The Point: Pulling at the Strings

Mask work and puppetry have long been used as instruments for storytelling, both theatrically and therapeutically.  The inanimate objects are vessels to be endowed with power, stemming from imagination, creativity, and memory.  What drives us to utilize puppets and masks to tell stories of our origins, of our struggles, of our hardships? How do these objects give us permission to interact in unexpected ways and explore topics that might be considered taboo? How does interacting with a puppet or a mask change the performer? Or the audience?  We’ve been leaning on these objects since prehistoric times to tell our stories and reenact our rituals.  How do we use puppets and masks today?

Join Ronee Penoi and Professor Felice Amato, Dr. Jason Butler, and director Veronica Barron to explore the history and contemporary use of puppets and masks in ritual, performance, and therapies and learn how these vehicles unlock difficult topics.

About The Point
At ArtsEmerson, the art is the provocation; conversation is the point. The Point is a conversation series that invites audiences to explore big questions in intimate settings. Hosted by a member of the ArtsEmerson team, local and national luminaries will offer their points of view on the urgent questions surfaced by the artists on our stages.