US VegWeek + Puppet Underground

Mellow Mushroom in Adams Morgan is one of many restaurants offering VegWeek specials.

I'm a little late on this, but wanted to note that US VegWeek is this week! Takoma Park-based Compassion Over Killing started VegWeek in 2009 and the goal is to celebrate the benefits of vegetarian foods and a vegetarian diet. It's not coincidence that it falls on the same week as Earth Day (today!). There are a ton of restaurants in DC --and beyond-- that are participating in US VegWeek, including a few on the 42 bus line. Just check out this page for a map view of participating venues. More events, from the organizers:

• April 22: Earth Day Happy Hour at the B Spot
• April 23: Wine Down Wednesday at Whole Foods Foggy Bottom
• April 24: Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats is hosting a vegan wine & cheese tasting which doubles as an art show featuring Dana Ellyn
• all week: Dangerously Delicious Pies will debut a new savory pie (vegan)
• all week: Equinox - 20% off vegan menu

Plus Smoke & Barrel, The Muse (at Corcoran), Busboy & Poets, Mellow Mushroom, Pete’s Apizza, and many more restaurants are offering specials.  You’ll find it all mapped out on US VegWeek.com  

Puppet Underground is hosting TONIGHT at Haydee's

Also wanted to note that Puppet Underground has two events in April! This fun and awesome group has been bringing thought-provoking, good-times puppetry & theatre to Mount Pleasant for the past few years and they're not done. The first event is tonight at Haydee's (again, sorry for the late notice!) and the next is on April 29. Please check them out if you haven't had a chance. Good stuff! From the organizers:

Come dance it up with Puppet Underground at our live music fundraiser!:

Rude Mechanical Orchestra
Son Cosita Seria

Tuesday, April 22nd

8:00pm 

At Haydee's Restaurant

3102 Mt Pleasant St NW

We are SO excited to host the legendary Rude Mechanical Orchestra, the raucous activist marching band and dance troupe from NYC! They will be bringing a 15-piece band, playing a set that may include a spritz of klezmer, some Balkan and Brazilian notes, plenty of funk, some Latin beats, a little jazz and a Le Tigre cover, all of it served up with a patina of punk. 

Also playing is the ever fabulous Son Cosita Seria, Puppet Underground's unofficial House Band. Playing Son Jarocho, traditional string music from the state of Veracruz in southeastern Mexico that combines Spanish, indigenous, and West African roots, Son Cosita Seria's complex rhythms and zapateado (percussive dancing) will have you partying all night!

What Are We Raising Money for?

We are supporting the social justice work of both the Rude Mechanical Orchestra and Son Cosita Seria. We are raising money for RMO to continue their work serving the efforts of progressive and radical groups and causes, providing musical support to many grassroots efforts inside and outside of NYC. We are raising money for Son Cosita Seria to buy more Son Jarocho instruments from Veracruz to support their community workshops here in DC and to continue to provide musical support to local, national and international social justice actions and events.

_____________________________________________________________

We're thrilled to present an awesome new play by Der Vorfuhreffekt Theater (the folks who brought you "The 7 Person Chair Pyramid High Wire Act"):

"Three Kinds of Wildness"

Tuesday, April 29th

8:00pm

At St. Stephen's Church

1525 Newton St NW

In the maze of tunnels that make up the deepest gold mine in the world, there exists an underground city—home to an ice baron, a telegraph inventor, and a doctor who’s dubious about the inherent value of the human heartbeat. The inventor’s daughter hears so much that it’s as if she can’t hear anything. The ice baron returns from debtor’s prison and becomes mayor. The mayor has a secretary who once gave birth to a pile of rabbit parts. The doctor seems certain that all of her patients are miners, though no one can remember the last time anyone saw a miner. The inventor hires a specialist, who arrives just in time for the Great Civic Parade, to which, of course, you’re all invited. Perhaps you might want to wear red?

Der Vorfuhreffekt Theater is on the forefront of the DIY devised theater movement. They create high quality theater by low tech means, integrating puppetry, light play and other fun stage tricks in their quest to tell irreverent, funny and ultimately moving stories. We REALLY recommend you make it out to see this one!

