{"id":20346,"date":"2021-09-05T15:31:52","date_gmt":"2021-09-05T19:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=20346"},"modified":"2021-09-05T15:33:23","modified_gmt":"2021-09-05T19:33:23","slug":"bread-and-puppet-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2021\/09\/05\/bread-and-puppet-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bread And Puppet’s ‘Domestic Resurrection Circus’ At Cambridge Common"},"content":{"rendered":"

After cancelling last year’s visit to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Vermont\u2019s Bread and Puppet Theater returned to once again present its annual end of summer performance of its \u201cDomestic Resurrection Circus\u201d on Cambridge Common yesterday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The show of giant papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 puppets and masks and a riotous live brass band \u201cunited in protest and celebration\u201d tours to Portland, Maine, on Sept. 5; to Lawrence, Massachusetts, on Sept. 6; to Smithfield, Rhode Island, on Sept. 9; to Brooklyn, New York, on Sept. 10; to Kingston, New York, on Sept. 11; to East Hampton, Massachusetts, on Sept. 12; and to Keeseville, New York, on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s touring version of the circus featured a satire of the difficulties of getting a call through to Vermont\u2019s unemployment hotline (accompanied by a dance of increasingly growly animals); a man running with a black flag for \u201ca moment of silence to recognize the horror and chaos happening in Afghanistan\u201d and all the hurt \u201cwe caused there\u201d; a critique of U.S. manipulations in Haiti\u2019s elections; a goofy dance by someone wearing a mask resembling Teddy Roosevelt dubbed \u201cMr. Papier-M\u00e2ch\u00e9\u201d; an act honoring the hundreds of Black people murdered in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, massacre of 1921 (\u201cI still smell smoke and see fire. \u2026. I hear the screams,\u201d recounts a character in a skull mask); a mad \u201cCode Red\u201d dance in response to the dire report from the United Nations\u2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change earlier this year; a solemn marking of the \u201c11 days in May Israel bombed the Gaza Strip\u201d; a comical song and dance about a fox \u201cthat ruined a fracking site with its poop\u201d; a giant portrait puppet of Archbishop Oscar Romero in remembrance of his murder in El Salvador in 1980; and a comedic act about billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Bill Gates plotting to take over Mars after having conquered Earth\u2014until angry Martian tigers show up and devour them. The circus concluded with the traditional act of performers running and dancing with flags.<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/a>
Palestinians respond to Israeli bombing in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was immediately followed by a bit of pageant\u2014a cast dressed in white, holding signs reading \u201cWho,\u201d \u201cWhy,\u201d \u201cAlso,\u201d \u201cNon-Essential,\u201d \u201cCoffee\u201d and so on, dancing with giant low-relief, shield-like puppets depicting crowds of people. The performers whispered and shouted, \u201cHa!\u201d while waving their arms at the audience. One performer declared \u201cWho have an ear, let them hear.\u201d One by one the performers tried to pass through a door labeled \u201cHere,\u201d only to be struck down by a hammer labeled \u201cNot here,\u201d before the door let them through. Then the performs and people puppets seemed to fight. Then other performers rippled a large curtain painted with blue and white figures until they flew it over the rest of the cast, now crouching huddled on the ground. Finally, the cast collected the \u201cpopulation\u201d puppets onto the blue and white curtain and dragged it all off stage.<\/p>\n

Performers returned to the circus ring dressed in cloaks printed with green wheat designs and raised a giant face, painted with wheat designs, and with outstretched wings. Then they sang as a chorus \u201cIn memoriam\u201d of Bread and Puppet co-founder Elka Schumann<\/a>, who died Aug. 1 at age 85.<\/p>\n

Finally they performed \u201cHallelujah,\u201d a skit dating back to the early 1970s, when the company had just moved from New York to a residence at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. Employing giant woodcut banners by founder Peter Schumann, a performer dressed as Mother Earth, and a chorus and band, it tells how people can nurture the Earth or \u201cput fire to the world\u201d and \u201cpoison it\u201d (represented by bombers pouring fire from the sky) and \u201cThe World will cry \/ and the children will die.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, nature, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, (hopefully) weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. (All content \u00a9Greg Cook 2021 or the respective creators.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Flag<\/a>
Flag act opens Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Struggling<\/a>
Struggling to get through to the unemployment hotline in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lions dance in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Flamingos<\/a>
Flamingos dance in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. manipulations of Haiti in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Remembering<\/a>
Remembering the victims of the Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre of 1921 during Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Climate<\/a>
Climate Change “Code Red” scene in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” performed at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Palestinians<\/a>
Palestinians respond to Israeli bombing in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Palestinians<\/a>
Palestinians respond to Israeli bombing in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Palestinians<\/a>
Palestinians respond to Israeli bombing in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A fox “that ruined a fracking site with its poop” in Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Remembering<\/a>
Remembering the 1980 murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador during Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Remembering<\/a>
Remembering the 1980 murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador during Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Remembering<\/a>
Remembering the 1980 murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador during Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tigers<\/a>
Tigers on Mars during Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” performance at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tigers<\/a>
Tigers prowl Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” performance at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” performed at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Flags<\/a>
Flags at the end of Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Circus” performed at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s pageant performed at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater performs its pageant at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater performs its pageant at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s pageant performed at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s pageant performed at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s pageant performed at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A tribute to Elka Schumann during Bread and Puppet Theater’s performance at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s performs “Hallelujah” at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Puppet Theater’s touring bus at Cambridge Common, Sept. 4, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After cancelling last year’s visit to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Vermont\u2019s Bread and Puppet Theater returned to once again present its annual end of summer performance of its \u201cDomestic Resurrection Circus\u201d on Cambridge Common yesterday afternoon. The show of giant papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 puppets and masks and a riotous live brass band \u201cunited in protest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,109,110],"tags":[13,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20346"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20358,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20346\/revisions\/20358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}