festival presenters are from Maryland. Saturday Morning Puppet Shows—Kid Friendly (presented twice):
Alex and Olmsted (Tacoma Park, MD), Valeska Populoh (Baltimore), String Theory Theater (Dirk Joseph, Baltimore), Schroeder Cherry (Baltimore), Kathy Fahey (Baltimore), Beech Tree Puppets (Ingrid Cowan Hass and Ole Hass, Greenbelt, MD), Hobey Ford (North Carolina), David Stephens (Atlanta), and Paradox Teatro (Sofia Padilla and Davey T. Steinman, Mexico). Slam puppeteers: String Theory
Theater, Michael Lamason (Baltimore), Schroeder Cherry, Matt-a-Magical (Matt McGee, Takoma Park), Marianne Ross (Bethesda), Emily Schubert (Baltimore), The Stringpullers (Linda Wingerter, Ithaca, New York), and Paradox Teatro The seven workshop presenters
were Justin Laughter, Fagner Gastaldon, Aretta Baumgartner, Conni Mulligan, Katherine Fahey, Kat Pleviak, and Mindy Early. A panel about marketing included Art Gruenberger, Brenda Huggins, Kat Pleviak, Heidi Rugg, and Adam Kreutinger. Festival Virtual Field Trip brought to the screen the symposium on Puppetry and Social Justice: Healing our Brands, cohosted by Paulette Richards and Edna Bland, and honoring Bruce Cannon. The Perils of Mr. Punch by Modern
Times Theater (Justin Lander and Rose Friedman from East Hardwick, Vermont) was a featured show. National Capital Puppetry Guild
Milo the Magnificent by Alex and Olmsted. Photo: Alex Griffin
board: Yolanda Sampson, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, Heidi Rugg, Leigh LaFosse, Vanessa Spring-Frank, Alex Vernon, and Sam Rugg.
A
puppetry festival means different things to different people. For me, a festival is an oasis of time: to recharge, re-engage, refresh, re-educate and rededicate. It is a place where I am not alone. It is a place to share similar (understood) experiences, to talk the same language—for me it is so very comforting. Festivals also informed and influenced my work over 43 years. I decided to become a puppeteer after my first festival in 1976. The Frank Ballard production of Two by Two inspired me.
National Capital Puppetry Guild Festival: An Appreciation by Mark Segal conversation, connection, and resource.
The NCPG Festival This “virtual” festival was an absolute pleasure! I found it to be an excellent, fun, engaging event and extremely affordable too. I was immensely satisfied and as “psyched” as if this had been at an “in-person” festival. And now a proud member the National Capital Puppetry Guild (NCPG), I already attended a great online meeting, where there was an excellent workshop on papier-mâché. The guild is an incredible resource. I have always gained from going to festivals, whether I liked the shows offered or not. There were always new materials to try, new people to meet, new ideas, new attitudes. Listening to an artist’s process became very interesting to me. Puppeteers are generally a very sharing, generous group of people. They care about the art and helping people to explore it and thrive. Some of the most incredibly talented people are a part of our community, our tribe. We have superstars! The NCPG festival provided all of that. Younger artists who have a vision and a drive to see that vision come to fruition during these COVID-19 blues times produced the NCPG festival. They were welcoming and empowering in such a humble and sincere way! They offered good professional
Festival Filled a Void On March 12, 2020, the world I knew, my world, ended. I had hundreds of bookings left in my season to look forward to. But March 12 was my last performance. A kind of desperation set in as to what am I going to do now? Finally, when my dust had settled, I started to become aware of how we were all faring. Some were determined, some were rebuilding, some depressed, some retooled to the new reality, some gave up, some retired, some moved on into a new direction, and some (like me) started doing nothing (for the time being). Then I actually began playing with stuff (sort of), and soul searching during a time of personal growth. At some point, I became aware of all of this incredible online content. There is just SO MUCH! Some good, a lot bad, and a lot to process. There are puppeteers who have done the work about going virtual and are more than willing to share help and guide. The festival brought a lot of this together. I thought the most unifying part of the festival was the virtual lobby, where people could get together, meet, and schmooze before events, after events, or even during events. The main stage show, The Perils of Mr. Punch by Modern
Times Theater, provided absolutely excellent performers. Loved the vaudevillian style. The festival made money! And it increased the membership of the DC guild. It also expanded my horizons. We are no longer bound by geography. The virtual world, while lacking in many aspects, has also opened up huge doors of opportunity. The NPCG festival explored and took advantage of these opportunities. I get the impression that this was just the beginning for them.
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