Does a Dog Have Buddha Nature by Blair Thomas

As charming as it is beautiful, Blair Thomas’ most recent puppetry creation takes the form of a large-scale, four-panel crankie in this koan, offering insight into the rascally nature of a dog and his owner. Performed with “technically superb and musically brilliant”Chicago saxophone quartet ~Nois and featuring hand painted, 100-foot long scrolls. With special opening act, Cowboy Outlaw performed with Silas Thomas, and based on the true story of an outlaw who’s fame and travels outlived him  (Run time: 45 mins. Age: All).

About the Company – Blair Thomas has recently returned to directing and performing, last as the puppet director for the feature film Dear Stranger (2025) and the Festival’s Little Amal Spectacle (2023). His credits with Blair Thomas & Co (2002-2018) include Pierrot Lunaire ( MCA), The Selfish Giant (Chicago Children’s Theater), The Ox-Herder’s Tale (MCA), Hard Headed Heart (The Biograph Theater), The Vinegar Works (Loyola Museum of Art), Moby-Dick (Charleville Festival France) and Buried Alive With Edgar Allan Poe (Nordland Visual Theatre Norway). He has performed in festivals in France, Spain, Slovenia and Mexico and across the US. He had started Redmoon Theater in 1989, where he served as the artistic director and co-artistic director until 1998, during which time he was principal in the creation of all its productions, parades and pageants. His first company, The Palace Puppeteers performed in churches and schools in his home town in Alabama 1975-1977. Blair is a graduate of Oberlin College (1985), with a dharma teacher ordination from the Maitreya Buddhist Seminary (2009) and an MA in Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2023)