Marionetas de la Esquina Presents SLEEPING BEAUTY DREAMS at Smothers Theatre Today

Award-winning puppet theatre company Marionetas de la Esquina brings their unique and modern adaptation Sleeping Beauty Dreams to Smothers Theatre today, March 7 at 11 a.m.

Tickets, priced starting at $12 for adults and $10 for youth 17 and under and for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or online at http://arts.pepperdine.edu/. More information: http://marionetas.com.mx/

There will be a free, open to the public Family Art Day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. before and after the performance, featuring hands-on art projects and Weisman Museum tours.

This puppet theatre company from Mexico has been entertaining children and adults alike since 1975. In this contemporary take on the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty, the famous princess is depicted as an overprotected daughter looking for a way to break free of her castle walls in order to search for true love-and her true self.

Written by award-winning playwright Amaranta Leyva, this co-commission of the Kennedy Center uses Marionetas de la Esquina's humorous storytelling and whimsical puppetry to awaken this sleeping princess as never before, in a modern interpretation for today's young audiences.

A puppet theater company from Mexico founded by Lucio Espíndola and Lourdes Pérez Gay, Marionetas de la Esquina has been entertaining children and adults alike since 1975. Performing shows in both English and Spanish, Marionetas de la Esquina has given more than 11,000 performances and 50 workshops and seminars. Since its creation, the company has helped disseminate and develop the art of puppetry in Mexico. The company keeps a repertoire of ten shows, each a testimony to its wish to experiment with all aspects of puppet theatre, from set and puppet design to dramaturgy. The company has a variety of themes, stages, and puppets that have won recognition in Mexico and abroad. In 2004, the company was recognized by Conaculta (The National Council for Culture and Arts) and included in the program México en Escena (Mexico on Stage), a program that supports experienced and renowned groups. In 2006, company member and playwright Amaranta Leyva received the Mexican National Prize for Children's Theater for her play The Dress. Also in 2006, the company was honored by the National Critics of Mexico. The company's history has been published in a book called Marionetas de la Esquina, Tras Bambalinas (Fonca, Cal y Arena, México, 2004; Marionetas de la Esquina, Behind the Scenes). Lucio Espindala and Lourdes Pérez Gay received the Títeres Rosete Aranda medal in 2012 for their work as artists and promoters of puppetry in Mexico.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from 664 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

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