'The Historye of Queen Esther, of King Ahasverus & of the Haughty Haman' to Run at West Side Y February 21-March 7

Just in time for the Purim season, Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre will perform its "The Historye of Queen Esther, of King Ahasverus & of the Haughty Haman" from February 21 to March 7 at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater of the West Side Y, located on West 64th St. just West of Central Park West, Manhattan. The production features modernist marionettes and those from the Czech Puppetry repertoire and is recommended for family audiences.

Purim in 2009 will start on Tuesday, March 10 and will continue until Wednesday, March 11. In the Jewish calendar, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Jews will celebrate Purim on the sunset of Monday, March 9.

This production is closely related to the Purim plays that are still enacted every year in Jewish communities around the world. It is based on the traditional script of itinerant Czech puppeteers. In 18th century Europe, "Queen Esther" was among the top "hits" of the Czech marionette repertoire. At the time, the only theater truly available in small towns and villages were shows by itinerant puppeteers. Their plays were a whimsical mixture of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," heroic legends, and rudimentary pre-Shakespearean tragedies.

Plays with biblical themes were the oldest in the repertory of Czech Folk Puppeteers, closely followed by related legends, and later by stories featuring strong individuals like Faust and Don Juan. Just like Faust, the play about Queen Esther was probably influenced by companies of English players who performed in Prague and other Czech and Moravian towns from the end of the 16th century through 1620, returning again immediately after 30-year War. These companies performed a repertoire of plays with live actors and marionettes, besides showing various leaps, dancing bears, fire eating, fencing and other daring feats.

Czech puppeteers developed their own versions of the plays adding characters like comical peasants and the jester Kaspárek and his wife Kalupinka, obviously cousins of Punch and Judy. These itinerant puppeteers were largely illiterate and they traded the plays in their families by word of mouth. Since folk tradition, whether in plays or tales, has historically shown Jews as stock comical characters or worse, this older play is notable for its positive approach to Judaism.

Oral transmission of the texts, which was natural in the age of illiterate lower classes, was also the only way of copyright protection and the puppeteers initially resisted written records of their plays. Shortly after folk plays were first recorded in the 19th Century, the direct oral transmission began to fade away. A member of the Maizner family wrote the first manuscripts of "Queen Ester" in the 1820s; it was later combined with other versions of the play.

Under Austro-Hungarian, Nazi and Communist domination, Czech puppetry contained pointed political satire by concealing sharp criticism in familiar tales. Since independence, Czech puppet impresarios have experimented with multimedia effects and shattering illusion by having human actors perform opposite their wooden counterparts. Stylistically, Vit Horejs falls in with the prominent modernists of this form. Citing the 1997 production of "Hamlet," Time Magazine (Emily Mitchell) credited Horejs with "uniting the honored tradition with post-modern sensibilities, giving his mute figures from a bygone era a startling new place in the theater."

In this production of Queen Ester, downtown meets folk tradition. High and low, live performers and puppets of disparate sizes are blended for a startling comical and touching effect. The cast of puppets includes marionettes designed and constructed by Prague master carver Jakub Krejci, two marionettes composed from household and carpentry tools by Michelle Beshaw and Emily Wilson, and giant paper mache puppets made by CAMT's Associate Director Theresa Linnihan.

The actor/puppeteers are Deborah Beshaw, Vít Horejs, Ron Jones, Sarah Lafferty, Theresa Linnihan and Ronny Wasserstrom. Set and Costumes are by Theresa Linnihan. Puppets are by Jakub "Kuba" Krejcí, Václav Krcál (Haman), Michelle Beshaw and Emily Wilson (Kaspárek & Kalupinka).

The piece is expected to be a good fit for the Upper West Side, with its burgeoning Jewish community and avid family audiences.

