A close-up of the bird in her cage in the malachite palace

The Malachite Palace was performed in July 2011 at the Capital Fringe Festival, in Washington, DC. Based on an original fairy tale by the well-known bilingual children’s author Alma Flor Ada, it tells the story of a little princess who is not allowed out of the malachite palace where she lives. With the help of a little yellow bird and the encouragement of the children she hears playing outside, the princess finds a way to make friends and eventually escape from her prison. The script was adapted by Cecilia Cackley (with translation help from Alma Flor Ada) and the puppets were built by Cecilia Cackley, Genna Davidson, and Jenn Jeramias, with help from Dan Weingarten. The shadow puppets were designed by Lisi Stoessel and the sound design was by Nicole Martin. This show was remounted at Aurora Hills Library in Arlington County and Chinn Regional Library in Prince William County. All photos below are from the Fringe festival production.