THROUGH THE NARROWS
Minneapolis- How do you find the next step forward in life’s narrow places?
On {insert date}, {insert presenting company name} presents Through the Narrows, an award-winning show intertwining Cherokee and Jewish history by Z Puppets Rosenschnoz of Minneapolis.
Follow Chootch, a 6-year old Cherokee boy as he bears witness to the Trail of Tears and Elli, a 3500- year old Jewish woman, as she recounts the crossing of the Red Sea. Through puppetry and live music, slide across continents and centuries as they travel from struggle to triumph.
After the 1-hour performance, the artists invite the audience to make "power figures" — simple miniature puppets to take home and call on for strength in hard times.
In its premiere run in Minneapolis, rave reviews from audience members included:
“There was magic in the air as soon as we entered the room.”
“Wonderfully performed, thought-provoking storytelling.”
“An enchanting call to find our own inner strength in these times.”
The Jim Henson Foundation awarded Through the Narrows with a Family Theater Grant in 2021. The show was developed with grants from the Rimon Jewish Arts Council, Howard B. and Ruth F Brin Jewish Arts Endowment and Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.
In 2020, Z Puppets produced Through the Narrows as an Audio Drama, which earned international atttention for the premiere webcast and was re-broadcast by KFAI Radio as the kick off to Native American Heritage Month.
ABOUT Z PUPPETS ROSENSCHNOZ
Z Puppets Rosenschnoz is a Minneapolis company that brings people into the power of playfulness through performances, workshops and feats of imagination. Led by Chris Griffith (a Cherokee Nation tribal member) and Shari Aronson, Z Puppets’ inventive mix of puppetry, humor and music has won national acclaim. Since 1998, their work has earned honors from the Jim Henson Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Puppeteers of America, Network of Ensemble Theaters, Creative Child and Parents’ Choice magazines. Learn more at zpuppets.org.
Shari Aronson has written plays and developed exhibits for the MN History Center, Science Museum of MN, Mill City Museum, MN Children’s Museum and the City of Maplewood. Shari’s stage adaptation of Eric Kimmel’s beloved children’s book Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins has been produced by professional and youth theaters across the country, including the MN Jewish Theatre Company and Tucson’s Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre.
Chris Griffith began as a solo juggler/street performer before falling into a life of a puppetry and arts education with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre, Galumph Interactive Theatre, and Children’s Theater Company. Chris won an Ivey Award for excellence in puppetry design. Chris has been developing a series of shows for stage and screen about Cherokee language, culture and history, with funding from the NDN Collective and Tiwahe Foundation.
Greg Herriges is an internationally recognized performer and composer with musical expertise that spans international and improvisational traditions (Middle East, Asia, India). A Bush and McKnight Foundation grantee, Greg has composed and performed music for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, performer Zaraawar Mistry, Twin Cities Public Television, and independent film soundtracks.
Through the Narrows is directed by Laurie Witzkowski, a theater maker and community activist whose work has been featured at Lincoln Center, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre, Theater Mu, Mixed Precipitation, TigerLion Arts, Bedlam Theater and internationally, from war zones to prisons and sacred sites.
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