PUTNEY — This year, Sandglass Theater's Winter Sunshine series is going virtual to bring family fun into your home.
Throughout March, the series will present the work of regional artists with weekly performances and activities, including a puppet show, a workshop, two family activities, online engagement and, during the final week, “an invitation to light up your community in the dark winter months with a lantern parade,” the theater said in a news release.
“Performers have done an incredible job in creatively reimagining their work to better engage and connect virtually,” event organizers said.
The series will be presented online, with most events available at any time during the week to allow families to engage at their own pace. Access links and instructions to view all performances, workshops, and family activities will be delivered via email, and events will be streamed via Zoom and Vimeo.
This year's program includes four performances that have all been adapted for digital presentation and are accompanied by workshops with each of the guest companies.
Each week will also be accompanied by guest clowns Nettie “Annabelle'' Lane, and William Forchion and friend.
The series opens the first week of March with Snowflake Man, from Vermont-based artist Sarah Frechette and her company, Puppet Kabob (puppetkabob.com).
The puppet show is inspired by Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, a self-educated farmer and scientist from Jericho who attracted worldwide attention in 1885 by adapting a bellows camera to a compound microscope and thus becoming the first person to capture the image of a single snow crystal. Bentley coined the phrase “no two snowflakes are alike.”
Frechette will also be offering a public workshop to create your own pop-up storybook.
In week two, Sandglass welcomes back Faye Dupras, whose visit had to be canceled last year just as everything went into COVID-19 lockdown, and her new company, Cozy Corner (fayedupras.com/training/cozycorner).
Cozy Corner Past and Future features interactive puppet performances explore the inner lives of children and the meaning of community.
Children and their adults join Max, Mrs. Flutterby and a motley crew of Cozy Corner friends in singing songs, solving mysteries, and helping little Rory learn about being a good friend and a kind neighbor.
Together, viewers will explore how nurturing qualities of kindness, empathy, and resilience in ourselves, and in each other, can transform lives. Cozy Arts will also offer a public build-along workshop.
The third week, Sandglass welcomes Wonderspark Puppets (wondersparkpuppets.com) and a performance of Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup, based on the beloved PJ Library book by Pamela Mayer.
Co-developed at the Theater at the 14th Street Y in New York City, the story is about two grandmothers, one Jewish and one Chinese, each of whom comes up with elaborate ways to show their granddaughter that their cultural heritage (their chicken soup) is better than the other's.
Viewers will visit the Book of Ruth as well as the Monkey King. The themes include mixed-race families, cultural heritage, and the joy of cooking. This company will offer a Family Story Spoon Puppet workshop.
Sandglass concludes the series with its newest work for young audiences, Rock the Boat. This original production, developed in part with local elementary schools, aims to get young audiences thinking about relocation, displacement, and the interconnectedness of race, climate, and social justice.
A poet in a boat, alone at sea, is stuck in a rut of writer's block. While observing his daily routines, he suddenly finds his home filling with new characters seeking shelter and safety. Through evocative visual scenes, we learn that each has fled some disaster: war, fire, or flood.
As the newcomers and the poet navigate life together on the vessel, they meet conflict, generosity, kindness, and questions about one another.
The production addresses attitudes about acceptance of those who come from other countries and cultures, and it provides a narrative in which there is room for everyone in an inclusive society. This show will be accompanied by a lantern- making workshop.
Tickets are $25 per week per household, and if you purchase all four weeks, you will receive a 10 percent discount.
For tickets, go to sandglasstheater.org.