September 8-9, 2006, 8 p.m.
UMBC Theatre

Contact: Thomas Moore
Director of Arts & Culture
410-455-3370
tmoore@umbc.edu

Note: You may view or download this release as a pdf file.

On September 8th and 9th at the UMBC Theatre, Searls Puppetry presents the first showing of OM, a fusion of dance and found object puppetry that will forever change the way people look at their trash. A new collaboration between director Colette Searls and choreographer Doug Hamby, OM is a funky variety show where characters spring from garbage bags, plastic wrap, and recycled paper to unleash their inner groove in vignettes of whimsy. The project, which is suitable for audiences of all ages, is supported in part by a grant from the Jim Henson Foundation.

“…delightful and exuberant…the puppeteers give their refuse a broad range of emotions with the tiniest flick of a wrist.”
—Elizabeth Lawler, The Village Voice, on Searls Puppetry’s Basura!

About the Artists
Searls Puppetry specializes in a type of object theatre that brings everyday, disposable materials to life on stage. Director Colette Searls works with a wide range of theatrical material and plays, with a special interest puppetry for adult audiences. She has contributed to a number of productions with puppetry nationally, most recently as puppetographer for the world premiere of The Velvet Sky at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., director/creator of Basura! at the New York International Fringe Festival, puppet master for PCPA Theatrefest’s Fiddler on the Roof, and director for Lunatique Fantastique’s Fixed Boundary, (“Best of the San Francisco Fringe” 2003). She is assistant professor of Theatre at UMBC, where she has created three original puppet plays: Victor Frankenstein, BURIED (National Finalist, Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, 2004) and Fanto, A Mysterious Vaudeville. She serves on the board of directors for the Union Internationale de la Marionnette- USA chapter (UNIMA-USA).

Doug Hamby is the artistic director of Doug Hamby Dance, a company that specializes in works created in collaboration with dancers, composers, visual and other creative artists. Hamby’s work has been presented in New York City at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Riverside Dance Festival, New York International Fringe Festival and in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. His work has also been seen at International Fringe Festivals in Edinburgh, Scotland and Vancouver, British Columbia, as well as in Anchorage Alaska by the Alaska Dance Theatre. In New York City, he performed in dance companies directed by Martha Graham, May O’Donnell, Rachel Lampert, Elizabeth Keen, Pearl Lang and Norman Walker. He has received choreography awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Maryland State Arts Council, New York State Council for the Arts, Arts Council of Montgomery County, Maryland and the Baltimore Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture. He is an associate professor in Dance at UMBC. He has a MFA from Temple University an has appeared on national television as a giant slice of American Cheese.

Admission
$8 general, $5 for students and seniors. Tickets will be available at the door beginning at 7 pm, cash or check only.

Telephone
Public information (24 hour recorded message): 410-455-ARTS
Media inquiries only: 410-455-3370

Web
Public information: http://www.umbc.edu/arts
UMBC News Releases: http://www.umbc.edu/news

Directions
• From Baltimore and points north, proceed south on I-95 to exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the UMBC Theatre.
• From I-695, take Exit 12C (Wilkens Avenue) and continue one-half mile to the entrance of UMBC at the roundabout intersection of Wilkens Avenue and Hilltop Road. Turn left and follow signs to the UMBC Theatre.
• From Washington and points south, proceed north on I-95 to Exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the UMBC Theatre.
• Daytime metered visitor parking is available in the Commons Garage. Visitor parking regulations are enforced on all University calendar days. Hilltop Circle and all campus roadways require a parking permit unless otherwise marked.

Online campus map: http://www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/campusmap/

Images for Media
High resolution images for media are available online: http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/hi-res/ or by email or postal mail.