In this poignantly silly adventure tale for families, Sylvie is sent to the backyard to hang up the laundry. The moment her back is turned, a mischievous squirrel steals her favorite piece of clothing and runs off. When Sylvie gives chase, an entire world emerges from her laundry basket, and curious characters show her the way through mysterious lands. Blending puppetry, dance, and physical theater, The Gottabees create a world that transforms in scale, color, texture, and time! This award-winning puppetry show with live music accompaniment is created and performed by Bonnie Duncan with music by Brendan Burns and Tony Leva. The total run time is 35 minutes plus a Q&A. Masks recommended but not required.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at bimp.ticketleap.com. A surcharge will be added to any purchases made online. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of performance starting at 10 a.m. There will be open seating and no reservations. Visitors can park in the Storrs Center Garage located at 33 Royce Circle. For more information about these performances or if you require accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or [email protected].
About the Company
The Gottabees are a Boston-based ensemble dedicated to creating inspirational, engaging, and empowering theater for family audiences. The company is known internationally for uniting simple-but-elegant visual theater with astonishing technique. They apply their interdisciplinary training in music, dance, acrobatics, theater, and design to share original non-verbal stories set to live music that weave together human and puppet characters in surprising ways. The Gottabees’ work earned a 2017 UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence and won the Artistic Achievement Award for Puppeteers of America’s Northeast Region in 2015. The Gottabees have performed all over, including at the Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta, GA), La MaMa E.T.C. (New York City), Detroit Institute of the Arts (Michigan), Nashville International Puppetry Festival (TN), ICA/Boston (MA), Izmir International Puppet Days (Turkey), and Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland). thegottabees.com
Bonnie Duncan (creator/performer) has blended puppetry, dance, and physical theatre in surprising and delightful ways for the past 16 years. Her work has been described as “an artful world of silent dreams, mime, and dance” (Austin Live Theatre). She worked as one half of They Gotta Be Secret Agents with Tim Gallagher touring worldwide and winning accolades along the way. Prior to her work as a Secret Agent, Bonnie was a company member of Snappy Dance Theater for 8 years, collaboratively creating and performing sculptural, acrobatic dances internationally. Her movement was called both “breathtakingly simple” and “delightfully crafty” by the Boston Globe.
Brendan Burns (music) is a composer, producer & educator. He released his debut album, TimeStamp, in 2012 and was featured in the Boston Globe. Brendan is Chair of the Guitar Department at Brookline Music School, founder of Guitober, and produces Brookline Porchfest.
Tony Leva (music) can often be found on stages throughout the US playing songs or accompanying theater and puppetry with The Dylan Jack Quartet, Bury Me Standing, and Brian Carpenter’s Group, to name a few. He is also an active educator/collaborator at Tunefoolery, an artist collective of musicians in mental health recovery. He just earned a Masters of Music at Longy School of Music.
Dan Milstein (director/co-creator) is the founding Artistic Director of Boston’s Rough & Tumble Theater with whom he made over thirteen original plays. He holds fast to his quixotic belief that theater should be cheap, fun, and deeply satisfying.
Penney Pinette (costumes) is a Boston-based designer focusing on dance and theater. She has been a draper at Huntington Theatre Company and is currently Costume Shop Manager at Boston University. She has designed costumes for Boston Conservatory, Prometheus Dance, and Contrapose, among others.
Hamideh Rezaei-Kamalabad (set) is a jewelry maker who sometimes dabbles in theater when asked. She is a recent graduate of Massachusetts College of Art and works as a fabricator for local jewelers. She is currently working on a new line of her own art jewelry.
