Glass Half Full Theatre
We create multilingual devised works featuring puppets and humans that highlight themes of social & environmental justice.
Glass Half Full Theatre creates original, professional, bilingual (Spanish/ English) performances featuring actors and sophisticated puppets and performs at the theater in the Dougherty Arts Center for Elementary and Middle School audiences. Performances are supported by supplemental educational materials connecting the performance work to TEKs in Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts.
PROGRAMS
FIELDTRIP PERFORMANCE: La Maleta de Maebelle/ Maebelle’s Suitcase (60 minutes)
"La Maleta de Maebelle" is a bilingual adaptation of the cherished Reading Rainbow picture book "Maebelle's Suitcase" by Tricia Tusa, designed to engage audiences of all ages. This adaptation presents a heartwarming story of friendship between Maebelle and a migratory bird, emphasizing the important themes of remembering and letting go. Through its engaging storytelling and educational components, "La Maleta de Maebelle" offers a multifaceted learning experience that combines literature, language, fine arts, environmental awareness, and social-emotional development.
SHOWTIMES: 10:30 & 12:30 from Thursday April 24th - Friday May 9th
Location: Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Road, Austin TX (adjacent to Butler Park)
COST: $8/ticket or $4/ Title One
For more details visit: www.glasshalffulltheatre.com/educationalshowsandworkshops/
DIGITAL PERFORMANCES: We provide schools with digital access to recorded stage performances to be streamed at their school. Several performances are available online in the event that due to cost or health concern, a school is unable to attend a live performance. Performances are streamed over YouTube with captions, and teachers have access to supporting materials to go support the learning connections explored in the shows.
Cenicienta: A Bilingual Cinderella Story (40 minute videotaped performance) Cenicienta is a 40 minute videotaped performance featuring a young Latina named Belinda who wants to be a poet like her hero, Mexican-American poet Gary Soto. Left alone in the basement while her stepfamily prepares for a party upstairs, Belinda puppeteers the story of Cinderella with objects she finds in her basement bedroom. In doing so, she becomes her own fairy godmother, and learns to stand up for her love of her language and cultural heritage. This show has been presented by Zach Theater in 2015 and 2022, and has toured nationally to the Kennedy Center and beyond since 2017. Preview: Cenicienta: A Bilingual Cinderella Story (short promo)
Trash Talks with Polly Mermaid (3 ten minute digital performances) This engaging asynchronous video series for K -5th has a focus on Environmental Science. It features Polly (a plastic mermaid) and her bilingual friend Basurana (a frog puppet made from plastic trash) as they explore sustainable solutions to our current waste systems and single-use plastic. Created in the style of a YouTube video, Polly appeals to the students to help her understand the human habit of discarding plastic in her ocean, and sets up a challenge to see whether humans can live using less single-use plastic. Trash Talks Preview
ON-CAMPUS WORKSHOPS FOR ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL
Our company will visit a campus for between 1 – 8 sessions to work with educators and students to achieve the educational goals mutually agreed upon by the company and the educator. Our areas of expertise include using theater (and specifically puppetry) to explore topics including Language Arts, Math, Science, Fine Arts, and Physical Education. Existing workshop topics may be selected, or an original workshop can be created according to the needs of the school.
IN-PERSON ON CAMPUS INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS: Our teaching artists travel to a campus at an agreed upon date and time to conduct a workshop for a class of students.
Example Workshops:
The Object Puppetry Workshop (For K - 12th) Learn puppetry skills to create original stories for literate and pre-literate language learners. Whether it’s a spoon, teapot, or spool of tape, each object has its own story. Students learn to use the basic tenets of puppetry (rhythm, focus, breath, and tension) to bring these objects to life. The workshop builds upon these techniques, guiding students to create original performance stories using objects as puppets. The workshop teaches fine motor skills, empathy, collaboration, and story creation.
Zero Waste Puppets: (For 2nd - 5th) Learn to make puppets from natural materials & recycled trash! No need to head to the craft store to build these puppets. Natural materials like leaves and sticks, and (clean) recycled trash, like straws, bottle tops, drinking containers, and plastic bags are the perfect materials to create your own puppet. This workshop focuses on creating a puppet/puppets to take home. Option to include a performance element in which participants create performances with their puppet.
Contact:
Gricelda Silva
Telephone: (512) 761-8266
Email: Gricelda@GlassHalfFullTheatre.com