“I think sometimes puppets and masks are thought of as a primitive and non-modern remnant of indigenous cultures. … And yet they show up,” says John Bell, a Cambridge-based puppeteer and theater historian, as well as the director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut.

Somehow masks and puppets are everywhere in our culture—from parades to street corner tax help sales-puppets—and yet we can’t quite see them. One example is sports mascots, the subject of  “Mascots! Mask Performance in the 21st Century.” Read my report on the exhibit at the Ballard Institute and Museum, on view through Feb. 11, here.

“Mascots! Mask Performance in the 21st Century,” an exhibit at the Ballard Institute and Museum. (Courtesy Ballard Institute and Museum)
“Mascots! Mask Performance in the 21st Century,” an exhibit at the Ballard Institute and Museum. (Courtesy Ballard Institute and Museum)
Categories: Performance Theater