New shadow puppet show "The Nettle Shirts"

Charlottesville's own Nettle Shirts Puppet Works presents a shadow puppet version of their namesake story, "The Nettle Shirts". Over two years in the making, this hour-long shadow puppet show will premiere February 15th in Charlottesville and February 22nd in Staunton. Working on a "farm to stage" principle, puppet-maker and director Miranda Elliott-Rader has crafted the puppets from home-grown and home-made stinging nettle paper, nettle yarn, and other parts of the nettle plant, along with scavenged and repurposed materials. This modernized retelling of a central european fairy tale subverts the old sexist fairy tale trope of "the silenced woman" by giving the main character access to sign language and a signing community. The story and script were co-written by Miranda Elliott-Rader and local artist and activist Jess Walters, and the conversations in American sign language will be performed live by Jess and local actors. Both performances will be fully captioned and will have ASL interpretation. Live instrumental accompaniment by Molly Hickman will set the mood for hearing viewers. This quirky lesbian love story makes a perfect valentine's weekend outing.