My Backyard

Four Corners Arts Center is pleased to present Yorick’s Marionettes Thursday July 9^th 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Meeting House 3850 Main Road, Tiverton Four Corners, RI 02878.  This event is free and open to the public!

This adaptation of Charles Perrault’s fairy tale is beautifully presented with hand carved wooden marionettes. The King and Queen of a beautiful kingdom rejoice in the birth of their baby daughter, who they name Aurora. At the celebration marking the event, three fairies bestow good wishes for the baby’s future when a witch appears. The witch announces that Aurora will prick her finger to the needle of a spinning wheel and then falls in to eternal sleep.  The God-mother fairy counters the curse: A handsome, charming Prince from a far away kingdom will find Aurora, fall in love and wake her with a kiss. Adaptation: Agnes Novak-Marionettes carved by Dusan Petran.

Yorick’s Marionettes carry a folk tradition as well as explore theatrical dynamics within the context of the marionette theater to create magical performances.  While bringing beauty and humor to all, marionettes are a catalyst for enrichment and a magical kind of story telling.

Marionettes are puppets activated by strings.  Those used by Yorick’s Productions are hand carved by artist Dusan Petran, a native of the former Czechoslovakia.  Mr. Petran studied the Theater Arts at the Janacek Academy of Arts in Brno and was a theater stage actor prior to founding his own marionette theater.  His carving skills earned him a Folk and Traditional Fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.  All his marionettes are perfectly balanced and perform movements that are precise, elegant and artful.   (http://home.earthlink.net/~puppetry/frames_index.htm)

For more information please visit our website www.FourCornersArts.org