Monday is the New Friday Cabaret

One Touch of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin (Image courtesy of Puppet Underground)

Puppet Underground wants to help you get off of the couch, away from the internet + tele for a few hours next Monday. And this just might do the trick. They've been a mainstay in the neighborhood and are once again hosting an innovative and engaging evening of music and puppetry.

From the organizers:

"MONDAY-IS-THE-NEW-FRIDAY CABARET!
Monday, June 17, 7:00 PM.
La Casa, 3166 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, WDC.
$5-10 sliding scale donation.

Featuring: *     *     *

Weed Tree // local experimental guitar& drums duo of Amanda Huron and Layne Garrett.

One Touch of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin // gorgeous puppetry from Erik Ruin and Maryann Colella

Katherine Fahey puppetry // hand-cranked puppet shows and song from Baltimore.

Mike Andre // local songs of dissonance and beauty.

More on the show: *     *     *

One Touch Of Nature Makes the Whole World Kin is a table-top toy theater show by Erik Ruin and Maryann Colella concerning disasters and the organic mutual aid efforts/networks which arise in their wake. Amongst other examples, we focus on the Halifax ship explosion of 1917, the largest man-made explosion before the invention of the atom bomb. The show incorporates sprawling silk-screened graphics come to life, toy instruments, tape-deck sound effects and text from Rebecca Solnit's book A Paradise Built In Hell.

Eric Ruin is a printmaker, shadow-puppeteer, founding member of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, and co-creator of the recent book Paths Toward Utopia: Graphic Explorations of Everyday Anarchism (w/ Cindy Milstein, PM Press, 2012). For more on his work, seehttp://erikruin.tumblr.com/.

Maryann Colella is a puppeteer, dancer, mask-maker and street-theater instigator who has been working with The Bread & Puppet Theater for the past 7 years, and has also collaborated with All the Saints Theater Company, Royal Frog Ballet, the Boston Radical Arts Troupe, Deep In the Belly, the Puppeteers Cooperative and Agua Sol Y Soreno.

Katherine Fahey is a designer, performer and printmaker. She embodies a community of musicians, artists and writers where elegance and authenticity are signal virtues. Her cut paper and prints have become music posters, shadow puppets, portraits, set design and animation, including a lush music videos for musicians such as Wye Oak and ellen cherry."

Puppet Underground Returns

Photo courtesy of Puppet Underground

Our friends at the Puppet Underground are back, presenting the first Mount Pleasant show for 2013. It's next Thursday at La Casa. From the organizers:

"A POLICE STATE CABARET!

Thursday, Feb 7th - 7:30pm

La Casa Community of Christ: 3166 Mt Pleasant St NW

$10-$15 Sliding Scale Suggested Donation

Puppet-show! Epic tragedy! Real story!
Puppeteers are in town with a show about all times!
From ancient Rome to the skyscrapers of New York...
A lot has changed! Little has changed!
Toy theatre magic, puppets, cantastorias, tricks and trombones.
Lace!! (??)

Live music! Live puppets! All alive! Bring a friend!

The Police State Cabaret is a tour collaboration between the Flying Donkey Puppet Theatre, Sam Wilson from the office of Ned Lud, and Lindsay McCaw (Dolly Wagglers). Their All Alive tour in the fall entertained the citizens of the police state, and since the police state is still going strong, so are they. The Cabaret is a full evening of cardboard puppet shows, duct taped live string and brass music, cantastoria, and some old wise ventriloquism, for good measure.

This aging ragtag group of puppeteers have over a decade of show making and scheming under their belts, having all worked independently and with Bread & Puppet Theater (Glover, VT), BareBones Productions (Minneapolis, MN),  Paperhand Puppet Intervention (NC) In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre (Minneapolis, MN), RPM Puppet Conspiracy (NC, VT), El Circo de Carton (Mexico), Partòt Parata and Fest-Festival (Bologna, Italy), All the Saints Theatre Company (Richmond VA) & Great Small Works (NYC).  

