INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED BREAD & PUPPET THEATER

Saturday, May 21, 2016
ONE DAY ONLY! TWO SHOWS! 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Bread & Puppet Theater returns to Providence’s AS220 (115 Empire St.) with a brand new giant puppet show inspired by the forthcoming elections in the greatest country in the history of the universe.

“The Underneath the Above Show #1 (inspired by the forthcoming elections in the greatest country in the history of the universe)” is a new work written and directed by Bread and Puppet founder Peter Schumann. It takes place in a distant, mountainous country much different from ours, where successive unsuccessful cardboard kings reign with fleeting promise over an over-life-size, technicolor cardboard electorate operated by a hardhat workforce prone to coffee breaks, until the eternally-hopeful population installs a jolly old god in the highest office of the land. It’s a hilarious, timely antidote to the election-themed entertainment on TV. And, with its raucous energy and bright palette, it makes a great spring hurrah!

Schumann says that The Underneath the Above Show #1 is “a puppet show contribution to the ongoing U.S. presidential election campaign. In our show the normally slightly overweight three-dimensional electorate is reduced to its proper election year cardboard two-dimensionality. Hardhat workers help to demonstrate the elementary dissatisfaction of this cardboard electorate and its desire for a new king who will promote life, health, home, and general protection from evil.”

After the performance Bread and Puppet will serve its famous free sourdough rye bread with aioli to the public, and Bread and Puppet’s “Cheap Art” – books, posters, postcards, pamphlets and banners from the Bread and Puppet Press – will be for sale.

This show is appropriate for all ages, but contains some loud noises.

“The Underneath the Above Show #1” performs one day only, Saturday, May 21, at 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. on the Main Stage at AS220, 115 Empire St., Providence, RI.

TICKET INFO: $10.

For more info, please see Bread and Puppet’s website: www.breadandpuppet.org and www.as220.org

INFORMATION ABOUT BREAD AND PUPPET THEATER:

Bread & Puppet Theater is an internationally celebrated company that champions a visually rich, street-theater brand of performance art filled with music, dance and slapstick. Its shows are political and spectacular, with huge puppets made of paper maché and cardboard. Founded in 1963 by Peter Schumann on New York City’s Lower East Side, The theater has been based in the North East Kingdom of Vermont since the early 1970s.