Newsroom
The Iowa City Public Library has long encouraged the wonderful art of puppetry. Since back in the days of the Carnegie building, the Library has offered puppets for children to check out plus hundreds of live puppet shows. These include performances by the Kidspectacular drama group and shows about Popo the Puppet and Magic Dave. In years past, Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre held a youth puppeteer festival here. And for 20-plus years, ICPL has hosted the annual Popo’s Puppet Fest with professional puppet troupes from the Midwest and local puppeteers.
This year’s Popo’s Puppet Festival will feature special performances on Saturday, Oct. 29. Liz Schachterle, a professional puppeteer and theatre artist from Minneapolis, will perform her “Three Vignettes” show, featuring a shadow puppet show called “An Afternoon Nap.” There will also be a performance of “Bony Legs” by local puppeteer Buffy Quintero; and Popo, the star of the festival, will appear with Magic Dave in “Popo’s Spooky Fun” featuring Deanne Wortman and Dave Panther. The Library’s own Kidspectacular drama group will perform “Shiver Me Timbers: a Pirate Tale” followed by make and take home puppetry crafts. The event is free and open to all ages.
If you go:
What: Popo’s Puppet Festival
When: 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29
Where: Meeting Room A, ICPL
Popo’s Puppet Fest Schedule of Performances:
10:15-10:45: “Shiver Me Timbers: A Pirates Tale with Kidspectacular
11:00-11:30: “Popo’s Spooky Fun” with Deanne Wortman and Dave Panther
11:30-11:45: Giant Puppet and Pickle Bucket Band Parade
11:45-12:15: Full Moon Puppet Show’s Liz Schacterle performs “Three Vignettes”: “An Afternoon Nap,”The Hug” and “Snow.”
12:45-1:15: “Bony Legs” with Buffy Quintero
Make-and-take puppet crafts and refreshments provided for all.
Interested in learning more? ICPL offers great puppetry resources. These include books for all ages on how to create puppets or shows plus hand puppets to check out. Children’s Services staff also encourage families to use the Storytime Room’s puppet theatre to create their own shows. And, for fourth- to sixth-graders who enjoy acting, a weekly Kidspectacular youth program is offered for children to learn puppetry and creative drama.
Puppetry collection:
http://catpro.icpl.org/iii/encore/search/C|Spuppets|Orightresult|U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
For more information, contact Debbie Dunn at 319-887-6028 or ddunn@icpl.org.
