Snapshots from the Road

Posted on August 24, 2016 by ccbooks

We’re proud to have completed a tour of D.C. and Arlington, VA with our show Saudade this year, partially supported by a City Arts Project grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Below are some snapshots of the places we performed.

Lincoln’s Bedroom at President Lincoln’s Cottage, in Washington, DC.

Performing for an adult ESL class at the Arlington Education and Employment Program (REEP)

We were part of the On the Move tent at the 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

We performed in the beautiful and historic Arts & Industries Building for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

The view from the stage at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Say Hello to our New Studio

Posted on May 20, 2016 by ccbooks

Welcome to our new studio space! It was bittersweet to leave the house in southwest DC where we had our start, but change is in the air. A move is an opportunity to organize, to re-furbish and streamline our process–or at least we hope that’s what it will be! As you can see, the space is something of a shambles right now. It’s going to take awhile to get everything in place and looking how we would like it. To motivate ourselves, I’m going to be posting a picture every day on Twitter, to document how long it takes for the pile of materials and tools to become a working studio. Follow along and watch it change!

ICYMI: Saudade Trailer!

Posted on March 21, 2016 by ccbooks

Our March tour of Saudade is halfway done and it’s World Puppet Day! If you haven’t had a chance, check out this new trailer and a few other blog posts about amazing puppetry and puppeteers from around the world.

An Interview with Gabriela Cespedes from Argentina

A Brief History of Puppets and Social Justice

Recycled Puppets by Ashley Bryan

A Few Puppeteers You May Not Know

Revisiting Saudade

Posted on March 7, 2016 by ccbooks

As part of our preparation for this tour of Saudade (which starts on Friday!) we were able to bring in photographer Liza Harbison to take some shots of the shadow puppets. Here are a few:

: Scene from Saudade (2016). Photo by Liza Harbison

: Scene from Saudade (2016). Photo by Liza Harbison

: Scene from Saudade (2016). Photo by Liza Harbison

: Scene from Saudade (2016). Photo by Liza Harbison

: Scene from Saudade (2016). Photo by Liza Harbison

: Scene from Saudade (2016). Photo by Liza Harbison

Ideas In Progress

Posted on March 1, 2016 by ccbooks

As we prepare for performances of Saudade this month, we are still hard at work on other ideas too. A few photos:

Space-Bop Rehearsals

Posted on February 25, 2016 by ccbooks

Seamus Miller with the rocket ship. Photo by Tia Shearer-Bassett.

Séamus Miller with the rocket ship. Photo by Tia Shearer-Bassett.

We are thrilled with the enthusiastic response to Space-Bop, including this lovely review from Our Kids. If you would like to see it, visit our friends at Arts on the Horizon.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the rehearsal process. The cast is Séamus Miller as the performer/clown and Christylez Bacon as the musician.

Stars and Space Creatures

Posted on January 29, 2016 by ccbooks

We are nearly done with objects for Arts on the Horizon’s new baby theater show Space-Bop. We are thrilled to be collaborating again with Tia Shearer-Bassett and working for the first time with Christylez Bacon and Seamus Miller. Back in the summer of 2015 we participated in a workshop of this piece and now rehearsals start in just a few days! Meanwhile, here are some photos from the building process.

A new star pattern, with one of our light-up gadgets in the background.

A rather bumpy planet surface.

The somewhat messy beginnings of another planet.

Pieces of the astronaut helmet, before being put together.

Czech Postcard #3

Posted on January 19, 2016 by ccbooks

In November, Cecilia had the opportunity to visit the Czech Republic and attend a puppet festival in Prague at the Minor Theater. This is the last of three puppet-related comics she drew while on the trip.

Czech Postcard #2

Posted on January 12, 2016 by ccbooks

In November, Cecilia had the opportunity to visit the Czech Republic and attend a puppet festival in Prague at the Minor Theater. This is the second of three puppet-related comics she drew while on the trip.

Czech Postcard #1

Posted on January 5, 2016 by ccbooks

In November, Cecilia had the opportunity to visit the Czech Republic and attend a puppet festival at the Minor Theater in Prague. Here is the first of three puppet-related comics she drew while on the trip.