Senior to stage puppetry show next month at Southern Village

Senior Sol Ramirez first became fascinated by puppetry in the summer of 2006, when his parents took him to As The Crow Flies, a summer production by Paperhand Puppet Intervention, a theatrical company based in Saxapahaw, North Carolina. 

The show’s fast rhythmic music, its set design, the large and colorful puppets and the way the show presented the stories of John Henry, the Buddha and an Iraqi librarian who saved her library’s books before the building burned down all captivated a young Ramirez.

“That’s when I knew puppetry was for me,” he said.

Ramirez began to stage his own puppet shows when he was in kindergarten, organizing small performances that he and his friends put on for classmates.

From there, Ramirez’s interest in puppetry grew into something more sophisticated: 1, 2, 3 Puppetry, a theater company Ramirez formed that uses puppetry to promote a message of social justice.

Ramirez’s company has put on an annual spring performance since 2017, and, this year, thanks in part to a grant from the Orange County Arts Commission, Ramirez will premiere The Time We Have next month at the Southern Village outdoor stage.

Ramirez’s show has eight different acts and explore themes such as personal growth, reflection, time’s passage and cyclical change.  The production will feature nine puppeteers and six musicians, many of whom attend Chapel Hill High School.

“The show travels through the four seasons, the ticking clock, the cycle of life, the journey of a caravan, the spinning of the wheel and the garden of inspiration to explore what time is and how we can make the most of it,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said the show is a testament to the growth and development of 1, 2, 3 Puppetry.

“We perform annual giant puppet shows for the whole community. Every year we grow in crew size, artistry, themes, and concepts. It has been really fun looking back on how much this company has evolved over the years,” Ramirez said. 

The evolution of 1, 2, 3 Puppetry has been noted by theater director Thomas Drago, whom Ramirez has assisted on numerous occasions.

“Sol and his company designed and built the puppets for our fall play, A Christmas Carol, and did excellent work, paying careful attention to detail,” Drago said. “During one of the performances, an audience member shrieked when she saw the puppets because they were so real and scary!”

Senior Jasper Schmoock, one of the puppeteers in Ramirez’s show, noted that his involvement with 1, 2, 3 Puppetry since its founding has provided him with a welcome artistic outlet.

 “I have been a part of Sol’s puppet shows for the past five years. I’ve enjoyed the chance to get to know different people and do something creative, which was new for me. It’s helped me understand both the challenge and fun involved in performing a show in front of an audience,” Schmoock said.

The Time We Have will be held May 14 and 15, with two shows each day at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door.