Taiwanese Puppet Show PAPER PLAY Comes to Flushing Town Hall

On Sunday, August 13, Flushing Town Hall will present the award-winning Paper Play by Puppet Beings Theatre. Families are invited to join a 1 PM workshop prior to the 2:15 PM family show.

An instant classic created by Puppet Beings Theatre, Paper Play will delight audiences of all ages with its unique stage, puppets, and props—all made entirely from paper! In this way, Paper Play ingeniously promotes the idea of a one-material Object Theater, which is a form of modern puppetry that utilizes everyday objects as the main characters and elements of a performance, leading young audiences into a world of unbounded imagination and diverse creativity. Folding and joining this everyday object in creative ways, the production completely reimagines paper as a storytelling and creative medium.

In their performance at Flushing Town Hall, the artists from Taiwan will present two stories: 

“The Park”: As a little boy plays with a ball in the park, it unexpectedly brings him closer to an old man he had once feared. Puppets, lights, and music bring to life this touching story of caring for the elderly.  

“The Paper Play”: In a wild and creative ride, paper is playfully transformed into a wide range of different characters, completely reimagining the properties and possibilities of your everyday writing sheet. 

Both “The Park” and “The Paper Play” will take audiences on an adventure filled with wonder and laughter, offering magical moments of playfulness and discovery.

In the pre-performance workshop, participants of all ages will have the opportunity to create their own mini-performance using various shapes of paper.

Puppet Beings Theatre was founded in Taiwan in 2000 by Cheng-Chieh Sun, a seasoned puppet performing artist, dedicated to introducing, developing, and producing modern puppet shows. Puppet Beings Theatre presents what is called a "Bunraku" performance - a puppet theater that has real people working with string puppets (marionettes), hand/glove puppets, rod puppets, or masks and shadow puppets (shadow silhouettes).

The company produces elaborate puppet shows of the highest quality and has performed at international festivals in India, Edinburgh, Tunisia, China, Latvia, and more. Puppet Beings Theatre will make its U.S. debut by participating in this year's International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC in Manhattan earlier in August and will wrap up its U.S. performances with a final show at Flushing Town Hall in Queens.

“We are delighted to welcome the Puppet Beings Theatre for their U.S. premiere at Flushing Town Hall, “says, Director of Education & Public Programs, Gabrielle M. Hamilton. “Their innovative puppetry unleashes the imagination and creativity in audiences of all ages.”

Puppet Beings Theatre has won many International Puppet Art Awards, including “Best Performance" and "Best Creativity" at Shanghai International Children Theatre Festival 2009 and "Creative Award" at the First China Nanchong International Puppet Art Week 2014. 

Tickets for Paper Play are $15 for general admission, $12 for members, seniors, and students, and $8 for children 12 and under, and include the workshop. To purchase tickets, visit https://www.flushingtownhall.org/event-detail.php?id=405. The show is 60 minutes long and suitable for all ages.

This program has been funded in part by The Jim Henson Foundation.  

For the venue's full schedule of 2023 summer events, visit: https://www.flushingtownhall.org/fth-presents