Tag: Puppetry

What do you dream about?  Will you tell us?  The Human Dream Project Hotline is run by artist Admiral Grey.  Individuals call in to have their dreams recorded and collected.  This accumulation is expressed as “becoming an international archive of human dreams from our time”.

Snake in the Boot is an experimental theater collective helmed by Mr. Grey, Chad Raines and Brandt Adams.  They “create works that lie at the intersection of artifice and truth, poetical expressions that allow us to explore our messy prosaic realities”.  Their production just began a month long run at the off-off Broadway arts incubator The Tank.

Recordings were selected of humans describing dreams they have had.  The team illustrates these tales onstage using movement and puppetry, accompanied by a musical soundtrack and live percussion.  A boatload of visual enchantments will appear.

A narrator puppet of sorts (pictured above) literally kicks things off.  Other than playing the  recorded dreams, there is no real dialogue employed by the performers.  The puppets are varied, colorful, interesting, often abstract and generally lean more towards cute than scary.  There is a lot of sensory creativity and amusing movement on display.

The high point comes early on.  A woman dreams she is sitting at a window seat on a plane.  Peering outside she notices a biplane is flying erratically nearby.  A woman is standing on the upper wing.  She looks like a “bad ass French movie star”.  Blindfolded and smoking a cigarette the woman is certainly facing her doom as the plane is on fire.

Staging this dream includes puppets sitting in modern day airplane seats.   A sizable red biplane hovers with a woman standing on the wing.  A life sized version of her is reenacted on the floor for additional close up and emphasis.  The imagery perfectly embodies the dream recording being spoken aloud.

How does this particular dream end?  With the realization that “I’ll never be as free as that woman”.  Not a dream about a witnessed horror as much as a dream about one’s inability to face life head on, fear be damned.  If all of the dream recordings had such an arc followed by a thought provoking ending, this collection could be masterful.

Many of the dreams are more meandering affairs as befit the nature of such musings.  A mother is a memorable red brick colored windmill.  One attends a formal event in a big mansion and is “out of my league”.  Her father will enter the story and who he is garners big laughs.

Another chucklesome entry is from the person who dreams that their teeth are loose and then falling out.  In different ways and patterns every time.  Reassembly is not ideally realized.  Here is one of many examples where the live percussion is cleverly used to supplement visual gags.

Many of the segments end with a whimper rather than a bang.  Think Saturday Night Live skit where you are enjoying the ride but it’s time to move on to the next skit.  There is a lot of potential in this idea and it will be fun to see where this team takes this work next.  In the meantime, observe the purple octopus’ tentacle dance.  Decide if you should take a video with your phone or be alive in the moment watching the bizarre occurrence as it happens (another dream which considers a meaningful question).

At the end of this performance a woman turned to her companion and loudly exclaimed “I have a million questions”.  We all laughed.  According to the program the Human Dream Project is currently developing  phone booth installations to be placed around the world for further collection.  Perhaps the next show will elicit a billion questions.

The Human Dream Project is running at The Tank through April 28, 2024.

www.thetanknyc.org

New York City Children’s Theater commissioned Hit The Lights! Theater Company to create a production for young audiences. Taste the Clouds is a breezy thirty minute exploration of whimsical notions to trigger the imagination.  The story is based on Rita Marshall’s book of the same name.  The targeted age range is two to five years old.  The children in the audience ranged from fidgety but engaged to focused and riveted on the action.

In the lobby, cast members interact with the kids as they arrive.  “Make sure you get your imagination paintbrush over there.”  A “really cool” activity table is where the children decorate their paintbrushes with stickers.  The table is toddler height and portends the level of smart details which follow.

There are plenty of chairs for the adults in the theater.  Kids are encouraged to sit on the floor.  A sheet is the “magic canvas.”  Some children sat with their parents or on their laps.  Others plopped themselves front and center.  The first item on the agenda?  “Raise your hands if this is the first time you’ve ever been to a play; ever been to the theater before?”  The initial feel good vibe never wanes.

Hit The Lights uses shadow puppetry projected onto a screen in this show.  I saw their production of Dungeon at Ars Nova in 2018.  Similarly, action occurs on screen and in front with the actors.  Rain comes down in the form of musical notes.  A dog is outside looking up at the clouds.  Buddy appears in the form of a two piece animal.  His head is manipulated in one hand with his body in the other.  One child stood up and gently poked Buddy in the nose.  He sneezed.  The moment was adorable.

Buddy also provided some structure.  When one child left the magic canvas and joined the actors, Buddy pointed his nose back to the sitting area which seemed to do the trick.  After all, it was time to take the imaginary paintbrushes and touch the stars.  “We did it!”

