When I went to the square today to check out Festa Italiana, these guys were hanging around waiting to go to work. They're the Carter Family Marionettes. They had their first show at 3:00 pm, and will be performing again on Friday and Saturday. They’re visiting the square from their home at the Northwest Puppet Center in Seattle. The Carter family has been professional puppeteers since 1976. They trained with the masters of Romania, Sicily and China. Stephen Carter received the Fulbright Award for puppetry studies in 1984 and holds a post-graduate degree from the Institute of Theater and Cinema in Bucharest. Chris and Stephen Carter founded the Northwest Puppet Center in 1986. In 1993 they purchased and renovated a charming church in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle. The center presents over 250 performances each year by the Carters and selected guest artists. If you miss them this weekend, you can check them out online.
