Crabgrass Puppet Theater - African Adventure Tales

As a lover of the theater, the arts and all the different styles of both, I went to see a one day puppet theater performance, today. The Newburyport Firehouse presented, African Adventure Tales, a children's puppet theater production by Crabgrass Puppet Theater. African Adventure Tales presents two short African folktales; "Koi and the Kola Nuts," and "Anansi and the Talking Melon."
Koi and the Kola Nuts tells the story of a son of an african chief who inherits three Kola nuts from the family Kola tree. He ventures out into the wilderness in the hopes of making his own fortune. Along his journey, he meets three animals; a colony of ants, a snake, and a crocodile. He helps each one of them by giving them each a single Kola nut. In return each animal assists him in tasks that are appointed to him to prove his status. This tale teaches the lesson that kindness towards others are often rewarded in return.
Anasi and the Talking Melon tells the story of a spider, named Anasi, who eats a number of large melons and finds himself stuck in the biggest one. While stuck, he is able to walk around and talk. A passing ELephant comes across the melon and hears Anasi talking inside. Believing that the melon is magical and can talk, he goes to every animal he is friends with in the kingdom. From a Hippo to a Rhino and finally to the king of the kingdom, a Monkey. All but the king hear the melon talk and actually believe the Elephant. After being cast aside, Anasi frees himself from the melon and becomes hungry again, eating himself into a banana in the end.
My favorite part of the show was the design of the puppets and sets. The sets were minimalistic, yet very suggestive, and for a puppet show, thats all that there needs to be. The puppets themselves were very creative and faithful to African cultural designs. And their performances were entertaining and engaging. Each puppet being puppeteered by Crabgrass co-founder, Jamie Keithline. This show was obviously made for children. However, just because a puppet show is more kid friendly that doesn't mean that people of all ages can't enjoy them either. When we see puppet shows, we obviously see the puppeteer controlling it, but if we pay more attention to the puppet itself, we begin to see them more as the actual characters who's stories are being told on stage. It's why we still enjoy watching the Muppets on television and movies. There is an art to puppet theater, not just in making the puppets but in performing as them as well. So, with that all said, if any of you readers have kids who like to see live puppet shows, or if you are a fan of the art of puppet making, I recommend checking out other productions by the Crabgrass Puppet Theater company. They perform at schools, theaters, libraries, etc. For more information check out their website at www.crabgrasspuppets.com.