22nd Annual Paper Theatre Festival: It's the Smallest Show on Earth! UC San Diego Library’s 22nd Annual Paper Theatre Exhibition is now showing at The Nest, in the lobby of Geisel Library. Visit often, as the colorful, miniature theaters will be populated with different sets, characters and plays throughout the run (June 1 through August 15.) 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 1800‘s and early 1900‘s. Free performances of paper theatre plays are featured at noon on July 26 and July 28 at the exhibit site in The Nest in the Lobby of Geisel Library at UC San Diego. These small live shows will be done in the informal, fun style of the true Victorian roots of Paper Theatre: families re-enacted plays they had seen at local theaters, in miniature, utilizing souvenir posters kits they bought at their theater gift shop. Lots of cutting and pasting was involved! Noon on July 26: Black Pioneers of La Jolla: A Pageant Play Celebrating La Jolla’s Earliest Home-Owners and Business-Owners, 1890-1930 (featuring the paper dolls of artist Carin Wallace and narrated by Rachel Almodovar.) and also: Count-Down to a Space-Walk (featuring the fanciful other-worldly paper dolls and set-pieces of artist Ioana Patringenaru.) Noon on July 28: Lady Ada: Steampunk Heroine (created by Scott Paulson and narrated by Karen Fisher and Melanie Peters.) Fun Facts About Paper Theatre: - This educational toy is actually a brilliant marketing tool dating all the way back to Victorian Era London. - The UC San Diego Library hosts the oldest continually-running Paper Theatre festival in the United States! - The campus 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 their students, staff, alums and community members!
