Jim Gamble Puppets Win Prize in Yugoslavia

Well-known puppeteer (and Palos Verdes resident) Jim Gamble was awarded the “Gran Prix” for outstanding puppet animation at the 10th Children’s Theater Festival in Sarajevo, Serbia in May, 2003. Thirty-three professional companies from 22 countries performed on the official program, with the winners selected by a jury of film and theater directors, writers and university professors.
“It was an honor to be selected to perform at this festival, the largest ever held in
Yugoslavia, and the award was a big surprise.” Gamble commented. “Puppetry is a
highly respected theater art in Eastern Europe, yet string puppets are a rarity. Television stations filmed and broadcast my performance several times during the following week. so I was often greeted on the streets by families who had enjoyed the replays.”
Though Sarajevo is still battle-scarred from wars fought a decade ago, Gamble reports “the residents were very cordial. Some English is spoken, but festival performances were translated into Russian, Polish, Italian, German and local dialects. Fortunately the visual language of theater is common to all.”
Jim Gamble and his company, Jim Gamble Puppet Productions, are headquartered in Southern California and present over 1500 performances annually. As a touring artist for the California Arts Council, his company is in frequent demand throughout the state, but Gamble also travels across the US and around the world to perform, with upcoming international performances in Northern Italy, Hong Kong, Macau and the Canary Islands.