Penn State Altoona Press Release: Penn State Altoona to present theLASTree and Make or Break by Laurencio Carlos Ruiz ALTOONA –Penn State Altoona will host a special puppet theatre double feature on March 23-26: "theLASTree" (3/23, 24, 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Sat March 26 at 2:00 p.m) and "Make or Break" (3/23, 24, 25: at 8:30 p.m. and Sat March 26 at 3:00 p.m) in the Wolf Kuhn Theatre of the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts. Both show are free and open to the public: theLAStree is suitable for all audiences and for children over 6, while Make or Break is suitable for adults and 13 and older. A 30-minute intermission will take place between shows. theLASTree is a lyrical family-friendly puppet show featuring seven vignettes with two main characters: Mother Nature, who asks for help as she explains her fear of the human-caused climate crisis, and the Last Tree, an ancient tree that is fed up with humans but refuses to die. Make or Break is a trompe-l’oeil story of a Wailing Mother and her Child, victims of the culture of violence and war inflicted by a Boneheaded Centaur and Hand-Minions, and her unexpected strategy to stop the Centaur as the solution to her pursuit of peace for one and all. This puppet show features five expressionistic vignettes in a black light theatre, without spoken words, its lyrism is created by the combination of visual language, physical movement, body language, sound, dance, song, and music. Both programs were created by Laurencio Carlos Ruiz, associate teaching professor of theatre arts and resident scenic designer at Penn State Altoona. He holds an M.F.A. in scenic design from Penn State and a B.A. in graphic design from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana of Mexico, where he also studied industrial design and visual arts. His experience as an artist includes sets, costumes, puppets, masks, and props for cabaret, theater, and television. His photography, installations, and performance artwork have been exhibited in the United States, Mexico, Japan, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Tickets for this performance are free and may be collected at the box office, open Monday-Thursday, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m., and before and during all performances. For further information, call 814-949