CHESTERFIELD – Tanglewood Marionettes will be performing its show An Arabian Adventure in Chesterfield on July 14.
“It’s an Aladdinesque action-adventure show, which is a lot of fun,” said Peter Schaefer, one of the founders of Tanglewood Marionettes.
The show will take place outdoors adjacent to the Old Town Hall at 403 Main Road at 10:30 a.m. Admission to the show is free, and some of the money for it was provided by the Chesterfield Cultural Council.
Schaefer said that when the show was being written, the company initially wanted to adapt one of the lesser-known 1,001 Arabian Nights. However, he said that the stories they looked at weren’t as fleshed-out as well-known Arabian Nights stories like Aladdin.
As such, the story that the company wrote is an original work that takes themes from the 1,001 Arabian Nights. It tells the story of a wrongfully imprisoned prince, who battles a villainous vizier in order to save a princess.
Tanglewood Marionettes was founded by Schaefer and his wife Anne Schaefer in 1993. A nationally touring company based in Ware, it started doing in-person shows again a few weeks ago, having been sidelined by the pandemic.
“I am super excited to have a live audience after a year and a half of not being able to perform in front of anyone,” Schaefer said, on the group’s upcoming performance.
During the pandemic, Schaefer said that the group created a Zoom presentation, but he said that they did less of those performances than expected and it wasn’t the same.
“People are very excited to see a live show finally,” Schaefer said, of the reaction to their renewed live shows.
He also expressed gratitude for the government assistance programs that have helped Tanglewood Marionettes through the pandemic and expressed hope that the company will be able to continue to do live shows.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.