Painting the Dandelion Resurrection

Peter Schumann, director of the Bread and Puppet Theater paints a diptych theater backdrop on bedsheets in his Glover, Vermont studio on May 22, 2024.

Susan Bettmann’s Painting the Dandelion Resurrection trains the camera on Vermont icon Peter Schumann, co-founder and creative force of Bread and Puppet Theater. And basically he does what the title says—he paints. Schumann narrates in real time as he begins and completes the painting over the course of the film’s half-hour, offering us the rare opportunity to hang out with an artistic heavyweight.