Queens hosts a time-honored, award-winning, family-friendly Taiwanese puppet show this weekend.
Puppet Beings Theatre presents Paper Play at Flushing Town Hall on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 2:15 pm, after a 1 pm workshop.
True to the show’s name, the stage, puppets, and props are all made from paper. It’s actually part of a movement to create one-material theater to entice young audience members to use their imaginations.
The 60-minute production consists of two stories. The first one, The Park, follows a little boy who plays with a ball in a park. It brings him closer to an old man whom he had once feared as the plot moves to caring for the elderly.
The second story, The Paper Play, involves transforming paper into a wide range of different characters and reimagining the properties and possibilities of an everyday writing sheet.
During the 1 pm workshop, participants produce a mini-show using various shapes of paper.
General admission is $15, but $12 for seniors and students, and $8 for children 12 and under. (Prices include the workshop.)
Newsflash: Use the promo code “SUMMERBOGO” for a free ticket with each purchase here. Hurry. The offer won’t last forever.
Cheng-Chieh Sun, a lifelong puppet artist and protégé of Czech legend Jan Dvorak and German master Albrecht Roser, founded Puppet Beings in 2000. The nonprofit specializes in “Bunraku” or elaborate theater with real people working string puppets, hand/glove puppets, rod puppets, or masks and shadow puppets.
Puppet Beings has performed at festivals in China, Edinburgh, India, and Tunisia. The troupe has won many awards, including Best Performance and Best Creativity at Shanghai International Children Theatre Festival 2009 and Creative Award at the First China Nanchong International Puppet Art Week 2014.
The group was scheduled to make its United States debut at the International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC in Manhattan on Aug. 10. Next up is Flushing Town Hall, which is located at 137-35 Northern Blvd., on Aug. 13.
Editor’s note: Paper Play is made possible in part by The Jim Henson Foundation, which is based in Long Island City.
Images: Puppet Beings Theatre