Chelsea Edgar writes for Seven Days on the traditions and legacies of the Bread and Puppet Theater, a mainstay of the East Coast (and particularly Vermont) counterculture:
A short distance into the pine forest above the circus field, just beyond the remnants of a Baldwin piano that has been left to molder in the elements, is a cluster of little wooden huts, sculptures and shrines dedicated to deceased members of the Bread and Puppet community. Elka is buried in a small clearing nearby, beneath a mound covered in wildflowers. At the foot of her grave is a bench, where Schumann often sits in the evenings and smokes a cigar. His grave, as yet undug, is next to Elka’s.
Every Thursday after dinner, the theater observes a ritual of remembrance in the pine forest. There is no formal program. People simply sit in the woods, sometimes with a beer, and contemplate the dead. Occasionally, the theater holds services when someone close to Bread and Puppet dies. Toward the end of July, Dolan and two other alumni organized a memorial for Nabila Schwab, who was part of Bread and Puppet in the ’90s and taught many people, including Dolan, how to walk on stilts.
The second photo is the memorial to my wife Regina. Her memorial was just this past July, we worked with the troop for about 15 years during the 80s and 90s. Regina was loved by Peter and all of the early members.
I’m sorry for your loss.
Thanks for the comment and I’m glad you were able to memorialize her in a way that feels so right for the Bread and Puppet troop and their land.