<body><div>https://soundcloud.com/wort-fm/bread-puppet-theatre-come-to-mazomanie-wisconsin?si=a8d1fc4236e24c74a72a3995f81afb52&amp;utm_source=clipboard&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=social_sharingThe world-renowned Bread and Puppet Circus of Glover Vermont came to Mazomanie Saturday to perform their latest creation: “The Beginning After the End of Humanity” CircusW-O-R-T reporter David Ahrens was there.Wild Rumpus, a local circus training school, brought the Bread and Puppet Circus to Mazomanie on Saturday.The circus has been around for fifty-five years – but what is it exactly? Is it theater? Is it performance art?I headed to “The Beginning After the End of Humanity” Circus to find out. The one-hour show, sponsored in-part by W-O-R-T, covers a lot of ground.The one-hour show on Saturday which was also sponsored by WORT covered a lot of ground.ere’s part of the scene on the history of revolution and repression in Haiti. The scene included a series of large black puppet figures representing the heroes of the Haitian revolution.Other scenes in the show covered the human toll of the war in Gaza. The scene focused on the true story of an autistic teenager who is mortally wounded in a bombing. The scene depicted puppets of wild dogs attacking the boy which is far more terrifying than a bomb blast. Then there are the old standards of the agit-prop theatre about corporate greed and the revenge of the underclass where the puffed up billionaire in a top-hat is made into lunch by a trio of tigers.There are pieces that subvert the circus form such as such as trapeze artists who never leave the ground but believe they are flying, ten-foot dancing pink pencil people, a riotous brass band that stays a little off beat and out of tune and the mainstay of Bread and Puppet, the massive paper mache heads that look like they just flew in from Easter Island.. True to its base in commedia dell’arte, most of the performers wear masks and there’s not much if any dialogue. But true to its base, it’s all about pulling the mask off the powers that are- as the title of the show states- bringing us to the end of humanity. The founder and director of Bread and Puppet, Peter Schuman described what the show is about: “tigers teaching the congress of cowards how to jump over billionaires and acquire the courage to not pay for the atrocities of the latest genocide; the proverbial sheep of the system refusing to be sheep and committing revolution against the system; and the blue horses of the peace and harmony terrorists of the Northeast Kingdom breaking through the wall of threatening clouds that hide the truth from the population”As in any good circus, there are plenty of stilt-walkers. Here’s the impression of one member of the audience, my grandson Charlie, who is 9 and a half years old.Like a silent movie, the narration of the action on the stage is created by music rather than words- triumphant, silly or sad. Charlie’s take on it:After the show, the immense masks and props were packed in their yellow school buses before the rain started. The Bread and Puppet will roll on for another month and 15 more stops through the Midwest and east coast cities until they get back to their base in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. <img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1ne36q_0vjucE1p00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1ne36q_0vjucE1p00" width="600" height="268" ><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3Mpajk_0vjucE1p00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3Mpajk_0vjucE1p00" width="600" height="324" ></figure>Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here</div></body>

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Bread and Puppet Theatre in Mazomanie: The Beginning After the End of Humanity

Https://soundcloud.com/wort-fm/bread-puppet-theatre-come-to-mazomanie-wisconsin?si=a8d1fc4236e24c74a72a3995f81afb52&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing. The world-renowned Bread and Puppet Circus of Glover Vermont came to Mazomanie Saturday to perform their latest creation: “The Beginning After the End of Humanity” Circus. W-O-R-T reporter David Ahrens was there. Wild Rumpus, a local circus training school, brought the Bread and Puppet Circus to Mazomanie...