PUPPET HOMECOMING: NORTHEAST REGIONAL PUPPET FESTIVAL took place on Nov 1-4 2024 in Downtown Ithaca, NY. Three days full of workshops and live shows! “Puppets are Gorges!”

Join teaching artists, educators and therapists for a hands-on day of teaching and learning puppetry techniques for use in the classroom, the community and beyond.  The day, hosted by Cheryl Capezzuti, will feature workshops from Honey Goodenough, Carol Sterling and Darlene Thompson alongside a series of short, inspiring presentations by puppeteers, artists and teachers highlighting their work with puppetry in education and therapy from around the country.  CPE credit provided for educators that attend this session.  Sessions will take place between 9am and 4pm on Monday November 4th. MORE info HERE.

Nov 1, 4pm @ Cinemapolis

Come On Back! The Movie is The Creatures of Yes’ first feature length film and is the culmination of a storyline that has been years in the making; a beloved character was put to death by the censors of film and television for living openly as a homosexual in 1975, and now the inhabitants of The Village of Yesterday’s Promise are attempting to bring him back with science, sorcery, or by any means necessary. 

Sat, Nov 2nd 4pm & 5:30pm, Community School of Music and Arts, 3rd floor

Featuring three stories from String Theory Theater! In Kitty’s Corner kitty and puppy put on a talk show with a line up of special guests, including The Moon, a toothbrush, and a roll of toilet paper! And two more dynamic stories!

“Word Play” uses clowning and puppetry to take audiences on an adventure through the alphabet. Words come to life in the hands of two skilled performers, who clown around with sounds and letters to create dozens of interactive characters and imaginative scenes. Audiences can make friends with vowels, teach tricks to a “C-A-T” and “D-O-G,” and visit a whole ZOO full of surprises. It’s the perfect blend of education and entertainment—a play on words, literally! Sat, Nov 2nd 4 & 5:30pm at Circus Culture.

Puppeteers took over downtown Ithaca to perform free public shows in various locations from 1-4pm on Sat, Nov 2. See the Marionettes of Madison Cripps, The Yeti Village of Paperheart Puppets, puppeteers and clowns TOYBOX, Honey Goodenough, Harry LaCoste as well as a puppet tea party with puppet What What. See the schedule HERE.

Puppet Runway is a fashion show inspired by the art of puppetry and a puppet show inspired by fashion! We collaborate with puppeteers, puppet builders, fashion artists, actors and musicians to create this unique variety show! In this show, human models will wear clothing that will come alive. Puppets and humans will come together to create something that has never been done before. Surprising birds, dancing cats, talking boots…lots of surprises! Friday, Nov 1st, 7:30pm at CSMA 3rd floor. Ages 21+.

MAKEorBREAK is the story of a Wailing Mother who oversees the madness and horrors of war and gun culture. She is fed up with losing her children to gun violence inflicted by the everlasting Boneheaded Beast. Determined to stop him, she devises an unexpected strategy in pursuit of peace for one and all. Without spoken words, MakeorBreak’s lyricism is created by the combination of visual language, physical movement, body language, ephemeral puppetry, sound, song and music. All characters are inspired by Picasso’s Gernica to express the outrage over our current history of ‘war’ at home and abroad, and the culture of guns and mass killings. Sat, Nov 2nd 7:30pm at CSMA, 3rd floor.

A spicy puppet cabaret, hosted by a sassy grandma who keeps trying to steal the show. This beautifully twisted variety show is performed by Ingrid Hansen, who also puppeteers for Jim Henson Company’s Fraggle Rock. Watch behind-the-scenes as Hansen performs a live puppet film, animating cheeky vignettes in the palm of her hand and projecting them onto a huge screen. An “enormously entertaining, one-hour madcap vaudeville show. It is chock full of riotous, naughty, and mystifying vignettes using her bare hands, her face, her mouth, tiny toys, and a doll’s head. Hansen’s hands-in-motion have the kind of presence that is often attributed to the greatest stage performers — transfixing the audience, and creating pin-drop silence interspersed with spontaneous bursts of laughter.” – Culture Catch NYC. Sun, Nov 3rd 3:30pm at CSMA 3rd floor.

The best in short form puppetry. Hosted by Toybox America’s Favorite Cartoon Witch. Intended for adults.

See what goes on at the Galaxy Laundromat, meet the Grim Weeper, experience the perils of online dating and so much more!  Fri, Nov 1st 9:30pm at CSMA, 3rd floor. Ages 21+.

This program is made possible (in part) with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and NYS Legislature, administered by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.

This program was also made possible in part by a grant from the Tompkins County Tourism Program.