Award winning puppeteers visited the town of St. Johnsbury Tuesday evening to make the story of Hansel and Gretel come to life through hand-carved wood. 

David and Peter Syriotak own the National Marionette Theatre, one of the oldest running theaters of this kind in the United States. Their father David Syriotak created the company in the 1960’s, which is how they originally got hooked.

“ We both had bunk beds the same height as the stage, so whenever he’d go out to do a show we’d pull out the puppets and actually play with them”, said Peter Syrotiak.

“ I’ve loved working with my dad since I was knee high to a grasshopper. He used to take us on the road with him so we could see first hand what was going on” said David Syrotiak.

Their shows are more advanced nowadays compared to years past. All of the performances are recorded in advance and digitally altered for the stage. This strategy makes it possible for their father to still take part in the show.

“ He does the witch’s voice. He has a very deep Shakespearian voice, so I recorded him on my computer and actually took the tone of his voice and brought it up 3 or 4 notches so that he sounds like a little old lady” said David Syriotak.

The National Marionette Company was the first American company to win a UNIMA Award, which is equivalent to an Oscar for puppeteers. The Syriotak are not only good at what they do, they truly enjoy it.

" The satisfaction of creating our own little world and putting it all together and then having everybody enjoy what we do. To know that at the end of the day, what you've done has given everybody an experience that they will hopefully never forget”, said David Syriotak.