Photo via Happenstance Theater.

Presented by Puppet Showplace Theater
Devised by Happenstance Theater
Artistic co-direction by Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell
Featuring Gwen Grastorf, Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Sarah Olmsted, and Thomas and Alex Vernon

June 22-23, 2026
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St, Brookline MA 02445

Critique by Maegan Clearwood

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Medieval Europe places quite low on my time travel wish list, but there is nothing like the magic of theatre to reshape one’s imaginings of a time and place. Happenstance Theater’s Death and the Fool: A Tarot-Inspired Medieval Folly sweeps audiences away from the 21st century and into a 15th century dreamland – all the simple, sweet joys of welcoming the harvest, set against a soundscape of old-timey string instruments, no boils or bubonic plagues in sight.

Well, that’s not entirely true. Death is a central figure in this world, and its presence haunts the otherwise worry-free Fool. Characters regularly drop dead at the mere sight of the cloaked, scythe-wielding figure, and the play doesn’t shy away from the grotesque, often absurd, parts of this inevitable cycle. One of the most entrancing vignettes, in fact, follows the decomposition of three bodies, from rotting flesh to rebirth, told simply through physical movement and sound effects. Continue reading →