems to recognize him...yet. Join Dizzy for his exclusive TELL ALL interview with famous podcaster Bro Jogan live and unfiltered and get the full scoop on this gregarious puppet. Audience participation encouraged!
Happyland Theater
3126 Burgundy Street
hosts
Rasputin’s Marionettes,
Esmerelda the Puppet,
& Rabbit Foot Puppets
Sugarbitch Goulash pt. 2
When we last saw septuagenarians Helen and Olga, they were concocting the nefarious plan that would eventually brand them The Black Widow Murderers. In Sugarbitch Goulash: Act 2 we witness the gruesome climax of their careers and eventual downfall, in this uproarious and twisted tale of murder, greed, and self gout, based on true life events.
ESMERELDA THE PUPPET
Thirsty for the Limelight: A Divine Musical Comedy
On her quest to find the limelight, Esmerelda must journey through the land of Showbizz. She encounters a slew of characters who also seek fame and fortune, but in order to reach the top, Esmerelda must confront her evil diva nemesis, Anne Ziety. For mature audiences.
RABBIT FOOT PUPPETS
No Strings Attached
Oh golly gee, a spectacle marionette spree!
A puppeteer's desktop comes alive at night.
This vaudeville spectacle puppetry show features a cast of larger-than-life marionette mice in a battle for the spotlight. Witness magic mishaps, a yarn fight of epic proportions, and a tiny acrobat who steals the show!
The Mudlark Public Theatre
1200 Port Street
hosts
Toybox Theatre,
Nate Puppets,
Bixby & Sierra,
& Harry Mayronne
TOYBOX THEATRE
Used Doorknob Salesmen
Once again, fan favorite Toybox Theatre returns to The NOLA Giant Puppet Fest with a hilarious new puppet comedy, Used Door Knob Salesmen, on the main stage and hosting and performing in the late night puppet slams!
NATE PUPPETS
Bastard The Bunny
Welcome to The World of Nate Puppets. A world of fuzzy plush depravity and attempts to show what has yet to be seen.
Bastard The Bunny is a personal story of fighting what is inside of your head after it becomes too loud. Based on a real life mental breakdown.
SIERRA & BIXBY
Three short plays by Sierra and Bixby.
‘Seasters’ an Underwater Dream.
In ‘Red Water’ there exists a secret ecosystem near a pond, roamed by two twin chickens and some amoeba fairies. Wishes are granted there. Someone wishes things were a little more... flavored. Would you like to find out what ensues?
‘Mother Oracle’ is a personal memoir; stories told through puppetry, and inspired from the life, poems, and journals of her late mother, Constance Kay, an artist, botanist, cowgirl, and rule breaker.
HARRY MAYRONNE
Perception of Puppets
a performance and discussion
Marionette artist/performer Harry Mayronne leads a discussion on puppetry and performs with several of his own marionettes.
The Twilight Room at Allways Lounge
2240 St. Claude