Marionette artist to perform three fairy tales
Puppeteer and storyteller Vít Ho ejš, and his troupe of hand-carved marionettes will present Czech and Slovak Fairy Tales with Strings at The Chapel Restoration in Cold Spring at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6.
Hořejš (pronounced Horzaysh) found the cache of 69 24-inch marionettes, 80 to 180 years old, in a closet at the Jan Hus Church in the heart of New York’s Czechoslovak neighborhood. Hořejš will perform a one-man show of fairy tales replete with kings, clever village maidens, witches and spirits. His marionettes speak in a dozen voices, dance, play violin, swim and fly. The program will include “Salt over Gold,” “The Stingy Tailor” and “Kacha and the Devil.”
Hořejš came to New York from Prague in 1979; in 1990 he founded the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, for which he has staged mainstays of the 18th-century marionette repertoire, as well as less traditional performances mixing live performers and marionettes. They have included a puppet opera (Rusalka, the Little Rivermaid) and a performance of Hamlet with five puppeteers and 60 marionettes. His book Twelve Iron Sandals and other Czechoslovak Tales was chosen as one of the best children’s books of the year by the New York Public Library.
The suggested donation for the show is $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12. The event is co-sponsored by The Chapel Restoration and non-profit GOH Productions. The Chapel Restoration, located at 45 Market St., is across from the Metro-North station, where free parking is available on weekends.
