WESTFIELD – In continuation of its Sounds of Westfield interactive music series, the Westfield Woman’s Club will host a day filled with puppetry for all ages on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and is welcoming all families to stop by and have some fun during February break.
“The goals of the series are to entertain, to educate, to interact and to celebrate,” said First Vice President of the Westfield Woman’s Club Trishadee Newlin. “The nature of Imaginary Friends Puppet Theater is they tend to do social teaching through puppetry. It’s a way of teaching kids on their level.”
The Sounds of Westfield series of different events through 2025 are in thanks to the Woman’s Club being awarded a grant of $2,500 from the Mass Cultural Council through its Festivals and Projects Program. The grant signified that the Westfield Woman’s Club provides significant public value through its programs and services.
Guests of the Woman’s Club for this event Imaginary Friends is a project devised by a group of puppeteers, theatre practitioners and amusement park entertainers from all over the Northeast. They have presented thousands of performances to audiences in many styles of puppetry, both live and in film. Based out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the production has grown over the years, extending performances into the northeast and becoming a source of pride for the Harrisburg community.
“It’s this tiny little spot conveniently placed around a lot of live theaters and performing arts schools and has just blossomed into this event,” said First Vice President of the Westfield Woman’s Club Trishadee Newlin.
The groups traveling show will host two performances at the Woman’s Club on Feb. 18, one at 11 a.m. and the other at 2 p.m. Puppet trainer and business manager for Imaginary Friends Bill Kassay will host the shows followed by post show puppet workshops that will show children and attendees how to create their own puppet and provide a crash course on puppeteering 101.
“The Cookie Thief [the first scheduled show] is very interactive and it’s got clues so the kids get to help solve them and it gets them involved,” Newlin said. “Kids, participants, attendees can be part of the experience.”
The all-day event during school break is an opportunity for families to witness entertaining shows, participate in workshops and learn about the work done by Imaginary Friends. Newlin explained the first show of the day is accessible to young children all the way up to 7 years old. The second show, ‘Rylie’s Rotten Day’ will address things like emotions and how to process them and is more geared to older children, young teens and up.
Tickets are available at westfieldwomansclub.com and are $10 for one show, $15 for both.
The day culminates with a 6 p.m. free showing of the award-winning puppet film, “Exousia,” with a Q&A to follow with master puppeteer and creator of the film Kassay. The film addresses mature themes such as war.
“The movie deals with the power relationships between those who have it and those who don’t,” Newlin explained. “It’s taking a big topic but talking about it through puppets. Not happy, silly puppets, but more serious topics. Afterwards, he’s going to have a talk about going from military life to children; s theater and allow tons of time for Q&A and following that we’ll have a short reception.”
Kassay has been in the performance industry for more than 30 years. He began in the business as a professional jitterbug dancer and has continued to evolve his skills. He has been an actor, director, choreographer, producer, playwright, designer and birthday clown and is also a recipient of the Jim Henson Award for puppetry.
Kassay served in the army for 20 years and is now a retiree with three tours served in Iraq.
“I have 20 years to Uncle Sam. Now I get the next 20 to do what I want to do,” said Kassay summing up his career path.
A blog interview between Kassay and the Woman’s Club spotlighting his career is available on the club’s website.
More events in part of the Sounds of Westfield series will be announced as the year continues but Newlin added hopes are this jam-packed day of puppeteering will get the series started on the right foot.
“Our implications were, the sounds of Westfield will be the children. We wanted to make sure the Woman’s Club is open to everyone in the community which is why this is such a significant first event in this series,” Newlin said. “We have something for kids, for adults, something that will appeal to men or woman, so people know the woman’s club is open to the whole community.
