Live theater meets the drive-in at String and Shadow’s experimental puppet show

After 100-plus days in which virtually all entertainment was confined to small screens, South Sound theater lovers can actually go to a show.

String and Shadow Puppet Theater’s “The Paper Moon: A Drive-In Puppet Show” — possibly the world’s first drive-in puppet show, in fact — opens Friday, July 3, at Isthmus Park downtown.

“It’s a story about the moon falling out of the sky,” said String and Shadow founder Emily McHugh of Olympia. “The moon goes on a journey once it comes to the earth.”

Like a drive-in movie, the show is intended for viewing from your car, though a limited number of walk-ins can be accommodated with socially distant seating for household groups.

Safety is a huge concern, said Donald Palardy III, McHugh’s partner both in String and Shadow and in life.

“No one is going to be watching theater indoors until there is a vaccine, as far as I can tell,” Palardy told The Olympian. “If we still want live theater to happen, I think the only option is having it socially distanced outside with people following guidelines and wearing masks.”

Like a drive-in movie, “Moon” will have audio available on the radio via an FM transmitter. The pre-recorded soundtrack, featuring old-time music and narration by storyteller and theatrical impresario Elizabeth Lord, also will be played directly through speakers and streamed on wifi at the site, so you can listen from your cell phone.

And like a drive-in movie, it will happen when the sun goes down, except on Sundays, when the show will begin at 7 p.m. to accommodate families with young children.

“It’s about the moon, so doing it at night with the lights on will give more ambience,” McHugh told The Olympian. “And it’s more like sitting in a theater.”

McHugh, Palardy, Dylan Clifthorne and Luz Gaxiola are the performers, but the stars of the show are the giant puppets, including a 4-foot-diameter papier-mâché moon rising 12 feet into the air on a pole and an 8-foot-long fish.

The show also features masks and cardboard sets, including moving pieces inspired by pop-up books.

“A lot of theater set pieces are just flat surfaces,” Palardy said. “We’ve used some of the very simple mechanisms you see in pop-up books on a much larger scale.”

McHugh, who learned folk puppetry through an apprenticeship with Paperhand Puppet Intervention in Saxapahaw, N.C., creates most of String and Shadow’s puppets, while Palardy handles technical elements, a particular challenge for this show. A small school bus and batteries will be powering lights, speakers, the FM transmitter and the local wifi network that will transmit audio.

“In an ideal world, all those things are completely synchronized, and everyone is on the beat,” Palardy said. “Some of this technology is experimental.”

Putting on a show in alignment with restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus is also something of an experiment, he said.

“It’s a free event for the benefit of the community, and we’re asking people to keep that in mind and please be respectful of everyone,” he said. “We want the audience to know that we’re relying on them to help everyone feel safe and have an enjoyable time.”

‘The Paper Moon: A Drive-In Puppet Show’

• What: String and Shadow Puppet Theater, determined to keep live entertainment going in a safe way, has developed a drive-in puppet show suitable for all ages.
• When: Sundown July 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25, and 7 p.m. July 5, 12, 19 and 26
• Where: Isthmus Park, 529 Fourth Ave. W., Olympia
• Tickets: Free, with donations appreciated
• More information: http://stringandshadow.com
• Seating: Audience members can watch from their cars — the park has room for 18 cars that will have a good view — or sit in their own chairs, keeping a social distance between household groups.
• Weather permitting: The show can’t go on if the weather is wet. “Puppets are allergic to rain,” said String and Shadow’s Donald Palardy III. “They will disintegrate.”