February Vacation Puppet Pop-up

Puppeteer Margaret Moody will bring her popular puppet shows and puppet making workshops to Artbeat, as the first resident artist in the newly designated open art space.

February’s Puppet Pop-up kicks off on Saturday, February 15 at 5 PM with Monkey Makes Mischief in Heaven, a traditional Bu Dai Xi (‘cloth bag theater’) puppet show presented with traditional Taiwanese hand puppets and choreography. Margaret Moody studied Bu Dai Xi with the I Wan Jan Traditional Hand Puppet Troupe in Taiwan in the 1980s. She loves the acrobatic flourishes of Bu Dai Xi as well as the subtle gestures that reveal a puppet’s personality. This is a performance that older children, teens and adults will especially enjoy.

Moody will also present puppet shows: Taking Turns, Tuesday, February 18, 10:30 am and Mathilda’s Bath on Thursday, February 20, 10:30 am. These shows are perfect for children as young as 3 years old and are performed with needle-felted animal puppets.

Hands-on puppet making and puppet play will be available the entire week, with everything from silly sock puppets to talking paper plate puppets. For a full schedule of puppetry events, please see margaretmoodypuppets.com.

A final workshop on Friday, February 21 brings the ancient art of shadow puppets to the studio, as guests learn to fashion jointed puppets and tell stories with shadows projected onto a screen.

Artbeat (www.artbeatonline.com) is located at 212A Mass Ave, near the Capitol Theatre in Capitol Square.