ABOUT CZECHOSLOVAK-AMERICAN MARIONETTE THEATER (www.czechmarionettes.org)
Vit Horejs, an emigre from Prague, founded Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre in 1990, utilizing century-old Czech puppets which he found in the Jan Hus Church on East 74th Street. His trademark is using puppets of many sizes, from six-inch toy marionettes to twelve-foot rod puppets which double as scenery. CAMT is dedicated to preserving and presenting traditional and not-so-traditional puppetry. Horejs is well-known for innovative re-interpretations of classics. At La MaMa E.T.C., the company has performed "The Life and Times of Lee Harvey Oswald" (2004), "Don Juan or the Wages of Debauchery" (2003), "The Prose of the Transsiberian and of the Little Joan of France" (2001), "Johannes Dokchtor Faust" (2000), "The Little Rivermaid Rusalka" (1999), "Golem" (1997, which was featured in the 1998 Henson International Puppetry Festival), and "Once There Was a Village" (2007), an ethno-opera with puppets,found objects and music by Frank London.

"Johannes Dokchtor Faust" was featured in CAMT's first season (1990) and was re-staged in 1994 as part of NADA's Obie Award-winning "Faust Festival" in Soho. It was revived at La MaMa (in 2000) and at Manhattan's Bohemian Hall (in 2007). Other NYC productions include "A Christmas Carol--OY! Hanukkah--Merry Kwanzaa," "Kacha and the Devil," "The White Doe - Or The Piteous Trybulations of the Sufferyng Countess Jenovefa," "Snehurka, The Snow Maiden" and "Twelve Iron Sandals." CAMT has performed its "Hamlet" at the Vineyard Theater, in outdoor venues in NYC, and in the 2004 Prague Summer Shakespeare Festival in the Lord Chamberlain's Palace Courtyard at Prague Castle.

CAMT's "The Bass Saxophone," a WWII fantasy with music based on a story by Josef Skvorecky, played 11 weeks at the Grand Army Plaza Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch in Brooklyn during the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006.

Its last production was "The Very Sad Story of Ethel & Julius, Lovers and Spyes, and about Their Untymelie End while Sitting in a Small Room at the Correctional Facility in Ossining New York" at Theater for The New City in December, 2008. Anita Gates wrote in the New York Times, "Vit Horejs has written and directed a first-rate, thoroughly original production and made it look effortless. The cast gives charged, cohesive performances, and the staging is expert".

The Company has also appeared at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center, the Smithsonian Institution, The World Trade Center, the Antonin Dvorak Festival in Spillville, Iowa, the Heart of the Beast in Minneapolis, the Lowell Folk Arts Festival in Massachusetts and in international festivals in Poland, Turkey, Pakistan, and the Czech Republic.

Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre is a program of GOH Productions. This production is made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York City Councilmember Rosie Mendez, District 2 Manhattan, Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and with support from Materials for the Arts (A Program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of Sanitation, 7 Loaves, Inc. and private contributors.

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ABOUT THE MARJORIE S. DEANE LITTLE THEATER
The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA hosts affordable performances for all age groups, with an emphasis on inspiring youth and families to learn about and appreciate the theatrical arts. Having recently undergone $2-million in renovations, the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater boasts new raked seating with handicap accessibility; professional grade flooring and rigging; state-of-the-art lighting, audio-visual equipment (including movie screen) and acoustics, a centrally located sound-proof control booth and more. The theater is available for rentals and can be reserved by contacting Kimberly Loren Mulvaney, Artistic and Managing Director, at 212-875-4292.

ABOUT THE WEST SIDE YMCA
The West Side YMCA is a member of the YMCA of Greater New York, a community service organization that promotes positive values through programs that build mind, body and spirit. Every year, the West Side YMCA serves more than 20,000 New Yorkers, including 12,000 kids from throughout the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Supported in part through contributions to the Strong Kids Campaign, the West Side YMCA provides membership assistance and scholarships to programs like summer camp, child care and teen activities, ensuring that no family or youth is turned away due to financial difficulties. For more information on West Side YMCA programs and services, visit www.ymcanyc.org/westside or call (212) 875-4101.

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