The Performing Arts Series at Shepherd will close its season with a special performance by the internationally-reknowned puppetry company Huge & Ines in their work “Short Stories” on Thursday, April 21 at 8 p.m. at Shepherd University’s Frank Center Theater.

Hugo & Ines have been featured performers at the Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater, The Kennedy Center and dozens more. They also appeared regularly on the PBS children’s series Between the Lions. Using an imaginative blend of puppetry, dance, mime and theater, Hugo & Ines create characters using their bodies and a few props that tell poetic stories of the human experience.

Hugo Suarez was born in Lima, Peru and Ines Pasic is originally from Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Their paths crossed in Italy where Hugo was performing mime as a street performer. Ines, a trained pianist from Sarajevo Conservatory, began to teach with Hugo and quickly discovered that her dexterity on the keyboard translated to puppetry as well.

In 1996, they founded Teatro Hugo & Ines. The Los Angeles Times writes, “Hugo and Ines are both superbly in tune with a sense of magical transformation that makes their partnership one of the wonders of the age.”

This engagement of Teatro Hugo & Ines is funded through the Mid Atlantic Tours program of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

It is also made possible through an allocation of student activity fees granted by the Shepherd Student Government Association.

Tickets are available for purchase now at the Shepherd University Bookstore in the lower level of the Student Center by calling 304-876-5219 or at www.shepherdbook.com: $15 general admission; $10 Shepherd staff/senior citizens; $5 for kids under 18; and free to Shepherd students with valid Rambler.