This year's performers

 The 4th edition of Sandglass Theater’s
Puppets in Paradise
returns to the Hayward Gardens in Westminster West!  

This Biennial community event and Sandglass fundraiserSaturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6 from 10am-4pm. Sandglass Theater presents two afternoons of puppetry and performance in the enchanted setting of landscape architects Gordon and Mary Hayward’s gardens.  Walk the  gardens and view herbs, flowers, and other beautiful flora as you meet puppets, theater artists and musicians around each corner and behind every bush.  This community event and Sandglass benefit is a local favorite. Food and refreshments add to the delight of a beautiful day.

The gardens, a thoughtful combination of informal New England landscaping and the more traditional English garden, will provide the backdrop for the scenes being presented. Using specific locations such as the Haywards’ barn, the Woodland, Herb, and “Vermont Ruin” gardens as their stages, the artists will perform throughout the day.  

This years performances include pieces by Sandglass artists and others from around New England and beyond.  Eric Bass, Ines Zeller Bass, and Nick Keil will be performing a segment of Sandglass Theater’s newest work, Bad Weather Ballads.  Also on this years bill is renowned mask performers, Larry Hunt and Adelka Polak.   Local favorite, Finn Campman, will be presenting his new work Cart of Dreams.  New York Based puppeteers, Lindsey Briggs and Chad Williams return with Jack and the Beanstalk 2 – the director’s cut, a tale told with hand and finger puppets.  Other local performers include Crabgrass Puppets, Jana Zeller, Ayars Hemphill, Kirk Murphy, Julia Zanes and Donald Saaf.   To top it off, there will be a variety of musical acts performing around the gardens throughout the day, including Sam Griffis, Michael Hertz, Cynthia Hughes, and The Little Hope String Band.  

Delicious gourmet sandwiches, elaborate salads, snacks, cookies, pastries, beverages and ice cream will be available for purchase. All proceeds from tickets and concessions benefit Sandglass Theater’s projects and programs.  Sandglass Theater is a non-profit  theater company located in Putney, Vermont, which specializes in the art of puppet theater and performance work.
 
Sandglass Theater is unique in many ways. Its 22-year connection to the community and dependence on volunteers for its successful presentation of multi-venue events is particularly outstanding.  Volunteers help make Sandglass productions one of the most affordable family entertainment options in Windham County.  Puppets in Paradise is both a celebration of community and, because of its outdoor setting and time of year, a kind of harvest festival, reaping the splendor of our environment at its peak while enjoying the work of many artists. Volunteers fan out and hold the scene together. We first encounter them parking the car, then buying tickets, directing guests to the various outdoor rooms where each performance is nestled, and finally in the food tent where the operation accounts for the tastes and dietary needs of even the most discriminating. Volunteers are still needed to help sell tickets or work food concessions.  To volunteer or for more information, contact Sandglass Theater at 802 387-4051, info@sandglasstheater.org or visit our website, www.sanglasstheater.org.

Tickets for the day are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12.  Tickets can be purchased at the Haywards’ garden on September 5 and 6.

Directions to the Hayward’s  Garden:  From the center of Putney take a left at the General Store onto  Westminster Road.  Take Westminster Road past the sign for Westminster West. Take a right at the 2nd McKinnon Rd sign  (the road makes a loop)  Look for signs.

Directions to the Hayward Gardens:  From Rte 5 in Putney, turn left at the General Store onto Westminster West Rd.  After four miles, look for the event signs.

Tickets are available at the gate.  Adults $10. Children $5

                  Puppets in Paradise 2009 Performers