Puppet Purim is on its way!  And, to get the party started, the Mandell Jewish Community Center gathered gathered together children for an interactive program in which they experimented  with a hands on display of shadow puppetry in the center of the JCC’s Chase Family Gallery. The children were guided by master puppeteer, Matthew Isaac Cohen, head of the University of Connecticut Puppet Arts program and the father of a JCC preschooler.

The puppets, created by students in the UCONN School of Puppetry, are replicas of puppets created in Indonesia. They will be featured in the JCC’s upcoming “Purim Spectacular,” to be held Saturday, March 12 at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday, March 13 at 2 p.m. The show, led by Cohen, the “Purim Spectacular,” will be a global collaboration of traditions coming together for an extraordinary display of Purim shadow theater.

Main Photo: Mandell JCC preschoolers Noah and June experiment with shadow puppetry, under the tutelage of puppeteer (and JCC preschool parent) Matthew Isaac Cohen.