The New Victory Theatre is one of the premier theatres in New York that devote to kids and their families. It has previously teamed up with the Tenement Museum, a museum focusing on American immigration history, to produce a puppet play for children. I went to watch the trial performance with my colleagues and thanks to the play I realised that puppet show doesn’t really mean childish. The puppet play appeared to be more like a thought experiment that transcends through generations and invites both the parents and their children to participate in.

The puppet show is named Layer the Walls with the story set in an old apartment in New York that is about to be torn down. Two mice, old habitants of the old apartment, are collecting pieces of the wallpaper that have fallen to the ground, reading the stories of the immigrant families that had once lived there. The first story is about a brave kid fighting a serious illness, bringing hope and courage to his father who worked under dangerous conditions. The second story focuses on a young fisherman who came to New York with great hope. Unfortunately, the youngster was discriminated in the city and struggled to find a job. He eventually found employment after providing guidance for a lost pedestrian. The last story features a woman working for a garment factory. She didn’t conform to social norms that tell women to opt into marriage and parenthood and instead she took to the street and protested for women alike. She achieved victory after several protests for better rights protection. The three stories in the play tell the immigration history of the U.S. from different perspectives, documenting the hardships and struggles that immigrants had endured and teaching children common values such as love, courage, empathy, equality, freedom, etc.

Photo courtesy of official website of Layer the Walls: www.layerthewalls.com

The play’s successful and vivid portrayal of American immigration history wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation with the Tenement Museum. Tenement Museum is a very unique member of the diverse museum ecosystem of New York City. The museum is converted from an old building that was once home to actual immigrants in New York. The museum’s collection focuses on oral stories from immigrants. Although the museum only serves reserved tours now, it still enjoys great popularity among local residents of New York and tourists who seek to understand American history better. After all, immigration, ethnic conflicts and fusion are the crucial parts of American history. The museum is now working with the production team in hopes of educating the next generation about the parts of history that are fading from people’s attention.

Besides the educational value, Layer the Walls itself is a very engaging contemporary puppet show. At the trial performance, the main audience had been the one hundred something second and third graders. When I was watching the show, I couldn’t stop wondering whether the kids would be able to understand it. Is it really feasible to educate kids about racism and the feminist movement? But during the puppet show, I noticed that all the kids were fully attracted by it as there were moments of shock and mournful silence, as well as laughter and cheering. The successful engagement is credited to the amazing performance by the two puppet players. The three stories in the play were showcased through stunning puppets, masks and shadow puppetry. The stage design and music were also fun, which naturally brought joy to the kids. When the children are willing to listen to the stories, they also take in the values shown in the puppet play unconsciously. This is how art education can subtly influence children and provide them with a window to look at the world.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with an art educator. “Childish and childlike hold different meanings when you are using them to describe a show for children,” the conversation went on, “The former shows the perception that kids’ shows are only childish shows for children while the latter describes shows that can be enjoyed and understood by children.” Personally speaking, I think Layer the Walls fits into the second category. It’s childlike. A good children’s show is supposed to cater to both children and adults. It shouldn’t underestimate children’s understanding of the world and it should be able to allow adults to find their kid side again and discover the true nature of the world.