Bread and Puppet Theater will perform at the Woodstock Playhouse on April 18 in a fundraiser organized by Stop Zena Development, a coalition opposing the proposed Zena Homes project. The 30-lot subdivision, planned on about 626 acres spanning Woodstock and Ulster, has become a flashpoint in a broader fight over environmental review, emergency access and the Town of Ulster’s handling of the review.
Now based in Glover, Vermont, Bread and Puppet is known for large-scale, politically charged performances that blend puppetry, music, visual art and protest. The April 18 event at the Woodstock Playhouse will feature “The End of the World Never Minding Show,” a new production touring from Vermont to Washington, D.C., and back.
“We are doing the end of the world never minding show,” said Paul Bedard, Bread and Puppet’s tour booker. “It is a new show touring from Vermont to DC and back.”
The Vermont-based troupe described the production as an “urgently-needed new puppet show” featuring “our upside-down situation, a revolt orchestra, screaming choirs, and a reckoning with the catastrophe of logic.”
Bedard said the company’s work is not specifically aimed at children, though families are welcome.
“A lot of people, when they hear puppets, they immediately think children,” he said. “Children are certainly welcome at our shows, but our shows are not specifically designed for children. If you would let your child read a newspaper, the show will be fine for them.”
The event came together after a member of Stop Zena Development’s steering committee noticed an opening on the troupe’s spring tour, according to Zoe Keller, co-chair of the coalition.
“One of our steering committee members noticed that Bread and Puppet had a couple of openings left on their spring tour,” Keller said. “We were able to coordinate with them and the awesome folks at the Woodstock Playhouse and kind of just stars aligned.”
Proceeds from the event will support outreach and legal efforts related to the coalition’s opposition to the development.
“There are kind of two things that we’re using those funds for,” Keller said. “The first is outreach for things like our neighborhood meetings. The majority of the funds will go to our legal fight.”
That legal effort includes an Article 78 petition filed by the Woodstock Land Conservancy seeking a court ruling that would move the Town of Ulster’s review of the proposed Zena Homes subdivision from the Planning Board to the Town Board.
“Every lawsuit costs money and we would love to be as aggressive as possible,” Keller said.
Andy Mossey, executive director of the Woodstock Land Conservancy, said the event is also intended to raise awareness about the coalition’s efforts.
“We thought that it could be a really interesting tie-in to support Bread and Puppet and bring some more awareness into our cause,” Mossey said.
Mossey said the coalition expects significant legal expenses in the coming months.
“Primarily just lawyer fees,” he said. “We have quite a lot of legal fees that we’re expecting in the next several months.”
Bedard said Bread and Puppet’s work is meant to meet the political moment.
“Now more than ever, we need to never mind people that say that this is the end of the world because it can’t be,” he said. “And the world we all deserve will take all of us to win it.”
Bread and Puppet Theater serves free homemade sourdough rye bread with garlic aioli after performances, a long-standing tradition reflecting the troupe’s belief that art should be as essential and shared as bread.The performance will take place Saturday, April 18, at 7 p.m. at the Woodstock Playhouse, 103 Mill Hill Road in Woodstock. Tickets range from $25 to $125, and organizers said no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.