Puppet Uprising returned to the CEC with a summer program of puppet shows including a children's matinee. Puppet troupes came from as far away as Illinois and Texas, blazing the trail for the movement of touring DIY theater-makers that we've been hosting ever since.

Ben T. Mathcstick brought his behemouth booth from Chicago's Puppetropolis International Festival for a series of tales in the milleu of English folklore, spun through the post-industrial loom of puppetista handpuppet ethos in "Jack the Giant-Killer." Members of Austin, Texas' Rhizome Collective told their own story in "Bikes Across Borders," the true life adventures of a group of bicycle mechanics who shuttled 80 bikes across the Rio Grande one-by-one to evade weighty NAFTA tarifs for anyone who isn't with a big corporation. In the matinee program a pair of puppeteers from Asian Arts Initiative presents the results of a month-long shadow puppet workshop, "Model Minority Myths."

Visit Asian Arts Initiative here.
See the exploits of Ben T. Matchstick here.
Find out about Bikes Across Borders here.