Crabgrass Puppet Theatre: pictures

The Crabgrass Archives!

Photos from productions past and present

Except as noted, all puppets and scenery were designed by Bonny Hall, with help from Jamie Keithline.

Current Productions:

The Last Dragon on Earth, based on a story by Edith Nesbit, is a modern fairy tale about dragons and princesses and princes, and automobiles, and jazz music. . . and what happens when they all come together in the twentieth century. A wonderful introduction to the concept of species extinction, it had its premier on October 7, 2005 and has since been performed at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Dutchess Community College and the Queens Theater in the Park.


"Time for the banquet!"	The Prince comes to the rescue!

The townspeople	"And they all lived happily. . ."

The Bremen Town Musicians, a madcap musical adaptation of the classic Grimms' tale had its premier on October 1, 2003. This production was funded in part by a grant from the Puppeteers of America Endowment Fund, which enabled us to have Jim Napolitano design the shadow puppets. The Southern Vermont Arts Center, the Cape Playhouse, the Puppet Showplace Theatre, the 2004 Northeast/MidAtlantic Puppet Festival, and the 2004 Southeast Regional Puppet Festival are some of the places it has been performed.


"You're fired!"	The robbers steal the farm!	"I got ya!"

Anansi, Spiderman of Africa!, based on the classic trickster tales from West Africa, opened in October, 1999, and was awarded the 2000-2001 Citation of Excellence from the American Center of the Union Internationale de la Marionette. Some of the places Anansi has been performed include the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Cape Playhouse, Queens Theater in the Park, the 2000 Northeast/MidAtlantic Puppetry Festival, and the 2001 Puppeteers of America National Festival.


Lunchtime!	Anansi and friends	Anansi finds the food

Mr. Punch's Christmas Carol, a version of the Charles Dickens classic tale, starring Mr. Punch as Scrooge, premiered in December, 1993. The World Trade Center, the John Drew Theater in East Hampton, NY, the Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the 1995 Puppeteers of America National Festival, are among the many places it has been seen.


The entire cast	Money! Money! MONEY!

Scrooge and Marley	Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim

Past Productions:

(These shows are no longer available)

Jabberwocky opened on October 1, 2001. One of the best-known poems in children's literature springs to life using a variety of beautiful hand and rod puppets. The Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Theater by the Sea, Longwood Gardens, and the Detroit Institute of Art are among the places Jabberwocky has been performed.


"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!"	The baby JubJub


"Can we keep him?"	Boy meets the Mome Rath

Frog Prince plus the Princess and the Pea, two traditional fairy tales about not so traditional princesses and princes, was originally performed from October 1996 through April 1999, and was remounted for the 2002-2003 touring season. Puppets were designed by Bonny Hall and the scenery was designed by David Regan. This show was performed at Aldrich Museum, Stamford Theaterworks, the Puppet Showplace Theatre, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the 1998 Northeast/MidAtlantic Puppetry Festival.


The Frog meets the Princess	Dinner at the palace	A frog no more!


"We need a TRUE princess!"	The Princess has passed the test!

Just So Stories, an imaginative updating of three of Rudyard Kipling's classic stories, opened in January, 1995. It was performed at over four hundred venues, including the TriBeCa Center for the Performing Arts, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, First Night Boston, The Brooklyn College Center for the Performing Arts, the 1997 Puppeteers of America National Festival, and the 1996 Northeast/MidAtlantic Puppetry Festival.


The Rhino takes the Parsee man's cake	Leopard and friends in the forest	The Camel at home


TV time!	Meet the cast

The Reluctant Dragon, based on the story by Kenneth Grahame, originally opened in October 1992 and was remounted in 1997 with new scenery designed by David Regan. It was performed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Westport Country Playhouse, the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center, the Lorain Palace Theater in Ohio, the 1992 Northeast/MidAtlantic Puppetry Festival, and hundreds of other venues.


The Boy and the Dragon	Townspeople meet St. George.	Saint George meets the Dragon


At home with Father, the Boy, and the Sheep	Bonny, Dragon, Boy, Jamie, Sheep, David

The Save-the-Earth Circus, an environmental extravaganza under the big top, opened in October, 1992 and ran through April, 1998. Among its many outings were performances at the New York State Museum, Stockton State College, Candlewood Playhouse, the Troy Junior Museum, and the N.C. Museum of Art.


The Amazing Max the Clown	Max and Petunia


The Stage	The Recycling Machine

Dinosaur Dimension! showed the lives of the dinosaurs in the cretaceous age, and imagined what it might be like if dinosaurs were still alive today. Commissioned in 1987 by the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, CA, it was performed through November of 1996. Among its more than 1000 performances were shows at the California Academy of Sciences, Dinosaur State Park, the Staten Island Children's Museum, the Peabody Museum at Yale University, The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, and the 1987 Pacific Southwest Puppetry Festival.


Gallimimus tries to steal the egg	The birth of a baby Maiasaura	Maiasaura in the City

Folktale Soup, performed from 1988 to 1993, contained two folktales about rabbits: one from the American South, starring Brother Rabbit, and another from Burma about a rabbit and a turtle who cooperate to outwit a hungry hunter. These two stories were joined by new stories featuring our Worker character, first seen in Crabgrass Uprising! in 1983. Performance venues included The Newark Museum, Humboldt State University, the Mill Valley Arts Festival, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.


Brother Rabbit R.I.P.	Brother Fox and Brother Rabbit


The hunter catches the turtle	Don't be a litterbug	The rabbit and the turtle

Follow That Rabbit! traced the travels of the trickster rabbit character in three stories from West Africa, Central America and the United States. It was performed from 1985-1987 in the Berkeley CA library system, and at many schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.


Crocodile gets a lift	Mask from Nicaraguan tale	Brother Rabbit meets Brother Fox

The Merry Mountebank's Marvelous Medicament was created in 1984 as an authentic Elizabethan era puppet show for the Northern California Renaissance Faire, and was also performed at Renaissance and Elizabethan Fairs in the Northeast, the Nassau County Parks System, and at the 1987 Pacific Southwest Puppetry Festival.


Saint George meets the Dragon	Adam and Eve and the Serpent


Eve receives instructions	Bonny and Jamie in costume

Crabgrass Uprising! premiered in November, 1983. Two folktales about cooperation and getting along with your fellow species were joined by three short wordless tales about the misadventures of a worker who declares war on nature. Performance venues included La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, CA, the San Francisco Library, and the Monterey Library.


Worker and butterfly	The soldier	Crabgrass Uprising!


JP and Rosie smell something fishy	Jamie and whale

What a Clever Idea! was our first production. Two stories about the triumph of clever thinking over brute strength featuring life-sized puppets and masked actors, What a Clever Idea! premiered in August, 1982. It was performed at Modesto College, the San Francisco Jewish Community Center, the Palo Alto Library, and the 1983 Pacific Southwest Puppetry Festival.


Oonagh	Cucullin displays his strength


The trickster	Finn MacCool and Oonagh have a plan	Oonagh, Finn and Cucullin

Crabgrass Through the Years


Jamie, Bonny and Finn MacCool 1982	Jamie, Bonny and Finn 1983	The gang, 1986


1988 with Hunter and Rabbit	The gang, 1993	1999 with Camel and Giraffe

Crabgrass Home Page