BREAD and PUPPET // "The Obligation to Live"

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | The iconoclastic Bread and Puppet Theater returns to Bennington College! Peter Schumann’s legendary carnival of dissent and other possibilities will be stopping by VAPA's Greenwall Auditorium on Thursday, April 3 on their spring 2025 tour, "The Obligation to Live".

Director Peter Schumann reminds us that, “The obligation to be alive and act against the actors of death is just one of humanity’s many obligations. We also have the obligation to courage and the obligation to plant garlic in the rubble of the empire. Possibilitarians know this and bring giants, dragons, horses, sheep, butterflies, and the exact dance of death required for this exact moment.”

After the show Bread & Puppet will serve its famous sourdough rye bread with aioli, and Bread & Puppet’s “Cheap Art” will be for sale.

Founded in 1963 by Peter Schumann on New York City’s Lower East Side, Bread & Puppet has been based in the North East Kingdom of Vermont since the early 1970s and is one of the oldest, nonprofit, self-supporting theatrical companies in the country. Well known for its visually rich, street-theater brand of performance art, Bread and Puppet revels in music, dance, and slapstick-filled celebratory protest. Believing that theater is a basic necessity like bread, the company frequently brings its work to the streets for those who may not otherwise go to the theater. Its shows are political and spectacular, frequently featuring puppets on stilts, huge masks with expressive faces, singing, dancing, and a richly elaborated repertoire of iconic characters.

Bread and Puppet is recognized throughout the world and has won distinction at international theater festivals in Italy, Poland, Colombia, and Yugoslavia, beginning with their break-out performances at the 1968 Nancy Festival in France. Notable awards include the Erasmus Prize of Amsterdam, 4 Obies, the Puppeteers of America's President Award, and the Vermont Governor's Award. Bread and Puppet is constantly active, performing at its farm in Glover, VT, and in local churches, schools and parades. It regularly tours Europe, Canada, and the United States and has recently visited El Salvador, Haiti, Russia, Greece and Korea.