Exploration is on the agenda in Taste the Clouds.  A girl rides an owl into the sky.  The projected puppetry shows the flight and then changes the perspective to a close up.  The zooming in from larger imagery to detailed visuals is effectively used throughout.  The puppet show is fun and appropriately simple.  The questions posed are more surreal.

“Do you believe I can listen to colors?”  The children are then asked, “What’s your favorite color?”  Pink is the first one yelled out.  Then a child adds “rainbow.”  One of the actors comments that rainbow is a “solid choice.”  Little imaginations are pressed into listening to the blue flower.  “Purple was tricky.”

Fruits will be added to a cauldron.  Our heroine dons a scuba mask and she and Buddy dive in.  Swirling inside is a psychedelic soup.  “All that smelling and swimming made me hungry.”  The story quickly moves on and the children seemed attentive as a result.  Their was a nice balance of watching and participating which kept interest high.

When the children paint the sky, a slice of pizza is seen floating.  There will be dumplings and donuts.  Buddy excitedly eats everything and then turns into an exaggeratedly bloated dog.  This warning about overeating is very funny.  By the show’s end, you will believe it is possible to smell a rainbow, taste the clouds, see the music and listen to the moon.

Exiting  the theater, the cast is available for photos.  The five performers, both in front of and behind the curtain, strike a nice tone to engage the children without using baby talk.  At the end, the children are told “we are honored for this being your first play.”  Taste the Clouds is a sunny introduction to the world of magical invention in the theater and in the mind.  The kids looked like they had a fun time.  From their seat, the clouds were very tasty.

Taste the Clouds is performed on Sundays at the Flea Theater through April 26, 2020.

www.theflea.org

www.hitthelights.org

www.nycchildrenstheater.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/dungeon

Concrete Temple Theater is a multi-disciplinary company committed to creating compelling new theatrical works.  Begun in 2004, they incorporate drama, dance, puppetry, music and visual arts.  In their mission statement, they focus on presenting works that address real issues within communities such as grief, family relationships and environmental stewardship.  Packrat falls into the latter category.

Bud is the title character and he, like all of this cast, are puppets of various styles.  He is a packrat.  Bud collects human “treasures” found on the desert floor.  Humans know them better as litter or forgotten items casually tossed aside.  A silver spoon and an opened bag of marshmallows play important roles in the story.

A faceless cowboy exuberantly drives through these creatures’ homeland in his car.  This puppet is very amusing.  He is built larger than life as would be the size view from an animal’s perspective.  He dons an enormous cowboy hat and a lit cigar.  An ash falls into the dry grasses and sets the land ablaze.  Puppet animals start to scatter amidst the devastation.

Judgmental squirrels believe Bud’s hoarding of human treasures is the cause of the fire. Such activity is illegal, they remind.  The humans are obviously mad.  The squirrels want Bud banned.  Their leader is a jack rabbit named Firestone who is Bud’s friend.  He sleeps to think of a solution.  One is revealed through a dream.

Firestone tells Bud that he needs to search for Artemisia, a land of big sagebrush.  This is the place where there will be no humans.  It must be found for the benefit of all.  Bud attempts to take all of his belongings on this journey but there are too many trinkets to carry.  He has to narrow it down to the most important treasure.  Oh, the choices!  The relocation adventure begins.

Renee Philippi is the writer and director of Packrat.  The story is a simple one exposing the harm caused by humans unconcerned and unconnected with their impact on the environment.  This tale is obviously a microcosm of larger issues concerning environmental damage and blatant disregard for nature.  The focus here on the act of one person’s carelessness stresses the point of each and everyone’s responsibility to the land and its inhabitants.

The story of Packrat is simple and sweet.  Three of us attended this production together and we all found some moments oddly confusing.  Determining which rat puppet was the main character was not always crystal clear.

The puppets themselves are an interesting visual blend of styles.  Carlo Adinolfi designed the puppetry, projections and set.  Some animals appear as suggested forms with exposed rib cages.  When burrowing owls run across the floor, their feet rapidly tap on the floor.  The moment is delightful and just makes you smile.  Another style uses outlines to suggest dreamlike forms and reminded me of dried palm fronds.

The set  is composed of curved sculptures which function as blades of grass.  They are moved around as location changes require.  The puppeteers are visible but clad in black clothing.  They add vocals to the soothing voice over narration by Vera Beren.

Packrat is an enjoyable little tale probably best suited to children given the simplistic themes and good-natured vibe.  The creative elements, however, do provide some whimsical moments that will appeal to anyone who admires artistic inventiveness.

Packrat will be performed at Dixon Place through February 15th.  The show is traveling to the Flint Repertory Theater in Michigan for the weekend of February 21 – 23, 2020.

www.dixonplace.org

www.concretetempletheatre.com

www.flintrep.org

Back in 2007, the term Punch Kamikaze was created for an Alice in Wonderland puppet festival.  Artists are assigned sections of a book, film or historical event with no limitations on puppet style or interpretation.  The pieces are presented in order but are not coordinated in any way.  This week Drama of Works hosted a take on Dante Alighieri in PUNCH KAMIKAZE:  Inferno!

