video

Our Domestic Resurrection Circus : Nicaragua and Bach.

Schumann, Peter, 1934- director, Estrin, Marc, musical director, conductor, Bread and Puppet Theater
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2333.1/c2fqzdbg
Title
Our Domestic Resurrection Circus : Nicaragua and Bach.
Author/Creator
Schumann, Peter, 1934- director, Estrin, Marc, musical director, conductor, Bread and Puppet Theater
Restrictions/Permissions
Language
English
Date
July 1985
Format
streaming video (25 min., 20 sec.) : sound, color
Credits
Marc Estrin, Malcolm Goldstein, Elka Schumann, Deborah Stolleroff, Bert Franke, Pat Mayhew, Nick Page, Trudi Cohen, performer ; Steven Light, Ralph Denzer, Alvin Schulman, Hans Estrin, Catherin Schaub, Pati Hernández, Peter Hamburger, performer ; Linda Elbow, David Thorne, community chorus members, volunteers, performer. Peter Schumann, director ; Marc Estrin, musical director ; Marc Estrin, conductor.
Notes

In this footage from the 1985 Domestic Resurrection Circus, subtitled "Nicaragua and Bach," Bread and Puppet fused Western canonical music and theatrical styling with their signature puppetry and masks to address the Iran-Contra Affair and U.S. involvement in Nicaragua. The circus's format is a parodic nod to side-show carnival acts and "circus freaks" that, like much of their repertoire, questions and disrupts what is commonly conceived of as "natural" and "realistic." The name for the circus suggests understanding theater as synonymous with the domestic and the every day, particularly as a means of counteracting political apathy and commercialism. Perhaps the most recognized fixture of Bread and Puppet Theater's seasonal programming, Our Domestic Resurrection Circus was an annual gathering on the theater's farm near Glover, Vermont from 1970-1997

The Bread and Puppet Theater was founded in 1963 by Peter Schumann on New York City's Lower East Side. The theater's puppet shows range from tightly composed theater pieces presented by members of the company to extensive outdoor pageants which require the participation of many community volunteers. Performances occur in diverse venues, from international theater festivals to urban community centers to rural elementary schools. Bread and Puppet's impact on the greater world of experimental theater is acknowledged by scholars, and evidenced by the hundreds of unique theater companies now in existence that cite Bread and Puppet as an influence. One of the most enduring legacies of Bread and Puppet is its autonomy, receiving no direct government funding, but instead relying on its own practice of frugality and a huge amount of volunteerism, along with the merged incomes of performance fees, and sales of Bread and Puppet Press' posters and publications, as well as donations to pay its own way. Bread & Puppet has won numerous awards, including the Obie Award, the Erasmus Award from Amsterdam, the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Puppeteers of America Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship and numerous ribbons in local Vermont parades in Hardwick and Barton. breadandpuppet.org