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Calendar
Calendar
March Events
March Events
Above: "Ruth Cole Builds Puppet Collection, 1941"
Courtesy Hennepin County Libraries
History of Puppetry in the Twin Cities
History of Puppetry in the Twin Cities
Monday, March 9, 7:00pm
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Linden Hills 4201 Sheridan Ave. S, Minneapolis
Jennings Mergenthal (that's me!) will present on their ongoing research project exploring the history of puppetry in the Twin Cities, where puppetry came from and why it has been so enduring.
The Twin Cities Puppeteers, will display historically significant puppets as well as photos and ephemera.
Sponsored by the Linden Hills Historical Study Group.
Bug Ballet
Bug Ballet
March 6-15, 2026
7:30 pm, Southern Theatre
1420 S. Washington Avenue, Minneapolis
Set on the windowsill of a recently deceased Grandmother's home, Bug Ballet is a large puppet and dance spectacle told through movement and original music, centered on the creeping, otherworldly, and often overlooked creatures we share our lives and homes with. Bug Ballet takes inspiration from the virtuosity of ballet form, but throws many of the typical rules and structures out the window, replacing them with giant puppets and theatrical dance.
Bug Ballet is directed and produced by Orren Fen and Katie Burgess with choreography by Arwen Wilder and a live score composed by Adrian Cox-Thurmond
What will happen when we are gone and our homes sit empty, deteriorating, decomposing?
Maybe if we are lucky they will become grand stages for the Bug Ballet!
Dinosaur World Live
Dinosaur World Live
March 3rd to April 5th, 2026
Children's Theatre Company, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Mpls
Are you brave enough to face a T-rex? Do you know what it feels like to get sneezed on by a triceratops? Find out when dinosaurs take over CTC! Feel the rumble of their rawrs as a young paleontologist takes you on a tour so up-close-and-personal you’ll almost smell their stinky breath! This extraordinary experience has wowed kids and adults all over the world. But be on the lookout: you never know who (or what!) you’ll run into after the show…
Written and Directed by Derek Bond
Puppet Design by Max Humphries
Puppet Direction by Laura Cubitt
Click here to read our interview with puppetry designer Max Humphries
HedgeHearts: A Woodland Puppet Rom Com
HedgeHearts: A Woodland Puppet Rom Com
The Minneapolis Premier Screening
The Minneapolis Premier Screening
Sat., March 15, 2 pm
Sun., March 22, 7 pm
Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake St., Minneapolis
Tickets are $15 in Advance / $18 at the Door.
Come to the Minneapolis Premier of HedgeHearts, a woodland puppet rom com by Liz Hara, directed by Stacey Weingarten.
Featuring live puppet acts by Erica Warren, Kurt Hunter, and Liping Vong.
"A love story with a few sharp edges."
From the brilliant mind of Liz Hara (Sesame Street, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur), comes a whimsical and bittersweet puppet romantic comedy. Follow Lily the Hedgehog as she navigates the ultimate prickly predicament: a love triangle involving her best friend Marco and the literal plant of his dreams, Rebecca the cactus.
An All-Star Puppet Cast:
An All-Star Puppet Cast:
This world-class production features a powerhouse lineup of industry veterans, including:
Liz Hara (Sesame Street)
Victor Yerrid (Crank Yankers, The Dark Crystal)
Camille Chen (Game Night, Renfield)
Planning for May Day 2026 is well underway.
Planning for May Day 2026 is well underway.
Mark your calendar for Sunday, May 3rd.
Mark your calendar for Sunday, May 3rd.
There are lots of ways that you can get involved!
Volunteer!
Apply for a Paid Position!
DONATE!
The City that Slept
The City that Slept
by Tom Tuke
by Tom Tuke
Friday & Saturday, March 20th and 21st 7:30 pm
Heart of the Beast
2411 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis
What happens when Sleep arrives in New York? We listen, as the city falls asleep, and folks retell dreams. Using shadow, lantern and large-scale marionettes, we see these dreams as they weave through the towers, avenues and city blocks. Using interviews recorded in Union Square, and soundscapes from around the city, Tuke creates a tableau of New York. The City That Slept incorporates fusions of traditional puppetry forms, which Tuke has developed while studying at The University of Connecticut’s Puppet Arts Program. These include an original design - floating shadow puppets, which glide through a pool of moving water.
The show is approximately 50 minutes in length, and is written with adults in mind but has been enjoyed by all ages.