In eleven segments, the first part of the 14th century epic poem Divine Comedy is reenacted.  In this story, Dante is guided through hell by the ancient Roman poet Virgil.  The puppeteers tackle the Descent Into Hell followed by the nine circles of torment.  The personification of the devil finishes the tale in The Emperor of the Kingdom of Despair performed by Trade Winds Theatre and Hunter College.

The show is a smorgasbord of styles and varying quality.  Limbo is the first circle which contains the unbaptized and virtuous pagans.  (Since I was baptized as a child, I probably won’t land here.  I do consider myself a quite ethical pagan so time will tell which circle the sorting hat will choose.)  Singing about their “splendid, splendid castle” a monk choir holds candles while puppets perform on a castle of seven high walls.

LUST, A.K.A. Hollywood is a solo piece by Patryk Koma Wilinski.  He meets Madonna in a bar and, after many drinks, she complements his lovemaking expertise.  Waking from that dream and with Morgan Freeman as his Virgil, he covers the typical slimy types represented with standing paper cutouts including one of Hugh Hefner.

Greed is retitled as Hoarders & Spendthrifts, Virgil Tours – Your Guide to Hell(‘s) Kitchen and Beyond.  In this creative concept by Playlab NYC, a guide narrates a walking tour of this since renamed New York City neighborhood.  We meet a beggar.  The puppets employed here are larger sized versions of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robot toys.  The two battlers embody a Republican and a Democrat.  Both are appropriately ridiculed.

My absolute favorite chapter presentation was FRAUD by Exploding Puppet Productions.  Instead of a puppet show, there was a video of a young girl (Charlie Walton) who is coloring.  She is creating a drawing of the word FRAUD on a piece of paper.  Her commentary is adorably funny.  Eventually we briefly see some Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals beneath a comforter.  The short piece ends with her asking, “Is Trump in jail yet?”  A puppet show fraud, indeed.

At the end,  a giant multi-headed creature representing Lucifer is assembled by a large troupe.  Arms are painted flexible tubes.  There are three heads as told in the Inferno.  It is obviously munching on people.  The show ends with eerie, slightly crazed laughter.

This experimental show is clearly not for everyone.  Two women bolted early on.  Were they fleeing metaphorically from their personal circle of entertainment hell?  Some sections were less accomplished while others reached for a creativity that was only partially successful.  The audience was very supportive to them all.  Punch Kamikaze is probably best when you have an affinity for the subject matter and are willing to support offbeat diversions from artists cultivating their talents.

www.dixonplace.org

www.dramaofworks.com

Various shades of white with light tan accents are illuminated when you take a seat at The Tank.  There is a tree.  Three very large triangles.  Do they represent sails?  The ocean?  Additional material on the floor covers the width of the stage.  Is this paper?  Linen?  The imagery is dreamy and serene.  Are we looking at a diorama? A frozen landscape?  This mystical fairytale will incorporate travel.  A tale of one woman’s journey through life will be Unfolding.

Margarita Blush conceived and directed this visually splendid story.  Three women (also dressed in white) narrate this wordless show using moving performance and puppetry.  As manipulated, the hand crafted puppets are beautifully rendered, expressive individuals.  They walk and climb trees.  Exquisite shadow imagery fills in meticulous details.  The ambience is timeless and magical.

A woman’s life will unfold before your eyes from birth to the inevitable.  Along the way, she will grow and learn and love.  Her hair will change styles.  So many details are rendered through this extraordinarily fine storytelling.  This show has both a romantic sensibility and a playful wittiness.  Recognizable moments provide happy laughs.

As we travel with this woman through life, all types of unfolding occurs.  A life unfolds and becomes more expansive.  The material onstage unfolds to reveal delightful surprises.  This woman unfolds and her life transforms before our eyes.  The levels of wonderment produced by this artistic team never cease to amaze.

Dimitar Dimitrov and Petia Dimitrova created and designed the set and puppets.  Their spectral aesthetic pairs seamlessly with this enchanting celebration of the gift of life.  Amir Khosrowpour composed the compellingly simple yet lushly evocative music which gorgeously underscores a truly magical tale.  Puppetry is alive and well all over New York City these days.  Unfolding is a joyous example of this fine artistry.

The Tank is an arts incubator that presents over 800 performances annually on its two stages.  With free performance space, artists such as these can have an outlet to express their creative visions.  Usually the works are unique.  Often the works are memorable.  Occasionally they are magical.  Always they are worthwhile in support of the many talented artists looking to develop and share their vision.