The evening promises to be cheap, real, unrehearsed, completely imperfect and ridiculously live."

Occupy Kabaret Street: Puppet Underground

Photo courtesy of Puppet Underground

Our friends at Puppet Underground are back in action this Saturday to support of the Occupy movement in general and Occupy K Street in specific. From the organizers!:

"WHO:  Bread and Puppet Theater is coming with their newest show... about the Occupy movement! One of the oldest activist street theater troupes in the country, Bread and Puppet can make you laugh, make you cry, and make you want to occupy!

The Occupy Wall Street Puppetry Guild lends us the fabulous puppeteer and musician Jo Robin, who will bring a paper circus of economic proportions!

Puppet Underground will present a new show about a local organizing struggle to make housing a human right. The show will take us from a look into the past through to the present and into the possibilities of the future!

The Shadow Senators will be performing a song and cranky show!

Quique Aviles brings us a performance from his one-man show "Los Treinta"!

Zein Elamine will share his poetry about DC!

WHAT: Historical characters and roving musicians will lead you from Occupy K Street to other locations downtown with significant grassroots organizing history where you will see puppet shows and musical acts that will start your heart a-pumpin'! Join us to celebrate social justice movements in an exciting cabaret that will send you running to your nearest General Assembly! Wear comfortable shoes, be prepared to walk, and we invite you to stay after the show for OccuPie eating at our Occupy After-Party!

Suggested sliding scale donation of $5-15. 

WHEN: Saturday, November 19th. Show starts at 12:30PM. Tours of Occupy K Street at 12:00PM.

WHERE: Meet at the statue in McPherson Square (15th and K St NW)" 

Puppet Underground: Flying Donkey Cabaret

The Flying Donkey Cabaret. A mouthful of words, and a familiar group is behind the performance. DC's Puppet Underground has previously performed in Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights; and they are back with a new show. 

This show is tonight! It's being held across the street from Mount Pleasant at the Trinity AME Zion Church (Oak and 16th Sts NW). 8:00pm. There is a sliding scale donation, $5-$15.

Puppet Underground can describe the show much better than I can summarize it so here you go:

"An Evening of Impossible Cardboard & Brass Entertainments brought to you by an illustrious band of traveling puppeteers; a roadshow of puppets, music & genuine good old times featuring lifesize dancing donkeys, a junky trombone, drum & fiddle ensemble & lo fi picture shows of all sorts!

Come see some of our favoritest puppeteers from around the country! We have:

The Dolly Wagglers from Portland, Maine, bringing a freshlowbrow crudeness to the world of puppetry, with cardboard operettas, crankyshows (low-tech scrolling pictures) and cantastorias painted on the dirty sheets of America.

And Federica Collina originally from Italy but now from every armpit of America she can find. Traveling and touring for the last 4 years, she has worked with every activist puppet theater this side of the Mississippi. She must have learned something by now. 

And Jason Hicks from Brooklyn who is a puppeteer with a horn. Or so we're told.

Plus a gargantuan itinerant Cheap Art exhibit and store! 

We'll see you there! 

If you'd like to contact us about this event, email Janelle -- janellevyn at gmail dot com"

Bread and Puppets at St. Stephens

Our friends Puppet Underground are back with Vermont's Bread and Puppet theater.  You may have encountered Puppet Underground at the Las Posadas or Chilly Day Cabaret  performances of last winter. They seem to come through NW DC two or three times a year.  This time they are performing at St. Stephen's church across the street from Mt Pleasant at 16th and Newton.

The Decapitalization Circus will be here next Tuesday and Wednesday, September 28-29. Performances are at 7pm each day.  There is a sliding scale for donations --$5 to $15-- although I can't imagine anyone will be turned away, per the usual policy.  

