Bread and Puppet Theater performing FIRE
This Friday night, artist Peter Schumann and the Bread and Puppet Theater will perform their original play, FIRE, which catapulted the company to international acclaim 50 years ago.
Founded by Peter Schumann in the early 1960’s, Bread and Puppet was enmeshed in the radical counterculture and earliest demonstrations against the U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, becoming a familiar presence in the protest movement. Meanwhile, the puppets grew bigger and bigger—some up to 18 feet high—leading processions that spanned blocks and mobilized hundreds of people. Bread and Puppet became a seminal part of the avant-garde movement that included companies such as the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Living Theater and Robert Wilson.
FIRE is a performance about the Vietnam War which first premiered in 1965 to critical acclaim. FIRE shows six days in a Vietnamese community, followed by a bombing raid and ending with a self-immolation. Dedicated to three Americans who immolated themselves in protest against the Vietnam War, FIRE is performed with life-size puppets that resemble their masked manipulators.
“We believe in puppet theater as a wholesome and powerful language that can touch men, women and children alike,” says Bread and Puppet Founder, Peter Schumann. “We hope that our plays are true and are saying what has to be said.”
Tickets to Friday’s performance at the Internet Archive (300 Funston) are $20 and can be purchased online. A wine reception and sale of the company’s “Cheap art” begins at 6:00pm and the performance begins at 7pm.
Sarah B.
[via Internet Archive blog]
Bread and Puppet is FRIDAY OCTOBER 9th not Thursday
thanks for making the change