The Bread & Puppet Theater / The Boxcutter Collective present The History of Laughter
Philly Fringe Festival
An ancient god’s divine laughter creates the universe, then promptly abandons the scene. How will the masses defy their flimsy paper authorities? Laughter reveals the key in this work of radical puppetry populated by clouds, Santa Claus, an Idiot Manifesto, a brass band, and a 100-watt lightbulb.
The History of Laughter is a puppet show created by Peter Schumann of Vermont's Bread & Puppet Theater and New York's Boxcutter Collective. Produced at The La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in June 2022, it makes its Philly debut at the Fringe alongside other short works by the Boxcutters.
Showtimes:
Friday Sept 8 at 7pm
Saturday Sept 9 at 3pm
Saturday Sept 9 at 7pm
Sunday Sept 10 at 3pm
Sunday Sept 10 at 3pm
Admission is $20 with pay-what-you-can options. Tickets can be purchased HERE
The Bread & Puppet Theater was founded in 1963 by German-born sculptor-choreographer Peter Schumann on New York's Lower East Side. The concerns of the first productions were rents, rats, police, and other problems of the neighborhood, and then shows about U.S. involvement in Vietnam that led the company to tour the world in the late 1960s. In 1970 Bread & Puppet moved to Vermont and began an annual tradition of hosting giant circuses and pageants amidst a majestic rural landscape. Today Bread & Puppet continues to be one of the oldest, nonprofit, political theater companies in the world with recent Philadelphia residencies at Icebox Projects Space, Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, and The Rotunda.
Boxcutter Collective is a Brooklyn-based puppet theater outfit founded in 2016 by five Bread & Puppet company members based in New York: Sam Wilson, Jason Hicks, Ali Dineen, Tom Cunningham, and Joseph Therrien. Since their inception, the Boxcutters have been hellbent on making shows to confront the humanity-threatening dilemma of the status quo. Boxcutter Collective performs regularly in NYC at La Mama and Brooklyn'se Jalopy Theater, and are representing the U.S. at the year's International Puppet Fringe. Their most recent Philadelphia performances were at The Barnes Foundation and various lesser known haunts.
Creative Team
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Peter SchumannDirector -
Trudi CohenDirector -
Jennifer MillerTrainer -
Ali DineenMusical Director -
Sam WilsonPerformer -
Tom CunninghamPerformer -
Joe TherrienPerformer -
Jason HicksPerformer -
Amelia CastilloPerformer