The Hope College Great Performance Series will feature the Cashore Marionettes on Friday, Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
The Cashore Marionettes have had four sold-out performances at Hope College in the past, most recently in 2012. The performances this time will be two different productions, although some pieces are repeated in each performance. The Friday performance is titled “Life in Motion” and the Saturday performance is called “Simple Gifts.”
The Cashore Marionettes have performed throughout the world to critical acclaim. The Calgary Herald said, “This collection of puppet vignettes, set to well-chosen music, is a simple but brilliant production that carries the audience through a range of feelings... I can’t recommend this show highly enough.”
In the performances, Joseph Cashore presents his collection of marionette masterworks. Cashore not only creates the pieces, he hand crafts every one of the marionettes, which are works of art in themselves. His work was featured on the cover and with a feature in the Spring-Summer 2010 issue of Puppetry International. The performances are a series of comic and poignant scenes taken from everyday life and set to music by composers such as Beethoven, Vivaldi, Strauss and Copland. Through a combination of virtuoso manipulation, humor, pathos, classic music and poetic insight, the Cashore Marionettes take the audience on a journey that celebrates the richness of life.
The Center of Contemporary Arts in St. Louis said “The quality of manipulation is unparalleled and the effect upon the audience is powerful.”
The show is highly recommended for adults. It is suggested that children be no younger than eight years old.
Individual tickets are $22 for regular admission; $16 for senior citizens, and Hope faculty and staff; and $6 for children 18 and under. Tickets for Hope College students are free.
Tickets are available online at hope.edu/tickets as well as at the ticket office in the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The ticket office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
More information about the season may be obtained online.
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.