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BAGOP
(Boston Area Guild
of Puppetry)

Puppet Showplace Theatre
Artist in Residence

Paul Vincent Davis

Puppet Showplace Theatre is extraordinarily lucky to have as its Artist-In-Residence Paul Vincent Davis, who is regarded as a leading virtuoso of hand puppet theatre. Paul's work is so famous that at the seminal University of Connecticut Puppet Arts training program there is a course entitled "The Paul Vincent Davis Method." With a repertory that includes classic folk and fairy tales and original stories for families, as well as work for adults, we feature at least one of Paul’s productions at PST each month.

Paul has been performing with puppets and marionettes for over fifty years. He began his career at the age of ten performing with string puppets (marionettes) for neighbors in the family garage, for students at his school, in the library, and also in the popular "variety shows" of the day. In his early professional career he performed for the U.S. Information Agency, the Department of the Interior, U.S. News and World Report, and various embassies, as well as theatres, schools, libraries and universities.

Paul is a consummate artist who designs and constructs his own delightful puppet figures, surrounding them with colorful costumes and scenery. He writes his own scripts for plays inspired by international folk lore and classic children's literature. He presents clear, accessible stories, filled with believable and lovable characters, involved in exciting, imaginative drama, with satisfactory conclusions. Paul performs all the characters and voices live, and performs with equal skill to audiences of adults as well as children.

In August of 2004 Paul celebrated 28 years as Artist-in-Residence at the Puppet Showplace Theatre. For many years he was also the Artistic Director, a position he relinquished a few years ago in order to devote more time to creating new productions.

Paul has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Stratford Shakespeare and Theatre Festival in Canada, the Detroit Institute of Art, The Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Jim Henson Foundation's International Festival of Puppet Theatre in New York, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, and at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in New York. In 1992 he appeared in the Big Bird and Friends Live in New York.

Paul has received four international UNIMA Citations for Excellence in the Art of Puppetry (the highest award given for live puppet theatre production in this country), and has several times been named Boston Parent's Paper's Family Entertainer of the Year. In 1989 he won the Prestigious President's Award from Puppeteers of America for "Outstanding Contributions to the Art of Puppetry."