“Feral,” which ends the Adams Theater’s Puppetry Series this season, comes to the Adams Theater on October 18 at 7:30pm. It’s a tale of intuition and learned behavior told in puppetry by Sandglass Theater, which has shared whimsical, thought-provoking, and sometimes challenging work across the world for decades.
Tickets are available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36681/production/1237151?performanceId=11629281.
While in Adams, Sandglass Theater will also present a puppetry workshop from 11am-1pm October 19. Focusing on tools and techniques of shadow puppetry, projection, and sound looping, this workshop will help participants generate evocative worlds for storytelling. Using shadow puppets, masks and found objects, participants will learn principles of interfacing with different light sources, integrating manual shadows with projections, and generating multilayered vocal loops.
“Feral,” created and led by Sandglass Artistic Director Shoshana Bass, invites audiences on a woman’s journey as she experiences the tension between her intuitive knowledge and learned societal behavior, captured by an allegorical transformation into a werewolf. As the woman tries to reintegrate this wild voice, she wrestles with her sanity while being diagnosed with a growing feral condition. Within the protection of her domelike dress, domestic acts are disrupted by ancestral visitations and dreams of wolves.
“Feral” is the first Sandglass piece that has been developed entirely under Bass’ vision as creative director. The inspiration comes from the experience of being a woman in the world, having to lean on your intuition to evaluate whether a space is safe. “Our psyche knaws on things for a long time before they become an intentional artistic project,” she said. “I had an incident in my life that called into question my relationship with my intuition. Something was howling inside me and I wasn’t listening.”
During the development of the piece, Roe v. Wade was overturned. “We had no idea that would happen in the middle of our rehearsal project,” Bass said. “Now, to see the onslaught on women’s bodies and queer bodies is really frightening. We never thought the piece would become so relevant in that way.”
Working with academic researcher and artist Paulina Mendez, Bass bit down into these ideas, interviewing women all over the world about where knowledge lives in their bodies, and their stories of intuitive knowledge, experience, and social education. These stories created a foundation for “Feral” as well as a supplemental project featuring interview clips, and contextualizing other experiences “was nurturing and healing for me in a way I didn’t expect,” Bass said.
Bass grew up in puppetry–her parents, Eric Bass and Ines Zeller Bass, formed Sandglass Theater in Munich in 1982, and moved to Putney, Vermont, four years later. At first they were a touring company, and in 1996 opened a theater space in their new hometown.
“They were touring all over the world but also really desired to be in the community,” Bass said. This led to years of productions and the founding of the Puppets in the Green Mountains festival. “Now in Vermont, we have this incredible community of puppet fans that have seen work from the far reaches of the world.”
Sandglass is touring with “Feral” this year and will bring the show all over the country after premiering the piece at Puppets in the Green Mountains last year. Bass, her creative team, and the puppets will stop in Alaska before coming to Adams. “The first two years of touring are essential to the continued development of the show,” she said. “There’s a lot we don’t know until we meet an audience. We need the mileage. It’s the final piece of the puzzle in discovering the soul of the show.”
The Adams Theater is proud to participate in Mass Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program, in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Women, Infants & Children Nutrition Program, and the Mass Health Connector.
EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders receive free admission to our shows and events by presenting their cards at our Box Office. See the complete list of participating organizations offering EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.
The Adams Theater Season Passes
Season passes are available! Reserve yours now and get free or discounted admission to all Season 2025 shows, plus lend it to a friend for shows you can’t attend. It’s an excellent way to support the theater’s mission and get great seats at the same time!
About The Adams Theater
The Adams Theater’s mission is to create a long-lasting multi media arts institution that fosters community engagement through a diverse range of programming. Collaborating extensively with independent artists and other cultural organizations in the Berkshires, the Adams Theater celebrates creative partnerships and promotes cultural dialogues. Learn more at www.adamstheater.org.