“A giant portal through time and space has opened at the Seattle University Campus, drawing in a plethora of puppets and puppeteers from across the region, country, and world.  Physicists are calling this phenomenon Puppet-O-Rama!  According to their calculations, those who enter Puppet-O-Rama will experience performances from the past, present and future of puppetry in a mere three days.” – Tony DeFilipps, Festival Director of Puppet-O-Rama, a 3-day conference that drew over 130 people young and old from the Pacific Northwest and beyond to Seattle U’s campus this weekend.

The conference consisted of a half day of puppet workshops such as “Costuming for Puppets” and “Bulgarian Minimalist Puppetry,” and an afternoon of puppet performances to the tune of the light-hearted “Little Red Riding Hood” and darker werewolf shadow puppet show “Order of the Wolf.”  The underlying theme of the O-Rama appeared to be diversity — puppet types and the people who are extremely passionate about spreading the excitement of puppetry to both audiences and puppeteers.  This is probably the only place you’d hear a debate so lively that you yourself begin to wonder if Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother should be swallowed by the wolf, or shoved in the closet.

If you’re interested in learning more about the small but thriving local puppet community, check out the Northwest Puppet Center and the current World of Puppetry display at the Seattle Center. Photos on this post are from a performance of “Little Red,” performed by professional storyteller Monica Leo of Eulenspiegel Puppets.