Paperhand Puppet Intervention is getting back on its feet after the destruction of Tropical Storm Chantal. The group is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new show called The Gift. It tells the stories of women who protect waterways in the oceans, with 30 performers embodying creatures, including a giant illuminated whale and a 60-foot wide ocean goddess.
Donovan Zimmerman is the co-founder and executive director of Paperand. He joined Morning Edition host Eric Hodge.
Can you describe what happened to your headquarters in Saxapahaw when the floodwaters from Chantal hit?
Basically we got about an average of a foot of water that came up over the gym floor where we're in an old community center in the center of Saxapahaw that sits on the river. Yeah, that foot of mud, and sort of it was pretty toxic sludge that got in there, took out a number of our old puppets. We had some stuff on shelves, but some stuff was right on the floor, bolts of fabric and tools and music equipment and speakers. I mean, just the list is really long, of things that just had to go.
Now let's talk about this year's show, and you had some help writing the stories that come to life on the stage. Who did you collaborate with?
Well, we started reaching out right away, because we knew this was going to be a year that was about collaboration, just because we wanted to focus on the stories of women, water protectors, and also just elders or grandmothers. So we reached out to Jackie Shelton Green, who's a great grandmother, actually, and she did a bunch of great writing for us. And poet laureate, yes, poet laureate of North Carolina, and just a wonderful person to be around. She's very inspiring. And we asked Dawn Landes, who is a singer songwriter and does a lot of powerful, liberated women's song books.
What would you like people to take away from this year's show?
A little slice of grandma wisdom is always good. I think. For everybody. But there's also quite a bit about water. We've made these water beings that are sort of silk dancer puppet creatures that are really embodying just the spirit of this sacred element that gives us life. We're just sort of honoring that core element. And we want people to walk away feeling, at the very least, just bolstered and lifted a little bit. In quite a chaotic world, I think we find ourselves in, we want them to feel some moments of joy and connection with their friends and family and community.
