Who doesn't love puppets?
From the Muppets to Edgar Bergen to the Thunderbirds, they defined our childhoods. Today they're taking over the theater with "Hand to God," "Avenue Q" and "The Lion King." Many people don't know it, but Connecticut has long been a center of puppetry in the United States.
From August 10 to 16, the University of Connecticut will host the National Puppetry Festival, bringing hundreds of people from around the country and around the world.
At a time when the world is mourning the breakup of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, we look at what puppetry is, what it can do and how they're both real and unreal at the same time.
GUESTS:
- Bart Roccoberton, Jr. - Director of the Puppet Arts program at the University of Connecticut and the Festival Director of the 2015 National Puppetry Festival
- Robert Askins - Playwright of "Hand to God," the smash Broadway hit nominated for five Tony Awards this year
- Peter Schumann - Founder and director of the legendary Bread and Puppet Theater based in Glover, Vermont. He is the subject of the current exhibition Speak Up! Speak Out! Bread and Puppet Theater and Activist Art at UConn's William Benton Museum of Art
- John Bell - Director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and Associate Professor of Puppetry, and author of many books on puppetry.
