March 31, 1998

Bread & Puppet Theatre to Perform at Middlebury

College

Bread & Puppet, an internationally-recognized,

Vermont-based theatre company which focuses on environmental and

human rights, will perform at Middlebury College at 4 p.m. on

Saturday, April 4. The company, along with over 30 student and

community volunteers, will present “The City-of-Brotherly-Love

Passion Play” in the field outside the McCullough Student

Center on Old Chapel Road off South Main Street (Route 30). In

the event of rain, the play will take place on the stage in McCullough.

The performance is free and open to the public.

The story of the play is that of MOVE,

a group in Philadelphia who preached equality and respect for

all life in the early 1980s by protesting the horrid housing conditions

of the city’s poor, by recycling and composting, and by organizing

other consciousness-raising activities. In 1985, the Philadelphia

police raided and bombed the MOVE home, killing 11 people and

burning down 60 homes in all. While nine MOVE members still serve

prison terms, no officials or police officers have been charged

with any wrongdoing.

Volunteers are still needed to carry

puppets, wear masks or sing Sacred Harp music. The first rehearsal

is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 2 on the stage of the McCullough

Student Center. No experience is necessary. For more information,

please call student organizer Elizabeth Crockett at 802-443-6670.