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Skirball Cultural Center

Skirball Cultural Center Open Call for Puppetry Acts

Children celebrating around a giant red and yellow caterpillar puppet being held by 3 adults with poles.

Puppet Festival 2024–Sunday, April 28, 2024

The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles seeks puppetry acts for its tenth-annual Skirball Puppet Festival on Sunday, April 28, 2024, from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. This daylong, campus-wide festival celebrates imagination and storytelling and will be presented to family audiences, primarily children ages 2 to 8 and their parents.

The festival will feature a wide range of puppetry, from small to large scale, using diverse media and drawing on a variety of artistic and cultural traditions. General attendance is expected to be around 1,400 visitors.

The Skirball Cultural Center is dedicated to diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and equity, and we’re particularly interested in acts that represent the diversity of Los Angeles.

About the Skirball

Open to the public since 1996, the Skirball Cultural Center welcomes people of all communities and generations to participate in programming that celebrates discovery and hope, fosters human connections, and calls upon each of us to help build a better world.

At the Skirball, performing arts serve as a vehicle to explore and forge connections among individuals, cultures, and communities in engaging, inclusive, and memorable ways. 

Rooted in storytelling traditions central to Jewish culture and many others, the Skirball celebrates puppetry as one of the most powerful means of sharing stories and building community.

Seeking Five Types of Acts/Experiences:

  1. Midsized
    • Black box style theatrical stage shows for an audience of 30–60 running approximately 15–30 minutes, performed 2 or 3 times throughout the day (day-of allotted set up time 1.5 hrs. and strike time 1.5 hrs.)
  2. Mainstage
    • Proscenium style theatrical stage shows for an audience of 100–350 running approximately 20–35 minutes, performed 2 or 3 times throughout the day (day-of allotted set up time 3 hrs. and strike time 3 hrs.)
  3. Pageant puppets
  4. Pop-up small scale outdoor and indoor performances
    • Surprise puppet moments that can last from 5–15 minutes as a delightful surprise with little to no tech/AV.
  5. Immersive
    • Indoor or outdoor audience experience related to puppetry (day-of allotted set up time 3 hrs. and strike time 3 hrs.)

What We’re Looking For:

  • Puppetry acts that represent diverse artistic styles and cultures, as well as the diversity of our local community.
  • Stories told through puppetry that build on the Skirball’s mission of connecting people across cultures, examining history and identity, celebrating diversity, and making the world a better place by caring for the earth and one another.
  • Acts that tell original stories, provide a new take on folktales, or are creative re-imaginings of culturally significant events or stories (like the award-winning exhibition Noah's Ark at the Skirball).
  • Innovative acts that tell stories with fresh interpretations of puppetry.
  • Family-friendly acts that engage audiences across generations.
  • Acts that can be performed in traditional and nontraditional performance spaces in the daytime, like outdoor patios, museum galleries, or public spaces (priority may be given to performances that do not require significant technical support).
  • Immersive experiences for visitors that are not puppet performances but relate to puppetry and the themes of storytelling, imagination, welcome, and community.

What We’re Not Looking For:

  • Performances geared toward adults (e.g. depictions of sex, violence, or storylines and situations that might be too sophisticated for young children).
  • Performances with significant technical needs, requiring elaborate sets, lighting, or sound.

Stipend:

Each participating group will be offered a stipend, marketing opportunities, and amenities on the day of the performance.

How to Apply:

Please complete the submission form here (Google login required) so we can learn about your experience and what you might bring to this special day! If you encounter any issues logging in, please email us at familyprograms@skirball.org.

Deadline for Submissions

Forms must be submitted no later than January 30, 2024. If we are interested in setting up an in-person interview or audition, we will contact you after receiving your materials.