The award-winning Bread and Puppet Theater, featuring Artistic Director Peter Schumann and his troupe of Vermont puppeteers, returns for a fourth year to the BCA’s Cyclorama bringing their signature powerful imagery, masked characters, and giant papier-mâché puppets.  Their residency includes two different puppet shows, Tear Open The Door Of Heaven (January 28-31, evening shows primarily for ages 12 & older), the Dirt Cheap Money Circus (January 30-31, family-friendly matinees), along with a week-long political art installation (running January 26-31, with an art opening on January 25).

Bread and Puppet Theater is an internationally recognized company that champions a visually rich, street-theater brand of performance art that is filled with music, dance and slapstick.  Its shows are political and spectacular, with huge puppets made of paper maché and cardboard, a brass band for accompaniment, and anti-elitist dance.  Most are morality plays — about how people act toward each other — whose prototype is "Everyman".  There are puppets of all kinds and sizes, masks, sculptural costumes, paintings, buildings and landscapes that seemingly breathe with Schumann's distinctive visual style of dance, expressionism, dark humor and low-culture simplicity.

Somerville-based composer Michael Romanyshyn has composed three short pieces to be performed at Peter Schumann’s art opening.  The pieces include You Are [a composition for 6 clarinets and 2 drums, featuring Romanyshyn, Dana Colley, Steve Rauch, Maury Martin, Ben Pasamanick, Grant Smith, Trudi Cohen, and Shaunalynn Duffy], 7 Questions for Grace Paley [a composition for clarinet and tuba performed by Romanyshyn and Kaolin Kinsey], and a brass band tribute to Stephan Brecht, which was originally performed at Brecht’s memorial service.

In addition to Peter Schumann’s art installation, the Cyclorama will also be decorated with the unique Bread and Puppet collection of powerful black-line posters, banners, masks, curtains, programs and set-props.  All pieces are created by Schumann, including sculpting and painting all the major masks and puppets, with input from the company.  After each evening performance there will be an opportunity to savor Schumann's famous sourdough rye bread, smeared with garlic aioli; and there will also be many opportunities during the week to purchase the theater's legendary "cheap art."

Tear Open The Door Of Heaven is a pink and blue puppet show about Heaven and its effects on the Underneath, presented by the practitioners of the brand-new paper maché religion.  The play features over life size puppets representing God, his daughter and stepdaughter, a US president and his war-waging office, mountaintop removal protesters, money printing artists and stargazers of the North East Kingdom of Vermont.  The six acts of the play are supplemented by six dance interventions performed by the Lubberland National Dance Company.  Performed by Peter Schumann and the Bread & Puppet Company, along with a large number of local volunteer puppeteers and musicians.  Informal talk back with the artists follows each performance.  Sourdough rye bread will be served and cheap art will be for sale after each performance.

Dirt Cheap Money Circus features the billionaire bonus celebration dance, the logic of the US Healthcare System, the history of humanity and the removal of a mountaintop, interspersed with appearances by Karl Marx, who confronts the 2010 economic situation with his existential thoughts about money and our relationship to it.  All with live circus band accompaniment.  Performed by Peter Schumann and the Bread & Puppet Company, along with a large number of local volunteer puppeteers and musicians.  Take note that some of the circus acts are politically puzzling to adults, but accompanying kids can usually explain them.  The audience is welcome to examine all the masks and puppets after the show.  Cheap art will be for sale after each performance.

Visual Art Exhibit:
Opening Reception: Mon., Jan. 25:  6-8pm
Tues.-Fri., Jan. 26-29:  regular Cyclorama hours: 9am-5pm
[Thursday & Friday hours extended up to and after the evening performance]

Sat.-Sun., Jan. 30-31:
one hour before and after each matinee and evening performance.