MADCAP PUPPETS CHOSEN TO PRODUCE CHILDREN’S HEALTH EDUCATION INITIATIVE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12 October 2006

CONTACT:

Christine Arnison

(513) 921-5965

MADCAP PUPPETS CHOSEN TO PRODUCE

CHILDREN’S HEALTH EDUCATION INITIATIVE

Madcap Puppets has been chosen by the Kanawha County Public Library System of West Virginia to develop, produce and present a state-wide program to children aged two to eight promoting healthy choices. The program, developed with both performance and education components, also includes their parents, teachers and other care-givers, and will help to establish life-long healthy habits.

“Healthy Beginnings”, Madcap’s working title, is part of a project called “Beginning a Healthy Life”, a collaborative effort by the Kanawha County Public Library, the Clay Center, and West Virginia Public Broadcasting and is funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Benedum Foundation, and the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation.

Madcap will develop the content with the children through residencies, followed by performances given throughout Kanawha County, and later throughout the state. The program will run for two years. “The accessibility that puppetry affords opens the door to exploring issues and concerns in the daily lives of families. The puppets themselves can communicate in a universal language that can touch today's youth and speak with their voice," explains John Lewandowski, Madcap’s Artistic Director.

The goals of the West Virginia project are to increase awareness of important health issues and provide a unique and proactive learning environment for children and their care-givers that will encourage the early development of healthy choices and living habits. Madcap will develop a two-tiered program using focused residencies and performances that will tour for two years.

The various programs will target 35,000 individuals and result in increased awareness of important health issues facing West Virginia families. Effectiveness will be measured and tracked by the Clay Center, West Virginia Public Broadcasting and the Kanawha County Library System resources.

Madcap has considerable experience in using puppet productions and residencies as educational vehicles, not only in their original touring productions and in-school residency programs, but also through specialized productions and residencies that have included many and diverse topics. “Our effectiveness in meeting the needs of such programs has been established for many years”, says Lewandowski. “Organizations such as the Red Cross, Children’s Hospital, the State of Ohio, and various teaching institutions have come to Madcap to develop arts based programs on safety, health, environmental and energy concerns, as well as to instruct on the use of puppets in the classroom and as communication facilitators for pediatric interns and residents.”

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For a quarter century Madcap Puppets has toured the country with four to six troupes bringing original giant puppet performances to schools, libraries, theaters and large audience venues across the country. Each year more than 500,000 children and families nation-wide, including 130,000 in the Greater Cincinnati Area, see Madcap performances in schools, libraries and theaters, at symphonies, museums, zoos, fairs and many other public and private venues. Madcap is in residence at The Cincinnati Art Museum (our 12^th Season), the Carnegie Visual + Performing Arts, the Mason Community Center Theater, and the Speed Art Museum ( our 6^th Season) in Louisville, Kentucky, and can be seen at the Cincinnati Zoo, Coney Island, Parkey’s Farm and many other venues in the area. This year’s theater series productions, as always, will include the highly popular annual holiday production, always done in Czechoslovakian Black theatre style of puppetry. For 2006/2007 Season information, see our website: www.madcappuppets.com.