Outside Performance

Bread and Puppet Theater

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Insurrection + Resurrection Service Circus

CulturalDC is thrilled to collaborate with Bread and Puppet Theater to stage one of the first, large-scale productions in Washington, DC since March. The Insurrection + Resurrection Service Circus is this summer's contribution to the iconic Bread and Puppet Circus tradition beloved by audiences worldwide for nearly two generations – a bright, raucous melee of short acts governed by a brass band, addressing the heart of the current moment using diverse puppetry styles and spanning many moods, from slapstick to the sublime.

  • Free Admission

  • Saturday, September 19 at 6pm and Sunday, September 20 at 2pm; (Click to Add to Calendar)

  • National Sylvan Theater on the southeast grounds of the Washington Monument on the National Mall (Bring your own blankets, chairs, food, drink, etc.)

  • 90min Performance featuring music, puppetry, dance and theatrical narratives

  • Masks, physical distancing required. RSVP is not required to attend, however CulturalDC encourages folks to provide contact details (no name, just email or phone) for tracing purposes.

 
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Bread and Puppet embodies the spirit of revolution that CulturalDC values and uplifts.

“Insurrection + Resurrection Service Circus asserts the essential role of art in a time of public health crisis, and a time of brazen greed and fascism at the highest levels and hard-won revolutionary possibility in the streets: at such a time, political public art offers us an opportunity to gather together, to mourn together, to celebrate together, and to continue to rise up together against the rotten system and those who profit from it,” said Joshua Krugman, a puppeteer and member of Bread and Puppet Theater.

“Our goal is always to offer a platform for risk and expression to contemporary artists,” said Kristi Maiselman, executive director of CulturalDC. “We have worked hard to offer this performance, at this location, at this time in a safe way to the residents of the District, many of whom have been on the front lines fighting injustice.”

The outdoor production will prioritize both audience and artist safety. Due to the puppet sizes – averaging 10 to 15 feet tall – audiences can enjoy the show from a comfortable distance. CulturalDC staff will be on site to ensure that masks are worn and indicate spots on the grass for viewers to set up. A detailed COVID mitigation plan was submitted to the National Park Service.

 
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About Bread and Puppet Theater

The Bread and Puppet Theater was founded in 1963 by Peter Schumann on New York City’s Lower East Side.

Founder Peter Schumann says the show is “a service for citizens, aliens & immigrants alike to demonstrate the ills that inspire uprising against callously incompetent government & the tragedies that result from that callous incompetence & call for resurrection.”

Besides rod-puppet and hand puppet shows for children, the concerns of the first productions were rents, rats, police and other problems of the neighborhood. More complex theater pieces followed in which sculpture, music, dance and language were equal partners. The puppets grew bigger and bigger. Annual presentations for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and Memorial Day often included children and adults from the community as participants. Many performances were done in the street. In 1974 Bread and Puppet moved to a farm in Glover in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The 140-year-old hay barn was transformed into a museum for veteran puppets. Traveling puppet shows range from tightly composed theater pieces presented by members of the company to extensive outdoor pageants which require the participation of many volunteers.