LIMBS
LIMBS
by Ches Cipriano
by Ches Cipriano
March 21st, 7:30 pm at New City Center, 3104 16th Ave S, Minneapolis
March 29th, 7:30 pm at Open Eye Theatre, 506 E 24th St, Minneapolis
LIMBS is a multidimensional puppet show featuring an 8-ft tall marionette, shadow puppetry and masked creatures. Inspired by the "Bride of Frankenstein," LIMBS explores memories of a three-faced Creation as they are disassembled and discarded by their Creator. The dismembered limbs follow threads from their lives - together and separate - in a swirl of interactive shadows. The performance is an exploration of regaining lost autonomy, and the body as a tapestry of memories through fleeting thoughts, and a vehement soundscape as the Creation's lives flash before your eyes.
World Puppetry Day
World Puppetry Day
Saturday, March 21st
Family Event - 10:30 am - 12:45 pm
Heart of the Beast
2411 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis
Plus
an afternoon workshop
an evening performance
The Twin Cities Puppeteers will be partnering again with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater to celebrate World Puppetry Day.
A morning of free, family friendly activities will include a puppet slam of short performances followed by hands on activities.
If you would like to offer a short (5 - 10 minute) performance or a hands-on activity, contact Felicia Cooper (feliciatmcooper at gmail.com) or Kurt Hunter ( kurt at huntermarionettes.com).
April Events
April Events
Puppet Lab
Puppet Lab
April 10 - 19, 2026
Open Eye Theatre, 506 E 24th St, Minneapolis
Led by Co-Artistic Directors Oanh Vu and Sofia Padilla
Featuring new work by PUPPET LAB artists
Chelly Beaver, Destiny Davison, Mackenzie Langason and Jake Quatt
PUPPET LAB is a 2-week festival of brave, quirky, imaginative, and visually dazzling new puppet work, the culmination of a 6-month development residency for emerging puppetry artists.
Razia's Shadow: A Puppet Rock Opera
Razia's Shadow: A Puppet Rock Opera
The Hive Collaborative, 677 Hamline Ave N, St. Paul
Razia’s Shadow: A Puppet Rock Opera is a fantastical tale told through puppetry & song, full of wild characters and eye-popping spectacle. The show features the talents of 10 amazing puppeteers/vocalists, and over a dozen unique puppet characters – including a vengeful Satyr, a gigantic technicolor Spider, a pair of reptilian Witch Sisters, a mechanical Mad Doctor, and more! Performing April 10 - 25 2026 at the Hive Collaborative in Saint Paul.
HOBT Summer Puppet Camps
HOBT Summer Puppet Camps
June Session: Monday, June 22 - Friday, June 26, 2026
August Session: Monday, August 31 - Friday, September 4, 2026
9 am -12 pm and/or 1 pm - 4 pm
Your child will be able to explore the materials and create with others. Each session will have a slightly different focus: creating a puppet show, engaging in improv with newly made puppets, working on individual puppets or masks or a large collaborative project. ALL are welcome. Prior experience is not required. Suggested ages: 7-12.
Recurring Events
Recurring Events
First Saturday Storytime With Chelly
First Saturday Storytime With Chelly
The first Saturday of the Month
10:30 - 11:30 am
Heart of the Beast
2411 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis
Join Chelly and her sidekick Turnip the Dog for a fun-filled storytime, followed by open hours for the puppet library until 2 pm.
This event is free and open to the public.
Artist Gathering Space (Puppet Doodle Club)
Artist Gathering Space (Puppet Doodle Club)
Third Tuesday of each month, 6-9 pm
2411 Hennepin, Minneapolis, MN 55407
Lightly led/coordinated by Felicia Cooper and Steve Ackerman
A space to connect in time and space A space to share and witness
Are you looking for an accountability group?
Would you like a cohort to brainstorm with, to showcase your work and get feedback?
Are you interested in sharing resources?
OR are you just looking for a space to be in a community?
And share some food, ideas and art. Attend often or once in a while, no prerequisites and no restrictions on participation
February 2025
February 2025
PLEASE!
PLEASE!
by Felicia Cooper
at Bryant Lake Bowl
810 West Lake St, Minneapolis, MN
Fri., Feb. 6, 10 pm
PUPPETRY, PROJECTION, AND POP MUSIC COMBINE IN FELICIA COOPER’S NEW ADAPTATION OF BUCHNER’S WOYZECK
PLEASE! is a high intensity and humorous trip through expressionism and indie sleaze, exploring the depths of surveillance, desire, power and who holds it. PLEASE! was created in collaborations with Lizz Windnagel, Sam Weisberg, Alice Endo, Davey Steinman, and LIPING VONG, with original music by Lisa Frank.
