David Lane’s Puppet Adaptation of Zola’s “The Belly of Paris” Premieres at The Adams Theater
The North Adams puppeteer’s new work, developed during residencies at the theater, plays twice Saturday.
Saturday, November 14, 3pm and 7:30pm | Adams, MA
North Adams puppeteer David Lane premieres “The Belly of Paris,” a puppet adaptation of same-named Emile Zola’s novel, at The Adams Theater this Saturday, with shows at 3pm and 7:30pm. The company, Compagnie Zola, developed it during residencies at the theater.
The story of the show follows Florent Quenu, who returns to Paris in 1858 after being exiled for supposed involvement in Louis-Napoleon’s coup. Starving, he catches a ride into the city with a cabbage farmer and ends up at a market where hunger foments insurrection in puppet form. The company promises laughs, love affairs, a treatise on art, and ironic deaths by meat pie, balanced against Zola’s darker themes of inequality and appetite.
The residency was the Adams Incubator, the theater’s program for independent artists and collectives. The theater provides use of its auditorium and 20-by-60-foot stage, on-site housing, and technical support. Its stated focus is dance, object theater, puppetry, and interdisciplinary work, and it favors projects that bring visiting artists into contact with the local community, through open rehearsals, workshops, and public conversations. The program began in 2023 with three residencies and has hosted a dozen or so more since, mostly dance and puppetry. Lane’s 2025 stay ran from late August to September 6, with a workshop performance, and he was back in Adams from November 1 to 14 to finish the show. This year’s residents also included choreographer Omar Roman de Jesus and his company Boca Tuya in April and May, and Great Small Works in October. The Jim Henson Foundation supported Lane’s 2025 workshop and gave a production grant for the premiere, which also has funding from the Mass Cultural Council.
In February, Lane also ran the Curious Festival of Unfinished Works at the theater, a weeklong residency for puppeteers, with New England Puppet Arts. Lane, who grew up in Canada, has also made puppet works about the return of buffalo to Banff National Park, Rose Valland, who helped save European paintings in World War II, and Newfoundland’s mumming tradition.
The Adams Theater, 27 Park Street, Adams, MA. Tickets at adamstheater.org or 888-401-5022.
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After a decade of writing for RI (along with many other publications and organizations) Jamie took over as editor in 2025. He has a masters in journalism from NYU, a wonderful wife, two kids and a Carolina dog named Zelda.
