ALEX & OLMSTED

Alex and Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) is an internationally acclaimed puppet theater and film production company based in Maryland, USA. In recent years, they have toured abroad at the Festival of Wonder in Denmark, the Puppet Festival Chuncheon in South Korea, the Festival de Casteliers in Montréal, and the Festival of Animated Objects in Calgary. In the United States, they have played Symphony Space in New York City, The Detroit Institute of Arts in Michigan, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, and Black Cherry Puppet Theater in Baltimore, among others. Alex and Olmsted was awarded the 2020 State Independent Artist Award for Performing Arts from the Maryland State Arts Council, the highest honor for performing artists in the State of Maryland and an award that is only given once in the lifetime of an artist or group. Their puppet show, Milo the Magnificent, was awarded a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Grant, a Greenbelt Community Foundation Grant, and received an excellent mention in the New York Times. They were awarded a second Jim Henson Foundation grant to further develop their outer space show, MAROONED! A Space Comedy. Alex and Olmsted’s short puppet film Marianne’s Onion, produced by Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams, was an official selection of the Maryland Film Festival, the Washington West Film Festival, and the Paris Art Film Festival, among others. Alex and Olmsted is a resident company at Baltimore Theatre Project. Vernon and Thomas are also proud company members of Happenstance Theater with whom they have created 10 productions since 2012.

Homebodies by Leslie Swan Photography