Loose Leaf Notes

“If you wait long enough it will eventually come to Floyd.” That’s what I’ve been saying for years and it was never truer than when the Bread & Puppet Theater came to town this week. At the invitation of a Floyd activist, the 50-year-old traveling troupe made Dogtown’s Sun Music Hall one of the stops on their February/March Southeastern U.S. tour.

Because the show’s time was announced wrong in some places, Joe and I arrived in the middle of the performance, but we caught enough to be impressed. I had heard about the troupe and their early performances that brought awareness to the Vietnam War back when I lived in Boston, but this was my first time seeing the world famous show, a visual, musical, circus of color and movement that mixes political commentary with performance art and slapstick.

‘What are they doing?’ I heard a couple of kids ask when members of the troupe enacted a water boarding routine. They giggled at the clowns wearing Groucho Marx noses and mustaches who were swinging on imaginary trapezes. (Watch the video HERE. )

The Bread and Puppet Theater was co-founded by Peter Schumann in New York’s lower east side and moved to Vermont in the 70’s. I think of Schumann as the Peter Max of large block print art, which was for sale at the show.

And there really was bread, along with puppets, but it had too much garlic on it for me. There was also giraffe that played the ukulele and a trio of skeletons dancing to protest fossil fuel subsidies.

Considering that some parts of the county were iced-in from the day’s ice storm, it was an amazing turn-out and reception. I feel satisfied that I can now say I have seen the Bread & Puppet Theater. So, what next, Floyd?