Catskill Puppet Theater To Perform In Cooperstown

COOPERSTOWN – The Catskill Puppet Theater, the first program this season of the Friends of the Village Library, will present “The Lion’s Whiskers” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (rain date is Sunday) on the lawn in front of the Cooperstown Library at 22 Main St.

A musical adaptation of a traditional Ethiopian folk tale, this play dramatizes with masks and puppets, ranging from three quarter life-sized to still larger, the story of a lonely girl who marries a widower with a young son and consults a wise man for advice. He tells her that in order to win the heart of the little boy she must first pluck three whiskers from a wild lion.  How she finds the courage to do this and to tame the lion and gain the love of her new family provides the theme of this story.

The Catskill Puppet Theater, co-founded in 1979 by John Potocnik and his wife Carol Mandigo, of Laurens, NY, who created these large puppets,has toured internationally as well as throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its aim, according to the directors, besides providing entertainment to both young and old, is to illustrate moral principles and to reflect their multi-cultural attitudes.

Among the numerous prestigious places where the Theater has performed are the following libraries: the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Cleveland Libraries; and the following museums: the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and the Guggenheim and the NY Historical  Museums in New York, as well as the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown and many children’s museums in the Northeast; also, many state fairs and theaters nationwide, abroad and in Canada, including Wolf Trap in Virginia and a puppet festival in Japan.

As are all Friends of the Library programs, admission is free and open to all, both young and old.