10 Mayo St
Portland, ME 04101
USA
Puppet-curious? Work with puppet pundits Alex & Olmsted to develop a show of your own!
Learn how to create a short-form puppet piece. This workshop includes a roundtable writing session in addition to hands-on exercises.
We encourage participants to bring in a puppet of their own or an object they may wish to explore within the context of a slam piece. This is a great opportunity to get something rolling for King Friday’s Dungeon—MSA’s semi-annual puppet slam—on May 20-21!
Saturday, March 12 | Doors open at 10:30 AM
Event starts at 11:00 AM; 210-minutes with a short break to enjoy a lunch provided by MSA.
Free to the public. Donations encouraged!
ARTIST BIO
Alex and Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) is an internationally acclaimed puppet theater company. In recent years, they have toured abroad at the Festival of Wonder in Denmark, the Puppet Festival Chuncheon in South Korea, the Festival de Casteliers in Montréal, and The Festival of Animated Objects in Calgary. In the United States, they have played Symphony Space in New York City, The Detroit Institute of Arts in Michigan, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, and Black Cherry Puppet Theater in Baltimore, among others.
Alex and Olmsted was recently awarded the 2020 State Independent Artist Award for Performing Arts from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), the highest honor for performing artists in the State of Maryland and an award that is only given once in the lifetime of an artist or group. Their puppet show, Milo the Magnificent, was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Grant, a Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant, and received an excellent mention in the New York Times. They were awarded a second Jim Henson Foundation Grant to further develop their outer space show, Marooned! A Space Comedy. Alex and Olmsted is a resident company at Baltimore Theatre Project. Vernon and Thomas are also proud company members of Happenstance Theater with whom they have created 10 productions since 2012.