Merry Marionettes

If you like puppets and lynchings, first of all: Shame on you. Second, you should know that one of Mexico’s best-loved bilingual marionette troupes is coming to the Adrienne Arsht Center (1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami) to combine your terrifying interests in one family-friendly show. Marionetas de la Esquina will return with 2009’s sold-out A Moon Between Two Houses, a show with a message, though not one about accuracy in astronomy. The message of the show is that it’s better to face your fears with a friend rather than alone, which is probably true unless you have anthrophobia, in which case a friend is just about the last thing you’d want. But in A Moon Between Two Houses, what the two marionette friends have in common is a fear of darkness. Strange for marionettes, whose dead, freakish eyes cannot process light and who spend most of their time sealed in cases or in dim theaters. A fear of scissors would make more sense. But anyway. This weekend, the marionettes will clack and dangle through six shows — three in English and three in Spanish. The show is aimed at kids aged 3 to 6, and though there’s no rule saying you’ll be turned away if you bring a bunch of 7-year-olds, it’s a bit like rolling up to the club with a bunch of dudes who are 7 years old.
Sat., Jan. 4, 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 5, 2 & 5 p.m., 2014