A puppet show based on the popular children’s book, Ruth and the Green Book, is playing at the Center for Puppetry of Arts’ Vince Anthony Founders Theater through Feb. 25.
Based on the book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey with Gwen Strauss and Illustrations by Floyd Cooper, and adapted by Jon Ludwig, the show utilized an innovative combination of puppetry and animated projections to bring out the book’s evocative illustrations.
The show stars Greg Hunter, Tara Lake, Christopher McKnight and Judah D. Norman.
The story follows 8-year-old Ruth and her family who are traveling from Chicago to Alabama in the 1950s. But it’s not an easy journey. The family is turned away from hotels, gas stations, and restaurants. Ruth’s family is introduced to The Green Book, a real-life publication created in response to the humiliation and violence experienced by Black Americans while traveling in the Jim Crow South and this pivotal publication was an indispensable guide for them to find a safe, welcoming route to travel through segregated America.
Ruth and the Green Book is produced by special arrangement with Lemer Publishing Group.
For more information, visit www.puppet.org.
Photo: A scene from Ruth and the Green Book. Photo courtesy the Center for Puppetry Arts.
