Curiosity Continues to Develop

I am so amazed about how excited my team members are for this production. Seeing ideas bounce in the air and fly around the room while composed music is being played, just makes me smile. I wish I could share this sound with you all, but since I can't just walk around clicking your tongue, purring, bopping, and popping...whoop, hoop and hauler...

Check it out the notes here... Curiosity !!!

Puppetry: A World History

I just read the first chapter of Eileen Blumenthal's book, Puppetry: A World History. I am learning that puppetry is truly an art form that is as old as time. It has been used to express all kinds of stories from children stories to political propaganda, Shakespeare, religion, and tales of a comic and/or tragic nature. What kind of puppetry do you prefer? Are you more of a sock puppeteer, a string, rods, shadow, lap, or other? I tend to be more of a shadow puppet kind of guy myself.

I can't wait to see how we begin to construct our story, characters, and world. Unfortunately, I will have to wait until the class (click on Schedule of Classes p. 660) starts in September to start seeing any kind of tangible development. We are getting pieces placed together, for example, performance scenarios, music, and characters. Each week brings with it new information, new adventures, and more! Stayed tuned...

Curiosity

I am beginning to work on a show entitled... "Curiosity". It is the exploration of Pandora's Box through the world of puppetry...

Here are a few great puppetry websites that I am using as starting points for inspiration and research...

1. Puppeteers
2. Pagesperso-orange
3. Sagecraft
4. Unima-USA

It is a world almost entirely new to me, and yet one that I have been profoundly influenced by and deeply intrigued in understanding. Something about manipulating a small world is a bit scintillating to me! I will be working with a number of my lighting design colleagues at UMass, Amherst to develop a lighting design that will help aid in telling a story and creating a world for the production.

Here are a few of my starting points for research...


"A pithos from Crete, ca. 675 BC. Louvre"


"An Attic pyxis, 440–430 BC. British Museum"


"Pithoi at Knossos."


Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Replica: Pandora, 1879


Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Pandora

When you start a new project, where do you begin?

Awaji-Puppet Theatre Workshop Grant

Hey everybody...I got the grant!!! We received $250 to help fund the Awaji-Puppet Theater Workshop. We were hoping for a bit more in order to purchase tickets for students to go and see the production this Saturday, but the council decided the students ought to be able to afford that themselves. No problem, right? Can't hurt to ask and hope for funding, and besides, we were given enough to pay the actors for their time. That's all I wanted, and we got it! So, thanks to the UMass Arts Council for generously funding our workshop.

I am really excited about the workshop. I will be recording it, and I hope to receive permission from the company to post the footage on my blog here. So, keep your eyes peeled for an update if not a nice clip of the workshop!

I can't wait to spend some more time working on writing grants. I think publicity, communication and interaction are the best ways to make art successful. I believe in the work that I am doing, and I believe in the power of theatre and storytelling...and I hope I can find ways to bring that work to others in a way that enriches their lives. So, if you live in the Amherst, MA area swing on by and check out the companies work!

Awaji Puppet Theater

Awaji-Puppet Theater...Over 500 years of tradition...

I have been working on a Grant through the UMASS Arts Council with a couple of colleagues from the UMASS Theater Department. It is a small and simple grant...perfect for my first attempt. I have been working on scheduling the event and organizing the writing. Jason has been working hard on the publicity, scheduling and writing of the grant. Dora has been our liason, organizer, writer, and chief director for the grant. I can't thank them enough for all their work. I am very excited about this company, the workshop on the 27th of February, and their performace on the 28th of February. I spent some time reading a few articles of theirs and watching a DVD of their production, and I can't say enough how intense their work is! Check them out at www.japansociety.org