Anna Allport highlights how a decades-old marionette theatre has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, bridging the gap between puppets and their socially distant audiences.

Full Description:

For over 74 years, the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre has been putting on innovative puppet musicals from a wooden theater hidden inside New York’s Central Park. Countless other regional theaters have closed since the pandemic began. But the Swedish Cottage is changing with the times, bridging the borders between puppets and their socially distant audiences. And, the Cottage is teaching the theater industry a thing or two.

Credits/ Show Notes:

Episode by Anna Allport. Photos by Central Park Conservancy and City Parks Foundation. Music and additional audio from the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre’s “Pippi” cast album; their Digital Tour with Open House New York; their “Puppet Time” virtual show (2020); additional music and audio from production recordings of “Cinderella Samba” (2017) and “The Princess, The Emperor, and The Duck” (2017).

Transcript: TK