Sunday, November 15, 2015

Paper Hand Puppet Intervention

November 11
Wednesday


The fun of traveling is coming across the unexpected. 

I knew I would be staying at the North Carolina Fairgrounds but didn't know it would be next to this horse training complex.








I was in Raleigh to see a performance, the last of the season, of the Paper Hand Puppet Theater Intervention  at
North Carolina State University.

It was an evening  performance so I went onto campus to scope out the parking situation.
Public parking lots were across campus from the theater but I did find spots next to the theater reserved for employees but only until 5 pm.

Wandered around their Student Union which is beautiful with a giant fireplace in the lounge area.









Back on campus at 5 pm, I was headed to the cafeteria when I came across a Stone Soup Supper fund raiser for the Campus Ministry which feeds the urban poor.

Twelve upscale local restaurants had samples of their best soups.






For my $25 donation I had a wonderful supper.

As an added thank you we each were able to choose a ceramic bowl from a huge table of beautiful donated bowls from the Art Dept.







A short block to the Thompson Theater on this warm night with the campus filled with young people out and about.

I felt totally safe and reminded myself I should do this more often in college towns.






The characters in Paper Hand Puppet Intervention each have their own personality.










This is the Tough Guy and he was, too. The characters were all acted out by creator Donovan.

He told stories, mimed his parts and even played the drums for our entertainment.






This owl scared the two rabbits and the mouse played by kids from the audience.
But in the end he only wanted to be their friend.









The old man was hilarious without saying a word.



















A giant owl hovered over the audience.










Donovan explained how he and his staff create the characters.

They play all over the country. If you have a chance to see them, do.
It was great fun.







Leaving Raleigh headed for Georgia, I was startled driving on the freeway to see out of the corner of my eye this giant peach.  Even more weird was the fact that I had just seen it last night on an episode of House of Cards which I am binge watching streaming on Netflix on my laptop.
It was the episode where Francis had to return to his home district in Gaffney, NC for a problem when a young woman is killed after being distracted by the giant peach.

So there really is a Gaffney.  I pulled off the highway to find out more about how the locals feel about
the show.  The restaurant near the giant peach had a bar so that is where I headed. The only person at the bar said he'd never seen the show and the bartender said he "didn't mind it".  I decided not to go any further by asking them how they felt about being made to look like a bunch of country bumpkins.
It just reminds me of James and the Giant Peach or Gaffney and the Giant Peach.

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