Virtual Puppetry Residency Announces Online Events Celebrating World Puppetry Day

Virtual Puppetry Residency will be holding a series of online events to celebrate World Puppetry Day, 2021. On March 20th and 21st, resident artists in the third season of the program will present samples of their work. Live and pre-recorded puppet shows will be presented, as well as short interviews with artists from around the world. The event will be divided into three programs (Children's, All-Ages and Adult programs). Viewing of the Open House events is free and available through the project's Facebook page.

This is the third season of VPR, a six-week program developed for puppeteers of all skill levels to improve their craft and performance concepts. Sarver initiated the program in May of 2020, after the COVID-19 global pandemic cancelled in-person puppetry events and education. The program, run online, features weekly critiques, guest speakers and a final showing of works created in the residency.

Experimentation was a theme for season three, and participants pushed the boundaries of what can be accomplished in showing work online. Works shown at Open House are intended to show the sense of play and discovery achieved during the workshop. They are short sketches (2 - 5 minutes) designed specifically for online viewing. Fifty current VPR residents join the program from The United States, Canada, Brazil, Guyana, Argentina, Kenya, Croatia, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, The United Kingdom, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ukraine, and Italy.

Previous events for VPR include International Puppet Slam on July 18th, 2020 and International Puppet Festival on December 20th, 2020. VPR is administered by Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media with support from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and private donations.

Virtual Puppet Residency

Contact:

Tom Sarver - tomsarver@gmail.com

Project Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/VPRpuppets

Website: https://tomsarver.com/virtual-puppetry-residency/

Open House Programs:

Saturday, March 20th, 10 AM EST - Children's Show (rated G equivalent). Fun, uplifting shows for children and families.

Saturday, March 20th, 2 PM EST - Adult Show (mature audiences). A variety of shows and creative experiments in puppetry. Some works may address serious social issues.

Sunday, March 21st 2 PM EST - All Ages Show (PG Equivalent). A variety of shows for all ages. Announcements will be made before shows if content is not appropriate for children.