Sandglass Theater

What Sandglass Theater does

Sandglass Theater is a non-profit professional puppet theater company founded in 1982 in Munich, Germany by Eric Bass and Ines Zeller Bass, subsequently relocated to Putney, Vermont. The company creates and tours original puppetry productions and operates a 60-seat barn theater on its property, with an active international touring history that includes performances at events such as the Erlangen International Puppet Theater Festival. Programming spans family productions, adult-themed work such as Babylon: Journeys of Refugees and Feral, and community festivals including Puppets in the Green Mountains, Puppets in Paradise, and the long-running A Rafter of Crankies at Green Mountain Orchards.

The company's craft is built on a multi-form puppetry repertoire covering hand puppets, rod puppets, marionettes, giant lantern puppets, crankies, and shadow puppetry, supported by in-house scenic and technical capability and a recently launched Mobile Puppet Theater funded by the Canaday Family Charitable Trust. The 2025 transition to second-generation Artistic Director Shoshana Bass signals a deliberate succession model. Educational programming includes a Thingamajig workshop program for children, a Summer Intensive with three tracks (adult, teen, visiting artist), school residencies, and master classes.

The business model combines earned revenue (ticketed performances, workshop fees such as $1,500 for the adult Summer Intensive track and $600 for visiting artist programming, theater rental, shop sales of books $10-$33, DVDs around $20, and music around $12) with philanthropic support from foundations including the New England Foundation for the Arts, Mellon, Doris Duke, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jim Henson Foundation, the Canaday Family Charitable Trust, and the Vermont Arts Council, together with individual donations. The Legacy Series signals planned multi-generational continuity of the organization's operations.

Name

Sandglass Theater

Legal name

Sandglass Theater

Website

https://sandglasstheater.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sandglass Theater is a non-profit professional puppet theater founded in 1982, headquartered in Putney, Vermont, that creates and tours original multi-form productions, runs a 60-seat barn theater, and offers educational workshops, festivals, and residencies serving families, adult audiences, and presenting organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts — Puppet Theater

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Puppetry & Marionette Theatre (MPAGABAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Theatre Services & Design (Scenic/Costume/Props/Stage Management) (MPAGABAO), Theater & Drama Education (Acting, Improvisation, Musical Theater) (EDAMAAAG)

Keywords

• Puppet theater performances
• Puppetry education workshops
• Performing arts festivals
• School residency programs
• Theater rental services

Headquarters

HQ city

Putney

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Performance Tickets: Revenue from tickets to live performances including regular shows, festival events, Legacy Series performances, and touring productions at various venues.
2. Shop Sales: Sale of books about Sandglass Theater productions and artists, DVDs/documentaries, and music recordings. Products include books ($10-$33), DVDs ($20), and other merchandise.
3. Training Programs: Revenue from Summer Intensive puppetry training program ($1,500 course fee) and Visiting Artist Workshops ($600). Includes optional housing and meal packages.
4. Donations and Contributions: One-time and monthly sustaining donations from individuals. Donations to specific programs support artist fees and production costs; general fund contributions support staff salaries and day-to-day operations.
5. Foundation and Government Grants: Funding from foundations including New England Foundation for the Arts, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Jim Henson Foundation, Vermont Arts Council, and others for operations and specific productions.
6. Theater Rental: Rental of their 60-seat restored barn theater space to other artists and companies for performances and events.
7. School Residencies and Workshops: Customized puppetry workshops and residency programs for schools, libraries, and festivals, including children's workshops and educational programming.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sandglass Theater is a professional nonprofit puppet theater company that creates, tours, and performs original puppet theater productions for youth and adult audiences. It operates from a 60-seat restored barn theater in Putney, Vermont, offering live performances, multi-week training intensives, adult and children's workshops, summer camps, festivals, documentary films, and related books, DVDs, and music recordings.

Product overview

Sandglass Theater is a professional puppet theater company offering live performances, educational programs, and community events. The organization operates a 60-seat theater in Putney, Vermont and tours productions nationally and internationally. Core offerings include puppet shows for youth and adult audiences, the Summer Intensive two-week puppetry training program with three tracks (Building, Performance, Directing), various adult and children's workshops, a summer art camp for kids, and seasonal festivals including Puppets in the Green Mountains, Voices of Community, and A Rafter of Crankies. The company also produces documentary films such as Babylon: Journeys of Refugees and maintains a shop selling related books, DVDs, and music. Legacy Series presents touring works locally, while a mobile puppet theater is currently in development. The company was founded in 1982 and is now led by second-generation Artistic Director Shoshana Bass.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Puppets in the Green Mountains: International puppetry festival hosted by Sandglass Theater in Putney, Vermont
• Puppets in Paradise
• Winter Sunshine Series
• Summer Series
• Voices of Community
• A Rafter of Crankies
• Sandglass Summer Intensive
• Legacy Series
• Sandglass Films

