Imaginative Eye

A Special Exhibit of Theatrical Puppets

For over fifty years, Elizabeth Fuller and Conrad Bishop have presented stage performances of Shakespeare and other plays performed by their unique, nearly life-sized puppets. They have generously donated part of their puppet collection to OCA. The puppets will be displayed and sold in the gallery and lobby throughout the month of May, with a gala reception on May 18th from 1-3 pm, at which Conrad and Elizabeth will talk about making the puppets and demonstrate performing with them.

Conrad and Elizabeth met and mated as undergraduates in 1960 and have spent their lives as co-creators—professionally since 1971. “We write jointly and both perform. He’s the director, designer and puppet sculptor; she’s the composer, techie, accountant and cook” says Conrad.

“We’ve lived in Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Palo Alto, Columbia SC, and Lancaster PA, and we’ve performed on tour in 35 states plus Canada and Jerusalem. We’ve created more than 60 plays for our own ensemble as well as about three dozen other theatres, plus public radio series, puppetry, and videos. We have two grown kids, one in San Francisco, one in Italy—our closest friends.  Most of our creative lives have been devoted to exploring how people working collaboratively can make fine things.

The whole story, or a goodly portion of it, is in our memoir, Co-Creation: Fifty Years in the Making.”

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