The Center for Puppetry Arts is excited to announce the return of Puppetry NOW for its third year. Puppetry NOW is a Center initiative that spotlights the work of contemporary artists and puppeteers of color. The 2024 program will feature the work of the Brooklyn-based Nehprii Amenii with a special exhibition and performances of Amenii’s original deep sea puppetry odyssey, HUMAN.
Amenii, renowned for her passion for personal narratives and grand-scale spectacle, is an educator and curriculum developer with over 20 years of experience. She teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) in New York public schools using puppetry, multimedia arts and storytelling. Amenii is also the founder and Artistic Director of Khunum Productions, a creative consulting and production company.
“Puppets have long been used as an agent for human beings. They can get away with doing and saying things that we as humans simply cannot. In the course of disarming the audience with their authenticity, they can get away with expressing some very authentic feelings.” - Nehprii Amenii
HUMAN is a theatrical journey that follows a young seahorse who, after discovering a sunken submarine, becomes curious about the mysterious humans who have long since vanished. Using a variety of puppetry styles, dance and toe-tapping original music, HUMAN explores humanity’s impact on the environment, how genetic memory shapes the human experience and what it truly means to be HUMAN. Performances of HUMAN will be presented Jan. 17-28, 2024. Learn more about HUMAN at: puppet.org/programs/human/
In addition to Amenii’s performances of HUMAN, select puppetry pieces by Amenii will be on display in the Dean Dubose Smith Special Exhibition Gallery from January 19-April 28, 2024. This special exhibition is included in the entry price to the Worlds of Puppetry Museum and the Center’s all-inclusive performance tickets. To learn more about the Puppetry NOW Special Exhibition featuring Nehprii Amenii, visit: puppet.org/programs/nehprii-amenii-special-museum-exhibition/
