7th Annual Crankie Celebration Week
Crankie Performance Weekend
Saturday, Dec 7 at 4 & 7:30PM
Sunday Dec 8 at 3PM
Special Event Katherine Fahey, The Lantern Sisters
Wednesday, Dec 11 7:30PM
Crankie Building Workshop with Ines Zeller Bass
Friday, December 13 – Saturday, December 15
PUTNEY – This December Sandglass Theater brings you a celebration of the art of the crankie. A crankie, known in the 19th century as a moving panorama, is an old storytelling art form that has found new audiences and enthusiasts with performances and festivals across the country. This 7th Annual Crankie Celebration includes performances, a special event and a crankie building workshop. Experience the mystique and low-tech charm of pairing song and story with scrolling pictures.
The roster of artists at this year’s annual Crankie Performance Weeekend includes both old and new friends: Eric and Ines Zeller Bass with Julian Slone, Clare Dolan, Justin Dupont, Molly Gawler, Delia Robinson and Julia Vallimont. This dynamic collection of artists will share their work, poetry, song and magical cranking devices in the celebration of the storytelling medium that has become so popular across New England.
This year we are excited to add a special performance by The Lantern Sisters (Katherine Fahey and Dan Van Allen). These Baltimore puppeteers will be sharing nearly 10 years of Katherine’s work, featuring shadow puppet crankies based on stories and songs from their own streets of Baltimore to the swamps of Louisiana and the tundra of Northern Quebec! “Listening to Katherine Fahey recount personal memories, ghost stories, and a lovely tale about Baltimore’s arabbers while grouped around The Lantern Sisters’ gorgeously adorned crankie box, feels as intimate as huddling around a campfire with friends. ” -Washington Post. Katherine is a renowned crankie artist known for her amazing detail as well as her storytelling skills. Visionary artist and parade puppet maker Dan Van Allen will be puppeteering and doing foley (sound effects).
With the serenade of ballads, stories, comic songs and originally composed music, the artists will present an assortment of beautifully handcrafted crankies for your delight and entertainment. Crankies are rolling 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 yes…puppet theaters.
Keep warm and get cozy for the performances in the intimate setting of Sandglass’ renovated barn theater. Reservations are strongly recommended, as seating is limited. Tickets are $18 general, $16 for students/seniors. Please reserve your tickets at info@sandglasstheater.org or by calling 802 387-4051. Special Event with Katherine Fahey, The Lantern Sisters, tickets are cash and check at the door only. Sandglass is an accessible venue right in the heart of Putney off I-91, exit 4.
Building Workshop with Ines Zeller Bass
The crankie building workshop, Telling Tales with Crankies, is taught by Ines Zeller Bass. Participants will build their own crankie including the scrolling mechanism and create and illustrate their own story.
The workshop is for people of all levels of experience, ages 18 and up at Sandglass Theater, on
• Friday, Dec.13, from 6pm to 9pm
• Saturday, Dec.14, from 9am to 4pm
• Sunday, Dec.15, from 9am to 12pm
Workshop cost is $250 plus $25 for materials. Space is limited and registration in advance is recommended; $50 deposit by November 21 holds a space. To register contact info@sandglasstheater.orgor call 802 387 4051.