PUTNEY — On Dec. 15 at 4 and 7:30 p.m., and Dec. 16 at 3 p.m., Sandglass Theater will present its annual Crankie Weekend, showcasing the mystique and low-tech charm of pairing song and story with rolling pictures.
Crankies are scrolling illustrations, wound inside a wooden box and then hand-cranked so that the images move across a viewing screen.
Once called “moving panoramas,” crankies were as close as it got to films in the early 19th century. Recently, crankies have made a fresh and invigorated appearance throughout the nation, appearing in circuses, music events and, as in this case, puppet theaters.
The roster of artists at this year's Crankie Weekend includes friends old and new: Eric and Ines Zeller Bass, Anna Patton, Julie Vallimont, Meredith Holch, Brendan Taaffe, Donald Saaf, and Matt Sharff. They will share their work, poetry, song, and magical cranking devices in celebration of this storytelling medium.
Offering a serenade of ballads, stories, comic songs, and originally composed music, the artists will present an assortment of beautifully handcrafted crankies in the intimate setting of Sandglass' renovated barn theater on Kimball Hill.