Products and services

• Summer Intensive Puppetry Training A two-week intensive puppetry training program offering three focus tracks: Puppetry Construction, Puppet Performance, and Directing for Puppet Theater. Participants develop skills through morning ensemble training and afternoon specialized track work, culminating in collaborative compositions presented at the end of the program. Application-based with course fee of $1,500 plus optional housing and meal packages.
• Adult Workshops Workshop programs for puppeteers, teachers, actors, directors, designers, writers, and anyone seeking to deepen skills in puppetry. Offerings include Puppet Design and Building, Puppet Building, Telling Tales with Crankies, Creating Puppet Theater from Personal Testimony, and Bringing Puppets to Life performance workshops. Taught by Ines Zeller Bass and Jana Zeller; weekend-long with virtual options available.
• Children's Workshops and School Residencies Puppetry workshops and residencies for children in schools, libraries, festivals, and other venues, including a summer puppet camp. Programs include single two-hour workshops where participants construct puppets and learn performance techniques, and extended residencies that explore creating a complete puppet show.
• Summer Camp Week-long art camps for kids aged 8-14 led by Jana Zeller, featuring painting, drawing, puppet building, collaging, sculpture, miniature world-building, theater sets, and culminating performances for families.
• Visiting Artist Workshop — Giant Lantern Puppet Building A two-week hands-on workshop led by Andrew Kim of Thingumajig Theatre, where participants build Giant Lantern Puppets including The Ghost Moose. Covers design, sculpture, mechanisms, LED lighting, tissue paper, Worbla, foam, painting, costuming, and performance. Course Fee: $600.
• Sandglass Theater Main Productions and Touring Shows Professional puppet theater performances by a touring company for youth and adult audiences. The company creates original works including Babylon: Journeys of Refugees, Oma, Isidor's Cheek, Puppet Crimes, Feral, and When I Put On Your Glove, and performs at venues nationally and internationally from their home base in Putney, Vermont.
• Legacy Series Shows Home season featuring currently touring original works including Isidor's Cheek (ages 4+), Puppet Crimes (ages 14+), Oma (ages 4+), When I Put On Your Glove (ages 14+), and Feral (ages 14+). Each show includes post-show community puppetry taster sessions.
• Puppets in the Green Mountains International Puppetry Festival International puppetry festival hosted by Sandglass Theater in Putney, Vermont, presenting a curated lineup of touring and guest puppeteers for the regional audience.
• Puppets in Paradise Festival Puppetry festival held at Retreat Farm featuring community events and performances for families and general audiences.
• A Rafter of Crankies Annual event featuring panoramic scroll performances (crankies) with artists including Emily Schubert, Maisie, Erica E. Warren, and Eric and Ines Bass. Includes Tendrils & Tongues, The Artist, Wisher's Well, and Possum performances.
• Voices of Community Program presenting top-level performance artists committed to social change, connecting visiting artists with local partner organizations to inspire dialogue around issues including housing security, racial equity, gender identity, and disability.
• Sandglass Films — Babylon: Journeys of Refugees A film production responding to the worldwide refugee crisis, created in cooperation with USCRI Vermont. Uses puppets and moving panoramic scrolls with original four-part choral songs to tell refugees' stories. For ages 14 and up.
• Theater Rental Rental of Sandglass Theater's 60-seat venue housed in a restored early 20th century barn in Putney, Vermont, with fully accessible lobby and ramp for wheelchair access.
• Theater Shop — Books, DVDs, and Music Online shop selling publications including Sandglass Theater: From Thought to Image ($15), The Time Before the Glass Turns Over ($22), 2 Book Bundle ($33), The Little Book of Sand ($10); DVD The Story of the Dog ($20); and music CD A Small Boat Set Out From A Rocky Shore ($12).

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving ages 4+ with family programming and ages 14+ for mature works, with specific content warnings and age recommendations for all productions

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• USCRI VermontcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Babylon: Journeys of Refugees production. Working with U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Vermont chapter to understand challenges facing refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burundi, DRC, Iraq, and Somalia shared their stories.
• All Souls ChurchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenting PRAISE! Project Sacred Bodies community event with Sandglass Theater.
• Green Mountain OrchardscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on A Rafter of Crankies annual event for 11 consecutive years, held at Green Mountain Orchards in Putney, VT as part of Putney Craft Tour.
• Thingamajig TheaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAndrew Kim of Thingamajig Theater leading Giant Lantern Puppet Building Workshop, creating Ghost Moose puppet for Sandglass.
• Haptic PicturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm production for Babylon: Journeys of Refugees documentary.

Scale indicators5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• National Marionette Theatre: National Marionette Theatre is a UK-based puppet theater company with a long-running repertoire of original marionette and puppet productions for family audiences. Comparable to Sandglass in its touring model and emphasis on traditional puppet craft, though it primarily serves UK venues and festivals.
• Little Angel Theatre: Little Angel Theatre is a London-based puppet theater founded in 1961 that produces original puppetry and runs year-round performances and workshops. Comparable to Sandglass for its nonprofit venue-plus-tour model and breadth of family/adult programming, but operates in a different geography (UK) so it does not directly compete in U.S. markets.

Direct peers

• Paperhand Puppet Intervention: Paperhand Puppet Intervention is a North Carolina–based puppet theater company producing original large-scale outdoor and indoor performances that mix puppetry, mask, and pageantry. Directly comparable to Sandglass for its ensemble creative model, devotion to original devised work, and mix of festival touring with school/community programming.
• Great Small Works: Great Small Works is a NYC-based collective of theater artists producing original puppet theater performances for adult and family audiences. It is directly comparable to Sandglass as a small ensemble producing devised original puppet work alongside educational programs and touring.
• Center for Puppetry Arts: The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta operates a dedicated puppetry venue, presents performances, and runs extensive education programs for children and adults. Comparable to Sandglass in its combined performance-plus-education mission and repertoire focus on puppetry as a discrete art form.
• Bread and Puppet Theater: Bread and Puppet is a Vermont-based puppet theater company founded by Peter Schumann in 1963, also focused on socially-engaged, original puppet performance. It is the most direct U.S. counterpart to Sandglass in scale, mission, geographic base, and artistic approach, both serving rural Northeast audiences and touring politically-themed work.

Broad incumbents

• The Jim Henson Company: The Jim Henson Company is the established, broad-market leader in puppetry-centered entertainment, spanning film, TV, and live production. It is comparable to Sandglass as a funder/peer in the puppetry ecosystem (the Jim Henson Foundation also grants puppet theater projects) but at vastly greater scale and with commercial media as its core, not live theater.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SandglassTheater

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sandglass Theater