Festival performers part 1

Pictured here is "An Arabian Adventure" by Tanglewood Marionettes, a puppet company based in New England. I had the pleasure of seeing this particular show at the Toledo Festival waaaay back in 1997 (my first National festival). The festival was called a "A Kaleidoscope of Puppetry" and Tanglewood was a highlight for me. I'd never before seen a Marionette performance that wasn't more of a 'caberet' style--songs and dances with trick marionettes--so Tanglewood was a revelation to me. I have never forgotten their performance or stage.

Briefly; the set was a large, old fashioned story book titled as the show "An Arabian Adventure" and to start the show, they opened the book, which provided the backgrounds for the story! Genius! Our hero hears a Princess crying behind a wall. He decides to climb the wall--and here's where they just blew my mind; they open the middle of the page, which becomes the wall, and our hero climbs the wall (not, scrambles up...he climbs!). He leaps up to catch the ledge, pulls himself up with his arms, swings his leg over, hangs on the other side, and quietly drops into a crouch--startling the crying Princess. My mouth dropped open. I can't even articulate the brilliance of that one move. The rest of the show was equally brilliant. My one lament is that they're so far from me that I've never had the opportunity to see the rest of their reportiore...sigh.

Check out their website, and if you're in their neighborhood, GO SEE THEIR SHOWS!