Peter Schumann (born 11 June 1934) is the co-founder and director of the Bread & Puppet Theater. Born in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

, he was a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before moving to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1961. In 1963 he founded Bread & Puppet in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and in 1970 moved to the

Northeast Kingdom The Northeast Kingdom (also, locally, "The Kingdom" and abbreviated NEK) is the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Vermont, approximately comprising Essex, Orleans, and Caledonia counties and with a population of 64,764 at the 2010 census. T ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, eventually settling in

Glover, Vermont Glover is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 1,114. It contains two unincorporated villages, Glover and West Glover. The town is named for Brigadier General John Glover, w ...

, where the company still performs. Schumann's best known work is the Domestic Resurrection Circus, performed annually by the Bread and Puppet Theater until 1998. He was married to theater co-founder Elka Schumann until her death in August 2021.

Career

The Bread and Puppet Theater Peter Schumann and his wife Elka co-founded the Bread and Puppet Theater in 1963 in

. The theater is named for its combination of puppetry shows with free freshly baked bread, generally served with a dipping sauce. The company is known, according to ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, th ...

'' for "anarchic, noncommercial, participatory and politically charged approach to art." Among the notable Bread and Puppet Theater shows directed by Schumann are "Nativity 1992", described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as "an exemplar of performance folk art", and "The Divine Reality Comedy". He also participated in the Angry Arts week in January 1967.

The Domestic Resurrection Circus

After Bread & Puppet's first decade in

, Schumann decided to take an offer from

Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...

in Plainfield, Vermont, to become the college's first theater-in-residence. After a few years, Schumann composed his first Domestic Resurrection Circus. Blending vaudeville comedy with political commentary, as well as the company's trademark giant puppets, the Circus became a tradition each summer. After Schumann moved to

, in 1973, the Circuses continued. The Domestic Resurrection Circus's last year was 1998, when over 30,000 people attended. Since then, a smaller circus is performed every weekend during the summer.

Palestine exhibits

In 2007 Schumann premiered "Independence Paintings: Inspired by Four Stories" in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

.Picard, Ken. (September 19, 2007
Over the Wall
'' Seven Days''. Retrieved 13 May 2008. The series was inspired by ten days Schumann spent in the Occupied Territories of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, as well as

John Hersey John Richard Hersey (June 17, 1914 – March 24, 1993) was an American writer and journalist. He is considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to no ...

's 'The Wall', a graphic account of the birth, development, and destruction of the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

, the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during the Jewish

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. The series proved controversial, with critics labeling Schumann's works as "anti-Zionist", "anti-Semitic" and "soft-core Holocaust denial", accusations Schumann denied, stating that "I'm not saying that what's happening in Palestine is the same as what happened in Warsaw ... but it's certainly a reminder." While Schumann later acknowledged that he "may have unnecessarily hurt some people's feelings" with the series, he returned in 2008 to the theme of the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

in his subsequent art series, "The University of Majd: The Story of a Palestinian Youth", which addresses a case of false imprisonment in Israel.

Published works

*''Puppen und Masken. Das Bread and Puppet Theater'', Fischer, Frankfurt am Main/Germany, 1973. *''Bread and Puppet Theater - THIS IS'', 1980. *''Bread and Puppet: HALLELUJAH'', 1983. *Uprising of the Beast After the Good Life Fails, 1987. *''White Horse Butcher'', 1988. *Bible, 1991. *''The Radicality of the Puppet Theater'', 1991. *''St. Francis Preaches to the Birds'', 1992. *''The old art of puppetry in the new world order'', 1993. *''Bread: A lecture to art students at SUNY/Purchase, New York''. 1987, reprint 1994. *''Bread & Puppet''. Green Man, 1996. *''Life of a Squirrel'', 1996. *''What, At the End of This Century, Is the Situation of Puppets and Performing Objects?'', 1999. *''Puppet Uprising: Peter Schumman's Bread & Puppet Theater'', 2003. *''Planet Kasper: Comix and Tragix'', 2011. *''Shatterer Book'', 2013. *''Bread & Sentences'', 2015. *''Planet Kasper Volume Two: Comix & Tragix'', 2015. *''Faust 3'', 2016. *''Theatrum Mundi'', 2017. *''Riot'', 2017. *''Life and Death of Charlotte Salomon'', 2018. *''We'', 2018. *''From the Possibilitarian Arsenal of Belligerent and Not So Belligerent Slogans'', 2018. *''Diagonal Man Theory + Praxis: Volume I'', 2019. *''Diagonal Man Theory + Praxis: Volume 2'', 2019. *''A Child's Deprimer'', 2019. *''Bedsheet Mitigations'', 2020. *''All, Nothing, Nothing At All'', 2020. *''Handouts and Obligations'', 2021. *''Declaration of Light'', 2021. *''Es Ist Vollbracht - Mission Accomplished'', 2021. *''She Sits She Rides She Flies'', 2021. *''Kropotkin Says'', 2023. *''Tears Clouds Trees'', 2023. *''Gaza Genocide Bedsheets'', 2023. *''Mister Aeschylus' The Persians'', 2024. *''We Possibilitarians One'', 2024.

External links

Gallery of a Peter Schumann workshop at the 2007 Scenofest
from Scenography
Bread & Puppet website

Bread & Puppet Press website

Peter Schumann , World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts

Archived fro

16 August 2023

References