Your support plays a pivotal role in the future of puppetry — a letter from Executive Artistic Director Veronica Barron.

As we move into our 50th anniversary year, Puppet Showplace is dedicated to expanding the impact of our programs — investing in new works of puppetry that uplift diverse artists and stories, so that every child (and every grownup) can encounter a fictional world that is as rich as the world we live in. 

Thank you, Tholpavakoothu!

Over 150 attendees gathered at Puppet Showplace on August 10 for a very special presentation by one of the pre-eminent practitioners of tholpavakoothu — a ritual shadow puppetry style from Kerala, India! We were honored to present one of the most noted practitioners of tholpavakoothu in the world, Padmashri Ramachandra Pulavar, as part of his first-ever visit to the United States.

Meet the Puppeteers for our July Shows!

Jacek Zuzanski, Dream Tale Puppets

Dream Tale Puppets offers quality original puppetry performances for children and families, and theatrical and educational programs for all ages. The theater is dedicated to the study of both traditional and innovative styles of puppetry, and the richness of theatrical and literary cultures of the world.

Jacek Zuzanski, Dream Tale Puppets’ founder, grew up in Poland and studied theater and puppetry in Wroclaw before coming to the US in 2001. Since then, he has worked as a theatre teacher for Island Theater Workshop on Martha’s Vineyard, and cooperated with numerous schools, art organizations, and libraries, including the Cape Cod Children’s Museum, Cape Cod Conservatory, Falmouth Academy, and Polish Theater Institute. https://dreamtalepuppets.com/

Experience a familiar fairy tale like never before with Jack and the Beanstalk, July 2-3.

Jacek will be joined by Honey Goodenough of GoodHearted Entertainment. Read on to learn about Honey!

Honey Goodenough, Good Hearted Entertainment

Honey Goodenough is a puppeteer, educator, and children’s party entertainer. In 2017, she became Puppet Showplace Theater's first resident teaching artist after years of experience working with students in greater Boston, New York City, Vermont, and Texas. She has also taught a wide variety of professional development courses for educators and aspiring puppeteers.

Honey is a trained puppeteer & marionette performer. She has performed with PuppetWorks in NYC, and toured nationally with both the National Marionette Theatre and Frisch Marionettes. She has also produced and performed acts in Puppet Slams across the country. Her show, "Sock Monkey Circus" toured China in fall 2017 and was part of the National Puppet Slam at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Her shows “Sock Monkey Circus” and “Word Play” have appeared at birthday parties and cultural events throughout Greater Boston. Honey holds an MA in Educational Theater from New York University, and a BA in Theater Crafts and Technology from the University of Texas, Austin.

Catch the premier of Honey’s newest show, Stewie's Magic Hat, July 9-10 & 16-17.

Bonnie, Tony, & Brendan, aka The Gottabees

Puppets! Music! Adventure! Invention! The Gottabees started making super fun theater for families in 2013 with the creation of "Squirrel Stole My Underpants." They have since been selling out venues and inspiring homemade puppet shows across the globe. They find it deeply satisfying to create original physical theater so families can do something fun together that allows them all to giggle, gasp, sigh, and cheer in 45 minutes or less.

Performed by Bonnie Duncan, Tony Leva, and Brendan Burns, their shows are often stories told without words—they embrace the physical and the visual in theater. The result is a poetic, non­linear story that surprises audiences. One of the things that makes members of The Gottabees happiest is when they meet children who have seen a show and parents tell them how their child acted out the entire show for weeks after seeing it. This is the core reason why they make theater for young audiences: The Gottabees want children to know in their hearts that they, too, can make theater wherever they are and whomever they are. http://www.thegottabees.com

Help Sylvie and the monsters find a new home in Go Home Tiny Monster, July 23-24

Mesner Puppet Theater

Mesner Puppet Theater is a globally known professional puppet theatre company based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company performs a local season of plays and tours nationally and internationally, reaching more than 30,000 people annually. Mike Horner joined MPT in 2006 and became the company’s Artistic Director in 2016. As the company’s lead puppet builder, Mike designs puppets for MPT’s shows as well as for other theatrical and video clients. Jerry Manan is a celebrated Kansas City performer who is joining Mesner Puppet Theater for his first puppetry tour!

Delight in the bilingual adventures of Animal Amigos, July 29-30!

Make art with us!

Throughout the year, we offer educational opportunities for learners of all experience levels. For professional puppeteers and curious tinkerers, we teach skill-building classes to learn multiple approaches to puppetry arts such as puppet construction, manipulation, and performance making, as well as scripting and storytelling. For our young people, we provide exciting opportunities to foster a love of puppetry while supporting social emotional learning through self-expression, storytelling, and character development. Visit our website to learn more about our educational offerings.

“What I love most about teaching kids about puppetry is how I can see the world through their eyes in the characters they create. I once met a lovely alien puppet with a pearl necklace and cotton candy hair and when the young artist rushed to proudly introduce it to her parents at the end of the session, I learned that it resembled her grandmother!”

— Leslie Burton, Artistic Director

A boy with medium blond hair wearing a green plaid shirt, poses with a yellow taco puppet made out of paper.

Taco monsters were brought to life in a family workshop.

n and woman sit a table sewing a large piece of bright orange faux fur.

Piles of fur became creatures in this adult class.

A blond girl wearing a yellow and blue striped shirt paints a face on a white cloth ghost puppet.

On Halloween we haunted Brookline with ghosts and ghouls.

The theater will be a-buzz with kids this summer during our Puppet Adventure Program (ages 8-11) with our Resident Artists, Honey Goodenough and Sarah Nolen, and there is still space for more students in Kids Puppet Studio (ages 5-7) the week of Aug 1-5, with puppeteer and teaching artist Rotem Goldenberg.

Brad Shur, a white man in a flowered button up shirt, sits in front of a vibrant green wall in a screenshot of the video.

Brad Shur explains who he designed this class for in a short video on our website! Go to the video →

If you’re curious about puppetry and want to try your hand at developing a short show of your own, sign up for Puppet Slam Camp with former Resident Artist Brad Shur, best known around here for his interactive show Cardboard Explosion! This virtual class for adults and teens begins July 30th.

None of these programs would be possible without the support of donors like you. Please consider making a gift today to help fund arts education and inspire creativity at all ages.