Lost Luggage Rings Down Curtain on Puppet Show

Organizers of the Soviet arts festival canceled a sold-out puppet show Tuesday while continuing to book a substitute for the exhibit of religious icons from the republic of Georgia.

The Tbilisi State Marionette Theatre, which sold out all 17 of its festival performances, was forced to skip its Tuesday preview performance because luggage containing some of the marionettes remained in London en route from the Soviet Union.

However, most of the missing luggage arrived Tuesday, and the company will go on with its scheduled performance tonight at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre in Balboa Park.

Meanwhile, festival executive director Bruce Herring said efforts were continuing to find a replacement for the icon exhibit, which was scheduled to open Sunday at the B Street Pier exhibit hall. The exhibit was canceled Monday after the Georgian minister of culture said “political tensions” related to a nationalist movement in the republic prevented the sacred icons from being taken out of Georgia.

Sources said the substitute exhibit may be a display of 5th-Century to 7th-Century gold pieces from the Kremlin’s Armory Museum, but Herring would not confirm that.

“The gold exhibit is not confirmed,” Herring said. “There’s a couple of different possibilities and we’re very optimistic, but nothing’s been pinned down. . . . Any exhibit would take a period of time to get over here and install.”

Herring did say that talks regarding a substitute exhibit have taken place with Irina Rodimtseva, director of the Kremlin state museums, who is in San Diego.

Mayoral spokesman Paul Downey said Tuesday’s preview performance of the marionettes would be rescheduled, as will a free performance because the marionettes didn’t perform at Super Powers Sunday as planned.

Charlene Baldridge, spokeswoman for the Old Globe Theatre, which is producing the marionettes’ performance, said it was uncertain whether tonight’s performance would be the premiere of “Daughter of the Trebizond Empire,” a piece commissioned for the festival.