IVEY Award Goes to MJTC Puppet Maker Chris Griffith

At the Ivey Awards ceremony held on Monday, September 21, 2009, Chris Griffith received an award for his design and creation of the puppets in the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company (MJTC) professional premiere production of Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Shari Aronson.

Chris Griffith is one of the founding duo of Circus Minimus Puppetry which specializes in original work that combines physical comedy with puppetry. Chris was co-founder and artistic director of Galumph Interactive Theater, and is a MN State Arts Board grant recipient. He served as editor of The Puppetry Cookbook, and Education Coordinator for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater, and has coordinated workshops for national festivals of the Puppeteers of America. As a clown/juggler, he has performed for Minnesota Children's Museum, Minnesota Fringe Festival and Edmonton International Street Performer's Festival.

Created in 2004, the IVEY Awards celebrates Twin Cities' professional theater. At the Ivey Awards ceremony, Chris was one of eight artists to win an award. Three productions were also given awards, along with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Emerging Artist Award. Previously, MJTC received recognition in 2007 when Sally Wingert received an Ivey Award for her performance as Peggy Guggenheim in MJTC's acclaimed production Woman Before a Glass.

Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company is a non-profit organization now in its 15th year of presenting professional productions rooted in the Jewish experience and illuminating The Common humanity among us all. The audience for MJTC is almost equally divided between Jews and non-Jews. For further information about MJTC, call 651-647-4315 or visit our website at www.mnjewishtheatre.org; or join our Facebook family at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Paul-MN/Minnesota-Jewish-Theatre Company/44432069548