Uwishunu.com

If you’ve ever been to any awesome event in Philadelphia that had anything to do with puppets, then you’ve probably seen the work of Beth Nixon. Beth is a Philly institution and for the past five years her charming, heartfelt, and beautifully ridiculous work has been featured in venues all over the city from high-brow art galleries to neighborhood puppet pageants. She came to Philly from Providence working with and among groups like Fort Thunder and Forcefield. Since coming to Philly she has also done several U.S. puppet show tours, been a member of the band The Department of Land Management Kills Horses (it’s true ya know), and toured Europe with an international posse of lady-clowns.

Recently Beth was also an artist-in-residence at the Brew-House in Pittsburgh, making work for the Black Sheep Puppet Festival. There she produced her newest work, Magic Land. The show features a plethora of papier-mache half-human creatures such as a “Humanaroo” (half-human half-kangaroo) and a “unicorn-bull-man” living within a cardboard wonder-world. There will also be a conglomeration of local musicians on hand playing live Balkan tunes!

Beth’s artwork has secret magical powers to take your adult self and reintroduce it to all the best parts of the little kid it used to be. Her shows always make me believe that human beings are intrinsically good. This show is one more chance, and it’s playing one night only.

Check out more of Beth at: www.ramshackleenterprises.net.

Magic Land
Tonight: 7-10. Free.

East Africa Resource & Study Center
3809 Pearl Street (between 38th & 39th streets and Lancaster & Powelton Streets)