Mitt liv som Tobin

Bread and Puppet came to our house, and their performance on Saturday night was terrific, a "circus" with the Federal Emergency Elephant, the Finger Pointing Procedure, a chorus of turkeys, and Mister Everything Is Fine. If you are perplexed, reading this, what to think a puppetshow might be--I, too, didn't quite know what to expect. The old Bread And Puppet shows featured gigantic puppets held aloft on poles by several people. The touring performance is kind of a circus/dance show with elaborate costumes--puppets, if you will.

As for the name, Peter Schumann explains: "To put bread and puppets together in 1963 seemed like a correct first step in the fight for the immediate elimination of all evil."

They are traveling with a troupe of seven puppeteers/performers but recruit about again that many in volunteers for each show. It was hilarious seeing Jimmy from our house prance on stage during the show—I am amazed that the volunteers were so integrated into the show with only a couple hours rehearsing. Trumpet and drum and saxaphone in a lively circus band made the performance all the more festive.

I learned a little more about the Bread And Puppet Company. It sounds very intense: they live on a largely-self-sufficient farm in vermont, with chickens and goats and a cow, and with a garden, and with milking and cleaning and all that, as a background for the puppeteering.

After the show, I invited everyone in the audience back to our house for a "low key reception." I bought many good beers (Saranac's 12 Beers of Winter; Southern Tier's variety pack; Custom Brewcrafters' Cream Porter and 19th Hole) for the occassion and it was very festive. It pleases me greatly to see the house full of so many folk mingling, to have so many people nestled down in the living room of our second house.

Today Luke and Jimmy and Dan from the co-op, and Dave and Dave, and a couple of the puppeteers really did build a wood-fired brick oven. I didn't quite believe it, but when I woke up there it was in partial construction. When Owen got home he saw it, and, with awe, remarked, "and here all I've done in the last two hours is to see a movie!"