Proposal: Free Hands presents The Three Blessed Brothers

Alexandra Herryman

Describe your project.
The Three Blessed Brothers is a live tall tale performance about three young men on a journey to discover the world outside their small home. The play uses Native American folklore, original songs, and puppetry to tell a story about teamwork, helping your neighbors and the importance of family and community. The performance runs about one hour and is appropriate for ages four and up. Free Hands, the producing organization, intends to tour The Three Blessed Brothers around Boston-area libraries and other cultural venues. Our first performance will be at the Roslindale Branch Library on May 7 as an alternative to the library’s Toddler Movie Hour, and will be offered free of charge to area families.

How will you use the grant to make your idea happen?
A grant from Feast Mass would cover the cost of building the puppets, costuming the performers (and the puppets), and constructing the set. Our first completed puppet, for example, cost approximately $50 insupplies, such as glue, paint, and paper maché, and we expect that each of the remaining six puppets will cost the same.

Why and to whom is your project important?
“The Three Blessed Brothers” serves a community hungry for engaging, thoughtful, and live children’s programming. In the 21st century it is easy to place a child in front of a screen to absorb content; it is much rarer that children learn important social and community lessons from an interactive live performer. The Roslindale Branch library reached out to us to with a goal to fill what they saw as a need for this kind of children’s programming, and we will to help them achieve that goal.

If you win, what is the expected status of your project by the time the next Feast Mass rolls around in 3–4 months?
By the next Feast Mass, we will have performed The Three Blessed Brothers publicly (for no admission fee) at least twice, reaching an anticipated audience of 100–150 children and their families. Additionally, we will be left with a completely realized and built puppet show that can live on and entertain families for years to come.