Eugene OšNeill Theater Center Announces 2006 Puppetry Conference Season

May 10, 2006

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today the ensemble projects selected for its 2006 Puppetry Conference by Conference Artistic Director Pam Arciero. The Conference will culminate in two public performances on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24.

The Puppetry Conference will be held at the O'Neill's Waterford campus from Saturday, June 17 through Sunday, June 25. It will be preceded by a three-day intensive from Wednesday, June 14 through Friday, June 16, featuring Jim Kroupa on "Creating Mechanisms for Puppets."

Featured guest artists during the nine-day Conference include Bernd Ogrodnik ("Strings") and Terry Lee of "Green Ginger." Conference sessions will include Advanced Marionette Manipulation (Phillip Huber), Marionette Design and Construction (Jim Rose), Video Anarchy (Tim Lagasse) and A Master Class Intensive, Writing and Performing Music for Puppet Theater (Larry Siegel).

Ms. Arciero stated, "Hands down, the O'Neill's Puppetry Conference is the best venue in which to collaborate, experiment, explore and develop ideas and talents relating to puppet theatre. The Conference is open to puppeteers, theatre designers, actors, musicians, directors, artists, producers, playwrights and students, and we welcome all who want to learn about and collaborate on puppetry projects."

O' Neill Executive Director Amy Sullivan noted, "Pam Arciero brings a unique talent and spirit to her work at the O'Neill. A talented puppetry artist whose career includes ongoing work with Sesame Street and frequent trips to China where she teaches puppetry arts at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts. Pam has also made time this past year to travel to New Orleans where she and her colleague artists have used puppets to help children cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At the O'Neill, Pam helms a Conference that is innovative, challenging and fun, pushing the boundaries of what puppetry art can achieve and the ways in which it can communicate."

This year, the O'Neill Puppetry Conference will feature two Ensemble Productions. One will be directed by Bernd Ogrodnik, known most recently for his work in the International Film "Strings." Bernd will be bringing a project called "Life of a Tree," which he will premiere at the National Theater of Iceland in May 2007. It is a nonverbal piece built on movement, mask work and various types of puppets. The other will be directed by Terry Lee of the performance group "Green Ginger." Terry will be presenting a radical take on Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood" in a reduced version. He will be using larger-than-life-size puppets, with actors, singers and dancers.

Public performances of these innovative, exciting new works are scheduled at the O'Neill, 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford, on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 at 7:30 pm. in the Rose Barn Theater (named in honor of Margo and Rufus Rose, pioneers in the art of puppetry) and the Dina Merrill Theater.

Tickets will go on sale Thursday, June 15. Please call the O'Neill Box Office at 860-443-1238 for reservations or additional information.

The O'Neill Puppetry Conference was founded in 1990 by Jim and Jane Henson of The Muppets fame. The mission of the conference is to encourage puppet artists to create and communicate through the visual and kinetic form of the puppet, push beyond their personal boundaries and develop new works for puppet theater. Participants collaborate with renowned guest directors, puppet artists and playwrights to develop innovative productions conceived by guest artists, as well as presentations initiated by the conference participants. Hundreds of puppetry artists have attended the O'Neill Puppetry Conference to explore this engaging and unique art form.

Past conference participants have gone on to work in such puppetry venues as The Henson International Festival of Puppet Theatre (New York City), HERE Arts Center (New York City), The Puppet Showplace (Brookline, Massachusetts), The Sandglass Theatre (Vermont) The Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta), and Zeum (San Francisco) and on television shows including "Sesame Street," "Between the Lions," "Bear in the Big Blue House," "Blue's Clues/Blue's Room" , "Dave Chapell Show", "Lazy Town" and "Crank Yankers."

For more information regarding the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, its summer new works development conferences, and its National Theater Institute educational programs, call 860-443-5378, Ext. 0. You can also visit the O'Neill Puppetry Conference website at www.oneillpuppetryconference.com.