Are you looking for something different and fun to entertain your children during the long summer break? One of my daughter’s favorite activities, any time of year, is to go to a marionette show at Peewinkle’s Puppet Studio.
Peewinkle’s features family-friendly puppet shows throughout the year, delighting young audiences and educating older children (and adults) about the art of puppetry. The cozy little theatre is adorable and the shows are always enchanting; great entertainment for children from toddlers through school age.
Currently playing is the Summertime Cabaret, which runs every summer and showcases some of Peewinkle’s best marionettes, all handmade with love by the puppeteer proprietors (Heidi Shackleford, Peggy Melchior and Debbi White). Some of the highlights include an egg-laying ostrich ballerini and an octopus that does the hokey-pokey. What could be more fun for young audiences than that?
Visit Peewinkle’s Puppet Studio for a fun and educational summertime activity.
My daughter and I have been going to every Peewinkle’s show since she was only 18 months old and the performances have always captured her attention and imagination. All of the shows are just exciting enough, and just short enough, to hold the attention of even the youngest viewer. And the free popcorn doesn’t hurt!
Inspired by these frequent visits, my daughter loves puppets. She loves to play with her many hand puppets and marionettes (which I spend a lot of time untangling), engaging them in dramatic adventures with her toy dinosaurs and princess dolls. A good friend of the family built her a custom puppet stage, appropriately named the Ladybug Theatre, which she plays with all the time. She frequently sits me down to watch mini-performances, normally of the puppets singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Disney showtunes.
I know as she gets older this love of puppetry will help expand her creativity and imagination. I look forward to when she is just a little older and can take advantage of the educational opportunities Peewinkle’s offers with its workshops (sometimes offered after shows), summer camps and mini-camps offered throughout the year. During these classes, young students make their own puppets and learn how to operate them. Peewinkle’s truly celebrates puppetry as an art form.
This delightful little theatre is located right downtown, just a few blocks south of Monument Circle, at 25 E. Henry Street. The Summertime Cabaret is only running for a short time, with performances at 10 am and noon on Thursdays and Fridays through July 19. The cost is $8 per person (kids under 2 are free). The puppet theatre is wonderfully intimate, with only 50 seats, so shows can sell out fast. Get your tickets online at www.peewinklespuppets.com or call 317-917-9454 for more information.
