Our 22nd Annual Paper Theatre Festival exhibit is now on display at The Nest located at Geisel East, 2nd Floor through August 15, 2023.
Visit often, as the colorful, miniature theatres featured in this exhibit will be populated with different sets, characters and plays throughout the run.
Currently featured in the main exhibit case: Campus artist Carin Wallace‘s paper theatre pageant-play paper dolls. Her paper actors are based on the earliest homeowners and business entrepreneurs who were part of a vibrant Black La Jolla in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Free performances of paper theatre plays are featured at noon on July 26 and July 28 at the exhibit site. These small live shows will be done in the informal, fun style of the true Victorian roots of Paper Theatre.
Fun Facts:
- Paper theatre, also called table-top theatre or toy theatre, dates back to Victorian Era London.
- Families would re-enact plays they saw, in miniature, by cutting and pasting souvenir poster kits they purchased from local playhouses.
- Scenery sheets, costumed paper dolls and condensed scripts were included in each show.
- The Library has a featured role in the slowly-building comeback of this artful and educational hobby: 22 seasons of miniature plays that featured the enthusiastic work of our very own students, staff, alumni and community members. We’re the oldest continually-running paper theatre festival in the United States!
Many thanks to those who cut-and-pasted and encouraged this current season and past seasons of our Paper Theatre Festival:
- Leslie Abrams
- Bill Carey
- Riley Brazell
- Randy Brinton
- Nicolas Carvajal
- Renee Chin
- Belinda Chlouber
- Wendy Clemente
- Christina Continelli
- Judith Dolan
- Dianna Elizardo
- Otto Gahleitner
- Kim Garcia
- Ryoko Amadee Goguen
- Wendy Greene
- Mark Guirguis
- Iain Gunn
- Herr & Hern Haase
- Dana Hicks
- Lily Huang (& family)
- Anna Joy
- Rachel Kopel
- Brooke Lauter
- Lauren Lockhart
- Leslie Luna
- Jerica Ly
- Hugh Livingston
- Nina Mamikunian
- Matt McGovern
- Allina Migoni
- Raphael Mishler
- Victor Nguyen
- Ned Norman
- Carol Olten
- Ioana Patringenaru
- Scott Paulson
- Miriam Polcino
- Clara Ro
- Teresa Elena Rodea
- Bridget Rountree
- Teresa Elena Rodea
- Lazaro Rabago
- Katherine Relf-Canas
- Paige Satter
- Melissa Scott Waters
- Gigi Simmons
- Juliana Snapper
- Lesley Stern
- Matt Swagler
- Susan Sweatt
- Carin Wallace
- Martha Jane Weaver
- Andrea Wingen
- Karen Zoller
Late and great leaders of the paper theatre world who inspired this festival:
- Peter Jackson
- Benjamin Pollock
- Gigi Sanders
- George Speaight
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Contact:
Scott Paulson
spaulson@ucsd.edu