​MAGIC GARDEN PUPPETS

         In 1983 Kundry Willwerth and her husband Lyn, founded the Central New York Waldorf Puppet Guild's "Magic Garden Puppets" marionette troupe. They lived and performed in the Cortland area and throughout Central NY until their passing. Magic Garden Puppets brings fairy tales from different traditions to life with a variety of original puppets, all of which Kundry and her family made. Kundry was not only the co-founder and artistic director for the troupe but also a Master Waldorf Teacher, puppeteer, author and translator. She was internationally known for her creative teaching and artistic endeavors. Her extensive skills included puppet building, scripting, staging, scenery design and arranging original pentatonic scores to complement the shows The troupe performed at the birthday party of the Dalai Lama at Stewart Park, Ithaca and even performed “The Tongue-Cut Sparrow” entirely in Japanese at Cornell University.

       After Kundry and Lyn's passing, Anne and David Plaine, her close friends, continued to run the troupe with puppeteering from Kundry's grandson Beren and the involvement of other family members and friends. 

       The troupe continues to perform today with shows at the Homer Center for the Arts, the 1890 House in Cortland, and as part of a monthly series at The Cherry in Ithaca. Current puppeteers include Edith McCrea, Matthew Ocone, Jaime South, Andrea Salzman,  and Lily Gershon. Live music by guitarist Isaac Sharp and violinist Bill Hurley.