Tag Archives: Fabulas Mayas

We’re Back!

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Mariona, the mascot of TOPIC.

Mariona, the mascot of TOPIC.

We are back! Did you miss us? It was a fantastic summer of work, travel and getting to see some amazing puppetry in four different countries. But now that it is fall, we are hard at work in DC, designing, building and rehearsing for the world premiere of Fábulas Mayas with GALA Hispanic Theatre. You can find out more about the play here, and there will be posts coming soon with pictures of our work and the puppets as we finish them. Not to mention more information about our upcoming collaboration with Arts on the Horizon, puppet workshops in schools and getting started on research for our next full-length show…SO MUCH GOING ON.

Puppet created by Basque company Txotxongillo Taldea.

Puppet created by Basque company Txotxongillo Taldea.

I saw many beautiful puppets on my wanderings this summer and I wish I had been able to take better pictures. I probably had the most success in Tolosa, a little town in northern Spain outside of Donostia-San Sebastian. The Tolosa Puppets International Center (TOPIC) is located there and it’s also just a beautiful place, between green hills and a blue river. The puppets in these photos were made by the company Txotxongillo Taldea, a Basque puppet company that performs plays in Euskara, the Basque language. They have been involved with TOPIC since the founding of the center and created Mariona, the puppet character that acts as the building’s mascot. If you are ever in Spain, check out TOPIC and their wonderful exhibits!

Looking Ahead to the Fall

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A new work in progress. Looking ahead to the fall and next year, we are thrilled to be able to announce two collaborative projects we will be working on next season with two different DC area companies.

First, we will be creating puppets and objects for Under the Canopy, a theater piece created for children age 0-2 by Tia Shearer and Matt Bassett for Arts on the Horizon. This project will have a workshop in early August and a full production next February. Tia and Matt have done some lovely work for little ones in the past and we are excited to get to work with them on this rainforest inspired, multi-sensory experience for families. We are looking forward to learning lots about how to best reach our youngest audiences!

We will also be designing and building shadow puppets for Fabulas Mayas, the first show of the GALita season for children at GALA Hispanic Theatre. Written by Cecilia Cackley, this bilingual show is adapted from Guatemalan fables of the Maya tradition, and features the Creator and Shaper of the world along with various animals who play tricks on each other and in general cause trouble. We are also looking at possibly touring this production to area schools in November. We are excited about sharing lots of new puppets and stories with DC this year! See you at the theater!