Great Small Works teams up with Barbara Steinitz and Björn Kollin and Mexico-based Facto Teatro to bring two Toy Theater productions to Somerville.
Barbara Steinitz and Björn Kollin present: Schnurzpiepegal (Like Master, Like Dog) (showtime: 6:30)
A picture book written and illustrated by Ms. Steinitz is brought to life by puppets, performed out of a suitcase, with live music created and played on an array of instruments by Mr. Kollin. The story goes something like this… It's often said that dog owners look like their dogs—but there are some exceptions. Take Leonora, who loves operas more than anything and shares a happy life with her dog Fidelio, who doesn’t look like her at all. Two blocks from their home lives another odd couple, Joshua and his dog Pistachia, who share a passion for home made chocolates. In the street people wrinkle their noses and laugh about Leonora and Joshua who don’t match with their dogs at all. This is a humorous love story about outsiders who overcome their loneliness and people’s prejudices by accepting themselves.
Facto Teatro (showtime: 7:15) present a play called "Don Chico con Alas," based on a story by the Mexican writer Eraclio Zepeda about ingenuity, surrealism and adventure. Created and performed by Alejandro Benítez, Mauricio Martínez and Antonio Cerez.
During the countdown to the first Gulf War in 1990, a group of puppeteers were looking for a direct and immediate way to respond to current events. So they began a serial drama using texts and images quickly cut from the daily newspapers. This ultimately led to reinventing the 19th century Victorian era performance style called “Toy Theater.”