Click here for tickets and more information
Finger Puppet Follies
Finger Puppet Follies
Friday and Saturday, February 13 & 14, 2026
7:30 pm
Heart of the Beast
2411 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis
Come see the Finger Puppet Follies: A Valentine's Day Puppet Slam!
Local artists will perform an original, tiny 8-10 minute puppetry piece.
Come see the intricate, the minuscule, the teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy fine art of finger puppets!
Partially funded by Puppet Slam Network.
Plus
Valentines Sip and Puppet
Valentines Sip and Puppet
Saturday, February 14, 2026
1:00 PM 4:00 PM
Looking for a fun activity for Valentine's Day? Join us for a puppet making workshop at HOBT on Feb. 14th for 3 hours of puppet making, connections and light snacks. We will be making Finger Puppets!
Come back for the Finger Follies in the evening - tickets included in the price of this activity.
TRICK LOCKET
TRICK LOCKET
by Bryn Battani
by Bryn Battani
Part of The Cedar Commissions Night One
Friday, February 20, 2026
7:30 PM 11:00 PM
The Cedar Cultural Center
416 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis
Bryn Battani is a Texas-bred writer/performer who loves to say the opposite of what she really means. She supports her “persona pop” songs with genre-bending arrangements colored by her folk-rock roots and theatrical background, heightening her shapeshifting stage presence with props and costume changes. Her work oscillates between tongue-in-cheek melodrama and raw vulnerability, examining social politics, thorny entanglements, and other modern absurdities.
This February, Bryn will deliver a rock operetta exploring themes of credibility and authority in an age of algorithms, educational censorship, and commodified desire. Morphing between unreliable narrators influenced by hidden agendas, blatant biases, and genuine intentions, she playfully questions where we get our information and who we trust. This new work punctuates character-driven songs with short scenes and musical interludes, utilizing pop idioms and misleading appearances to disguise deception and challenge the audience’s assumptions of the singer-songwriter as an “authentic” voice.
Click here for tickets and more information
January 2026
January 2026
Penguin in my Pocket
Penguin in my Pocket
by Kurt Hunter
The Conn Theater
at Plymouth Congregational Church
1919 La Salle Ave, Minneapolis
Sat., Jan. 10, 2 pm
PENGUIN IN MY POCKET tells the fun-filled and quirky tale of a penguin scientist who crash lands in the jungle when her experimental jetpack fails, and how she works with an artistic monkey to find her way home — encountering a sea monster along the way. It’s a solo show featuring marionettes, rod puppets, audience member puppeteers, and a concertina.
Are You Thirsty?
Are You Thirsty?
Heart of the Beast
2411 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis
January 17, 1pm
Free and Open to the Public
“Thirsty” just wants a drink of Water! But first they must explore a myriad of questions contained in that one precious sip.
Please join us for Are You Thirsty?, a revival of the dynamic 2008 performance by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre*. This family-friendly performance ignites us to see ourselves as relatives of Water, bringing many current Water issues vibrantly to life, and encouraging our important and joyful participation in taking care of Water.
Performed by Lora Pedersen and Spencer Polk, directed by Sandy Spieler, and music by Greg Herriges.
Illuminating Sound: a shadow puppet and music show
Illuminating Sound: a shadow puppet and music show
January 10 at 4pm (3pm doors, 3:30pm house)
January 11 at 4pm (3pm doors, 3:30pm house)
At the Southern Theater.
Illuminating Sound is an innovative shadow puppet and music performance that blends live music and visual storytelling to explore the cyclical nature of time, the creation and destruction of the world, and humanity's impact on the environment.
10th Wave musicians are at the heart of the show and their musical performance creates the visual imagery. The musicians wear large masks to cast silhouettes of deities and the puppeteers around them use focused lights to isolate and magnify the instruments in action, producing sparks of light and texture as they create the universe. Among the creatures born from the darkness is a small bird whose life we follow across the ages. When climate catastrophe strikes, the bird is separated from its flock and befriends a mythical fox-deer. Together they travel the world in search of a new home, only to encounter repeated devastation caused by human exploitation. Can they survive -- and will they ever find a place to belong?
Get tickets here
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