Bread and Puppet-The Heart of the Matter

This past Sunday, I read an article by Bob Morris about the Bread and Puppet Theater’s founder, Peter Schumann. I remember Bread and Puppet well. My friend and I used to drive up to Glover, Vermont when we were in our early twenties (or late teens), to see the performances and eat rock hard sourdough rye bread.

It felt so magical to walk over the hill and see a couple hundred people and giant puppets navigating across the hillside. At the time, I was less interested in his political stances, and more intrigued by being fully immersed in a creative experimental space in upstate Vermont, surrounded by people who believed art (and bread) could change the world.

Peter Schumann sculpts, paints, directs, collaborates, teaches and is always creating. I am deeply impressed by people who have such a profound passion to “make things”. I also didn’t realize how much the Bread and Puppet Theater had expanded over the past several years. For art to survive you have to be relevant. It seems Schumann’s work is as relevant today as it was when we saw it back in our youth.

Reading his article inspired me to revisit that time in my life where hopping in the car, driving 4 hours, pit-stopping at the original Ben and Jerry’s, and seeing live theater and giant?papier-maché?puppets performing in a field was no big deal. It was just another adventure with my best friend.

My friend, Chris Chapman, asks this question when he is pitching his company, Imaginology:

“Think back to your childhood. Think of a memory when play or adventure made hours pass like minutes. What was it and what did it feel like?”

The first time I heard him ask it, it felt really uncomfortable for me. I thought, wow, he is putting this executive?on the spot. They will never answer such a vulnerable question. However, they paused and answered the question thoughtfully and with abandon. Every time I’ve heard him ask this question since, it has been answered honestly and openly. The responses are always joyful.

What his exercise reminds me is to look at my work differently and with more freedom. This past year, as a consultant and advisor to a handful of companies, I decided to focus my efforts on mission-driven work. I made this statement to myself not knowing what it would lead to, and what I found were incredible, awe-inspiring ideas, businesses and work happening. ?I am inspired to be a part of it. It continues to reinvigorate me daily.

As Clare Dolan, a puppeteer with Bread and Puppet Theater says:

“It’s a way of making art and living with a strong level of engagement and concern”.

Exactly.

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