Glass Half Full Theatre was created in Paris, France in 2003 by graduates of the École Jacques Lecoq, and has performed in site-specific and theatrical venues in Europe and the United States.

The company bid adieu to Paris in 2007, resided in Baltimore and performed around the East Coast until 2010, when it found a permanent home in the burgeoning puppetry community of Austin, Texas.

Glass Half Full Theatre is also a co-producer of the Austin Puppet Incident alongside Trouble Puppet Theater Company.

UPCOMING:

: Magical Realism through Gestural Theater & Shadow Puppetry

"An enchanting exploration of the delicate tension and fragile symbiosis that exists between civilization and the other-than-human world . . . . The power of puppetry, the depths of silence, and the shards of a recycled world commingle to drift, dock and dematerialize on the stage."

                                    David Macauley
                                    Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies, Penn State

There is no verbal dialogue in The Orchid Flotilla. Narrative information is conveyed through the sequence of actions performed. Layers of meaning are revealed like a time-release capsule, guiding the audience towards an intuitive understanding of the "plot" of the show.

The Flotilla is a tiny floating island of refuse, adrift on a sea of blue plastic. Characters arise out of the depths, sometimes in the form of human performers, sometimes as objects manipulated like puppets, sometimes as human limbs manipulated as puppets. These characters are unified in their search for meaning in a solitary existence. From the depths of lonely imagination arises a poetic narrative about the transformative power of companionship and a witty examination of disposable packaging.

Featuring original sound by B. Eden Payne award winning sound designer Eliot Haynes (Trouble Puppet's The Jungle) and shadow puppetry by Erin Meyer (Shadow Designer for the Rude Mechs' I've Never Been So Happy).

Performances:

Dreyer Theatre, Towson University, Maryland (2009)
International Association for the Environment, Space, and Place conference (2009)
International Association for Environmental Philosophy: Geo-Aesthetics in the Anthropocene Salisbury University, Maryland (2010)

: Puppets, whiskey, banjos, and ruckus
(with live music from The White Ghost Shivers)

At the Salvage Vanguard Theatre August 9th – August 25th 2012,
With thanks to the support of a Jim Henson Foundation Grant.

FupDuck centers on a foul-mouthed, back-woods octogenarian Jake and his gentle giant of a grandson, Tiny. Fup is their ornery twenty-pound duck.

The story follows this non-traditional family's ongoing feud with the wild boar, Lockjaw, who leads them to a wry examination of what it means to live and how it is to die. Accompanied by live honky-tonk ruckus from the Austin's own White Ghost Shivers.

A Note for Parents: As long as you're ok with PG-13 language from the mouth of a cantankerous old man puppet, bring your kids along to this show. And your grandpa.

Performances:

The LofT Baltimore, Maryland, 2009 (with the Bald Mountain Bluegrass Band)
Salvage Vanguard Theatre Austin, Texas, 2010 (with the White Ghost Shivers)

An exploration into the manipulation of puppet landscapes to capture the impact of human-created geographical change on communities.

Part One (2010): World Cup South Africa

A township is displaced to make way for a soccer stadium.

Part Two (2011): Bob's Hardware

A small town business community is impacted by the arrival of franchises.

Performances:

O'Neill Theater Center National Puppetry Conference (2010/2011)
Austin Puppet Incident (2011)

Staple Needs (2008)

A menagerie of obsolete office supplies languish on a desk in an office. When one of their number is replaced by the new "must-have appliance," the ultimate battle of analog VS. digital unfolds.

Performances:

O'Neill Theater Center National Puppetry Conference (2008)
Voice 4 Vision Festival Slam in (2009)
Austin Puppet Incident presents Puppet Pandemic (2011)

Other Projects

Lot's Daughters

A human/ puppet exploration of the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah, in which human children are valued less than moral appearances.

Performances:

Dreyer Theatre, Towson University 2007

Apparently Logic Isn't Completely Essential

A retelling of Alice in Wonderland with disproportionate humans, fantastical puppets, and original music by a multi-lingual cast of six.

Performances:

Le Clochard, Paris, France (2006)

Cabaret Le Clochard

Glass Half Full Theatre converted an old barge on the River Seine in Paris into a cabaret theatre, were we staged musical variety acts with puppetry. The cast was comprised of performers from seven different countries, speaking six languages. Overseen by "Madame Vertige, the cast of characters returned docked weekly on a visit from 1929 for "One Night Only."

Performances:

Le Clochard, Paris, France (2004-6)

Lysistrata Project

Glass Half Full performed a masked choral production of Lysistrata as part of the international Lysistrata Project. This production was one of 1000 readings of the ancient Greek anti-war comedy Lysistrata in 59 countries. The Lysistrata Project reached over 200,000 people and raised over $100,000 for peace-oriented charities.

Performances:

Le Pont des Arts, Paris, France (2003)