AN ARTIST RESPONDS TO WAR
Hosted by Apartheid-Free Western MA
In-person
When
Sep 30, 6:00 PM EDT
Where
Forbes Library
20 West St, Northampton, MA, 01060
Price
$15.00 USD per person
Language
English
Closed Captions
English
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About the event
Please join AFWMA and Traprock Center for Peace and Justice to view this important film! It offers a vibrant portrait of Peter Schumann, the visionary founder of Bread & Puppet Theater, whose six decades of radical political performance have been forged from a single, searing childhood question: how do we as humans respond to the madness of war and violence? Born in Nazi Germany and shaped by the brutal reality of war he experienced as a child, Schumann channeled this trauma into one of the most iconic theater companies in the world. Opportunity for discussion after the film.
About the film
A vibrant portrait of Peter Schumann, the visionary founder of Bread & Puppet Theater, whose six decades of radical political performance have been forged from a single, searing childhood question: how do we as humans respond to the madness of war and violence? Born in Nazi Germany and shaped by the brutal reality of war he experienced as a child, Schumann channeled this trauma into one of the most iconic theater companies in the world. Bread & Puppet came of age in the Vietnam War street protests of 1960s New York, and grew into its full form with large-scale spectacles performed at their farm in Vermont.
Decades later, as atrocities unfold in Gaza in plain sight, Schumann — now 91 and still working with fierce urgency — finds his life's central question more pressing than ever. In an age desperate for hopeful figures of cultural resistance, AN ARTIST RESPONDS TO WAR is a testament to the radical, enduring idea that art is not a retreat from the world — it is a way of fighting for it.
Genre
Documentary
Released
2026
About the space
This screening will be offered in the community room in the basement of the library.