DreamTime with the Barefoot Puppets

Barefoot Puppet returns to WTA’s Gateway with Dreamtime on Friday, April 26. The performance is inspired by a collection of Aboriginal folk tales from Australia. A unique feature of the Barefoot Puppet performances is an opportunity for the audience to see how the puppets are made and how they work. The public performances are at 4 pm and 6 pm at 329 West Main in Downtown Waynesboro.

Children and their families will be greeted by emus, crocodiles, frogs and a host of other animals who make their homes in “The Land Down Under.” They will learn more about some truly unusual animals came to be when a mother platypus tries to get her young one to sleep by sharing three stories from the Australian Dreamtime. In these “How and Why” tales you will learn how the emu became a flightless bird and why the platypus looks so strange. In the final story, a giant, bloated frog hops into view and threatens to swallow the ocean. It will take an audience member to stop that from happening. Dreamtime will prove to be an entertaining and educational performance for all.

Barefoot Puppet Theatre is a national recognized puppet theatre. It was founded in 1997 when Heidi Rugg, began building puppet shows in the basement of her home. The first show was designed to fit in the back of a Volkswagen Golf! From those humble beginnings, the company (and the touring vehicle) has grown significantly and now tours nationally to such venues as Boston’s Puppet Showplace Theater, The Center for Puppetry Arts, The National Zoo, The Smithsonian Discovery Theater, and The Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts. In 2008, the Barefoot Puppets made their international debut at the Puppets Up Festival in Ontario, Canada. Barefoot Puppet Theatre was awarded a UNIMA Citation of Excellence, the highest distinction in North American puppetry.

The engagement of the Barefoot Puppet Theatre is made possible by a touring assistant grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge.

Tickets for the performance are $3 for children and $5 for adults. Tickets may be purchased by calling the box office 540-943-9999. Remaining tickets will be available at WTA’s Gateway at the time of performance.