PUTNEY — Spybird Theater's “Eye of the Storm” returns to Sandglass Theater on Friday, July 12, and Saturday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m.
Jana Zeller and Zak Grace's first staging at last fall's “Puppets in the Green Mountains” festival was sold out. In their return, Zeller and Grace have revamped and revised their darkly comic puppet show.
“Eye of the Storm” is a full-length theater piece set on a slowly sinking island. A storm blows in, shadow sequences unveil a distant world, mother and child part, a toilet becomes a means of communication, and a penniless husband and wife make grotesque attempts to leave their shack.
Performed with hand puppets, rod puppets, and shadows, and backed by original music by Anna Patton, the atmosphere of Zeller and Grace's world is surreal, its visual beauty captivating, and the story provocative.
“Eye of the Storm” was created in part with funding from the Jim Henson Foundation and a commission by Sandglass Theater, and received additional funding through the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sandglass Theater is an internationally known theater company specializing in combining puppets with music, actors, and visual imagery. Since 1982, the company's productions have toured 24 countries, performing in theaters, festivals and cultural institutions and winning numerous international prizes.