PUTNEY-Sandglass Theater will launch its 13th Puppets in the Green Mountains (PGM) festival, running Wednesday, Sept. 16 to Sunday, Sept. 20 at various sites in Brattleboro and in Putney.
With performance pieces from a span of origins — Denmark, India, Germany, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, and Hawaii — the festival theme is “Endings, Beginnings and the Humanity in Between.”
The theme, Festival Director Shoshana Bass says, “arose out of this moment we’re in, where the idea of extinction doesn’t feel so far away.”
“There’s a lot of destruction, but there’s also a huge amount of potential: what new systems can be created as the empire we live in is crumbling,” she continues. “And where do we find ourselves? Where do we find our humanity in the midst of all of that? A lot of these works speak to that.”
As Sandglass shares in a press release, “in a world marked by ecological crisis, technological isolation, and political division, puppetry offers a unique imaginative space to reconsider what it means to be human.”
Comprised of live performances for adults and children, workshops, a film screening, an exhibit, cabaret evenings, a gala, a parade, and panel discussions, the 2026 PGM builds on a rich past that over the years has seen more than 75 companies from more than 20 countries converge this time of year in southern Vermont.
‘These are wonderful shows’
Well-known internationally, the biennial festival is recognized by puppetry artists worldwide “as a great place to come because they’re so well taken care of and because they’re so touched by the community they come into,” Bass explains. “This community has built an international reputation among puppeteers.”
PGM 2026 offerings geared towards family audiences will all happen at Hilltop Montessori School in Brattleboro.
“Those are wonderful shows,” says Bass, noting that the creators of these shows are “quite well known for the exquisiteness of their work and quality of puppetry.”
In that lineup, too, is The House, a work geared toward teenage audiences. She calls the hand puppet show from Denmark “a comic thriller that takes place in this revolving house with a lot of intrigue and dark comedy — and slapstick. It’s just a little bit creepy and wonderful.”
Human, by Nehprii Amenii will be the PGM’s “big school show,” for which about 400 youth from surrounding schools will gather at Brattleboro’s Latchis Theatre. Commissioned by Sandglass, it’s the final show of the festival and central to its theme.
The show, explains the Sandglass release, “imagines a scenario where the human race is extinct and an octopus with three hearts needs to decide whether to give up one heart to recreate humanity and give the species a second chance.”
Bass credits Brattleboro’s Town Arts Fund with facilitating the school show through its subsidizing of tickets and transportation.
In addition, audiences can see:
• Anurupa Roy, from India, in About Ram, a multimedia revisiting of the ancient epic Ramayana.
• Loco7 Dance Puppet Theatre Company presents Lunch with Sonia, with puppets, live actors, music, video, and physical theater. It’s inspired by company founder Federico Restrepo’s true-life experience with his Aunt Sonia, who decided to end her life with dignity after a long illness at age 72.
• Jana Zeller, youth programming coordinator of Sandglass Theater, offers Puppet Crimes. An original hand puppet show, it’s a dark comedy about traditional German hand puppet heroes.
• Hobey Ford from North Carolina presents Animalia, which explores the magical world of animals through hand-carved foam puppets.
• And Tom Lee from Chicago offers Tomte, the story of a Swedish gnome who takes care of a family on winter nights, sending a message about the importance of kindness.
Naming a few special features of PGM 2026, Bass points to the documentary film Iniskim: Return of the Buffalo, an intercultural collaboration between puppeteer Peter Balkwill, who works with puppet lanterns, and “a group of First Nation folks in Canada who’re part of the movement to bring buffalo back to the ancestral lands.”
In addition, “Access through the Arts,” a series of three panel discussions, will be held throughout the festival. They will include festival artists and one local community member each.
The first panel is about the more-than-human-world with Rich Holschuh, resident of Brattleboro (Wantastegok) and an independent historical and cultural researcher.
The second panel, about endings, will feature Abigail Mnookin, a local doula and climate activist, and the third panel will explore puppetry as resistance and reflection with writer, producer, and activist Lissa Weinmann of Brattleboro’s Words Trail and 118 Elliot.
The public is welcome to the free panels (small donations are welcome). Each will be livestreamed via HowlRound Theatre Commons, an online platform, “so we can reach a wider audience,” says Bass.
Working with the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, PGM will offer “Puppets 4.0—Museum without Walls,” in which the German Forum for Puppetry Arts will bring the diverse world of puppet theater to life in an interactive exhibition.
Equipped with virtual reality headsets, visitors will immerse themselves in five digital rooms of a puppet collection, allowing access to “a wealth of knowledge and visuals about puppet history around the world,” Bass says.
Another partnership behind PGM 2026, Bass says, is with Puppeteers of America, a national puppet group with regional guilds. Its Northeast and Mid Atlantic chapters have joined Sandglass to produce a day of workshops, “an opportunity for people that want to get their hands on trying to build things and get involved.”
The PGM Cabaret at Sages Pub in Brattleboro, the festival website explains, offers three evenings of “surprise performances, short acts, and lively celebration of puppetry’s playful spirit.”
And a festive fundraising gala and puppetry parade on Thursday, Sept. 17 will gather artists, supporters, and community members to celebrate 30 years of puppet arts and boost the future of the festival.
‘Any sane person would have decided to forego it’
Bass runs the show — securing sponsors, handling lodging and venue arrangements, programming, promotion — all with support “of my small team here and our board” and in cooperation with festival venues: the Latchis Theatre, New England Youth Theatre, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Next Stage Arts, the Hilltop Montessori School, and 118 Elliot.
Securing visas for performers from abroad posed a challenge to this year’s PGM festival, but “we made it work,” adds Bass, undaunted.
“I guess the mission part of this is feeling that we are in a time where our international relationships are endangered and in a precarious place, and it feels a most important time to be working on building our international friendships and finding ways that we can continue to stay connected,” she says.
Another challenge, Bass adds, has been funding cutbacks.
“This is only the second time we’ve produced the festival without National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding,” she says, noting that the federal agency, which has withstood sweeping cuts under the Trump administration, had previously provided up to $30,000 per festival.
“Any sane person would have decided to forego it,” she says.
But Sandglass redoubled efforts to secure sponsors — and to heartening effect. “We can barely fit all the sponsors on our poster,” Bass says.
“On top of that, we ran a spring appeal asking local community members and donors to try to help us fill the gap this year, and the flow of support has been really quite amazing,” she adds. “It’s actually what’s making it possible for us to do this.”
Although individual and small business support hasn’t fully replaced the NEA grant, ”it’s been incredible to see the community jump in” through sponsorships, lodging and venue discounts, gathering spaces, and other supportive measures, Bass says.
“We feel held by the community, which is great because this festival is for the community, right?” she says.
For more information, accessibility information, show schedules, and tickets, visit puppetsinthegreenmountains.net.
This Arts item by Annie Landenberger was written for The Commons.