The description from Bread and Puppet:

"The Decapitalization Circus demonstrates in numerous death-defying stunts the phantastic effects of the capitalization of life in the U.S. and citizens’ courageous efforts of decapitalization. The performers represent the whole scale of the social spectrum from benign billionairism to despicable homeless anti-social-elementarianism. All the acts are FDA and FBI certified displays of patriotic correctness and defy all imaginable forms of terrorism. The Possibilitarians, a multi-instrumental variety ensemble, provide the appropriate-inappropriate sounds for the circus."

Puppet Underground is Back

Way back during the bearable part of winter (last December), the Puppet Underground put on Las Posadas, a progressive performance in a string of homes located right here in Mount Pleasant. The series of plays were a take on the traditional holiday themed celebrations in Mexico.

This time around, the Underground is hosting several performances at a single venue venue: St. Stephen's Church on 16th Street NW. The title of tomorrow's event is The Chilly Day Cabaret. There will be two puppet theater performances and one musical performance by DC's own Yamomanem, a New Orleans style jazz band.

The show descriptions via Puppet underground:

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“The Tale of the Hungry Mouths: A Soup Opera” by The Brothers Harrell

A soup opera served warm. A candlelight observance on six stages. Hailing from the rich tradition of southern puppet families, the Bros. Harrell dish up an evening of ultra low-tech neo-contemporary mixed-media performance art. Bring your own bowl ad spoon.

“The Suitcase of Life” by Papermoon Puppet Theatre

Papermoon comes to us from the warmer climes of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a group experimenting with puppetry through international and multi-cultural collaborations. "The Suitcase of Life" is an interactive puppet play exploring selling the unsellable.

Yamomanem: New Orleans Jazz Band

Led by New Orleans ex-pat Monty Montgomery (sousaphone; co-founder of the much loved Panorama Jazz Band of New Orleans), Yamomanem interprets the traditional jazz repertoire and Carribean Creole music of the 30s with electric guitar and Latin percussion. Yamomenem was nominated for Best Jazz Band in 2007 by the Washington Area Music Association!

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Sounds fun! And I'm pretty sure they are serious about bringing your own bowl and spoon. There is a sliding scale; $5-$10. Virtually nothing considering what you will get in return. St. Stephen's is located at 1525 Newton Street NW, on the corner of 16th and Newton. The show is happening in the auditorium, so use the side door. Chilly Day Cabaret begins at 7:00pm; on tomorrow, February 20th. Good luck Puppet Underground! Glad they're doing it this weekend and not weekend last (or the one before!).

Las Posadas Puppet Performance in Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant attracts the most talented, motivated and creative people in Washington. DC's best neighborhood for lots of reasons, and here's another.

On December 19th the Puppet Underground (Mt P based) will present a "Puppetry Posada" of sorts starting at La Casa on Mount Pleasant Street.

Las Posadas (translation: the inns) are a traditional Christmas themed celebration which take place over a 9 day period beginning on December 16th. It's primarily practiced in Mexico. Las Posadas tell the Christian story of Mary, Joseph, and their search for shelter in the days before Mary gives birth. The story is told over the 9 days in 9 different houses within the community.

The Puppet Underground, partnering with Hear Mount Pleasant, will host a shortened, one night version of Las Posadas here in Mount Pleasant. on Saturday December 19th. It will be a more secular affair, including musical interludes, cantastoria (I had to look it up), folk telling and various other holiday themed performances, both religious and non-religious.

The evening begins at Casa, 3166 Mount Pleasant Street NW. The show will then literally go on the road, traveling to nearby neighborhood homes over the course of the next 120 minutes or so. You will have to go outside a few times during the performance, so dress accordingly. Bonus, though: at each stop snacks and a warm beverage will be available.

Expect a party-like atmosphere and family friendly, all ages puppetry.

So, again with the details:
What: A Mount Pleasant Puppetry Posada
When: 7:00 PM Saturday December 19th
Where: Begins at La Casa, 3166 Mount P St NW
Who: Puppet Underground + Hear Mount Pleasant + You
How (much): Suggested donation = $5+, but all are welcome and no one turned away
RSVP: Please email the organizers so they can plan accordingly at PuppetUndergroundDC@gmail.com