With Unfolding, that vision is superbly realized and a captivating experience.

www.thetanknyc.org

Admittedly I do enjoy puppet shows and there are some terrific companies playing with the form and creating visually stimulating entertainments these days.  I’m off to see Don Giovanni at Praque’s National Marionette Theatre later this month.  I can add Doppelskope to the list of troupes to keep on my radar.  Every weekend in October they are presenting The Amazing Story Machine at The Tank, a prolific incubator for artists in New York City.  Joy is the feeling these artists bring to the stage.

While waiting in the lobby before the show, two young girls approached each other to say hello.  “I’m five and a half, how old are you?”  Her response:  “I’m only five.”  They are the perfect age for this piece of theatrical wonderment but it is safe to say the adults in the room seemed equally engaged.  On the stage is a handcrafted story machine made from simple objects.  The four member cast with the last name Grimm tells children’s stories with a twist or two.

Doppelskope believes that audience participation empowers people to be active participants in the world.  The children in the audience were on board.  When a (planned) malfunction happens, Fritz Grimm (Christopher Scheer) apologizes, stating “this is not the show.”  A young boy yelled out, “YES IT IS!”  A momentary pause.  He then turns his head with a mischievous grin and says, “NO IT’S NOT!”  The adults roared with laughter and the kids jumped right back in:  “YES IT IS!”  For a company who believes “in the intelligence of children and the whimsy of adults,” the moment was perfect.

Wrapped up in all of this inspired fun is great messaging.  We are all storytellers.  We can all make sets and props.  We can all entertain and be creative.  We can all be active participants.  Doppelskope hopes we can all see everyday objects in a new light, full of potential for play.  I can only say that I’ve never, ever enjoyed Hansel and Gretel this much before.

After a hideously disconcerting week of the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination debacle and the horrifically disgraceful examples of the truly morally bereft adults that lead our country, I’d like to personally thank this exciting group of performers for reminding me that there is good in the world.  You just have to tell the story.  And also show up to see it.  People who need people and children and theater are indeed the luckiest people in the world.

www.thetanknyc.org

www.doppelskope.com

Hit the Lights! Theater Company was selected to be a 2018 company-in-residence at Ars Nova, a major incubator of young talents beginning their careers.  Using found materials, they specialize in “transforming ordinary objects into something extraordinary.”  The company is composed of six multidisciplinary artists including puppeteers, actors, musicians, vocalists, artisans and “everything in between.”  Dungeon successfully played the Cincinnati and Minnesota Fringe Festivals (audience and critics pick, respectively).  Given a One Night Stand performance at Ars Nova, I decided to check them out.

Using screen puppets, hand puppets, actors, lights, a screen, sheets and a bass and violin, Dungeon is described as a story of a young man who falls into the unknown to rescue the thing he holds most dear.  I felt this was a version of Alice falling down the rabbit hole,  with scary images and darkness.  Odd monsters, spooky looking trees and the search ensues.  This is definitely fear-is-fun territory, played for laughs with some quality imagery.  There is a large amount of interesting puppetry (and its evolution) to be found around town these days.  To be at the next level, like Manual Cinema for example, I would say that the storytelling in Dungeon needs to be clearer.  A fun, high energy company to watch as they develop in residence.

www.arsnovanyc.com

www.hitthelights.org

www.manualcinema.com

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/mementosmori/manualcinema

Perhaps the greatest puppet show I have ever seen was Ada/Ava by Manual Cinema.  So it was with great excitement that I got tickets for Mementos Mori, a new production making its New York premiere this week.  Manual Cinema is aptly named.  They make cinematic art right in front of the audience.  Using overhead projectors, the puppeteers keep the action moving which is then projected on a center film screen.  You are watching the cinema as well as the activity to make it all happen.  Add in live, originally composed music and you are (sort of) transported back to the silent film era.

Manual Cinema states that it aim is to take the visual and sonic vocabulary of film and TV and use it to explore themes and stories that are weird, powerful, human and theatrical.  Mementos Mori is a piece created to explore how modern technology, particularly smartphones and social media, has shifted our relationship with presence and absence, death and dying.  Death herself is a character.  All of this is done with six overhead projectors, screens, actors and close to 500 different shadow puppets and slides over the course of the show.  Running nearly 1:30, this is complex choreography.  The resulting “cinema” is incredibly unique and impressive.

I’ll admit that I loved Ada/Ava more than Mementos Mori largely due to the storytelling.  But this last effort was longer and infinitely more complicated (double the projectors for example).   Manual Cinema is based out of Chicago and travels the world.  Search them out.  Whatever is playing, go.  Oh, and tickets for this show were $25.  A momentous value.  And isn’t it fun that they use low tech overhead school projectors to create these awesome visual effects?

www.manualcinema.com