Adult and Children's theatre

http://www.puppet.org/perform/xpt11.shtml

Xtreme Puppet Truth (XPT) stuck me at first by a quote of theirs I ran across-

“XPT makes Avenue Q look like Bambi.” ~ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


this puppet show is an annual event that brings together puppeteers of varying ages, styles, and genres

they get together and create multiple short puppetry scenes

trying to branch to the far reaches of puppetry

I found this process description/interview to be really interesting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHoHPn51Vis&feature=player_embedded#at=569


I couldn't really find any video's of shows that were going to be performing this year but I did find a particularly eerie stop motion production from 2006

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x20aui_death-of-a-matriarch_creation

which helps to show that many of these performances are not really intended for children

Puppet Education

this is about an organization called Peace Through Puppetry

I find that this is using education in not the most traditional of senses.

This program uses small hand and finger puppets to create bonds and a sense of safety between American troops and the children of Iraq and Afghanistan. These puppets are not teaching a child how to cross the street or their ABC's but they are teaching them that the soldiers are there to help them and that they are all one and the same as human beings. I find this to be an important message and an interesting way of gaining the trust of the locals during the time at war. (This organization started in 2007, and to my knowledge is still running)

interesting things

in my hunting around the internet looking for puppet violence I ran across two other sites that I thought were rather interesting


http://asiapacific.unfpa.org/public/pid/6881

this one which talked about using shadow puppets as a means to combat domestic violence, drug use and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases

-----------------------------------------------------------------


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD8i4SLVcCw&feature=related

I also ran across this eerie marionette that I thought was rather cool

-enjoy

The Puppet Monster Massacre

In my search for some intense puppet violence and gore I stumbled across this lovely gem. The Puppet Monster Massacre. This is a Muppet based puppet style that seems to be a retelling of sorts of Ten Little Indians/House on Haunted Hill.

Basic premise is group of people receive letters saying that if you can survive a night in my mansion you will receive a large sum of money, a rather common horror plot devise if you ask me. But apparently this rich weirdo that's sending out letters has an ulterior motive in inviting all these people to his home.

One: he is seeking revenge for a wrong that was done against him. Two: the people invited to the house are the last surviving ancestors of those who have wronged him. Three: rich weirdo plans to murder every last one of them. (as the movie poster so lovingly put it- “The felt is going to fly!”)

The film is set in 1985 and as reviews have stated is a black comedy fun of puppet violence, gore and nudity.

On the main website are two videos: the first being the Official Trailer and the second being a sneak preview of the first few minutes of the movie.

This first scene shows the scientific mad man: Dr. Wolfgang Wagner aka rich weirdo. Abducting a hunter from the woods, with the help of his trusty sidekick: a penguin named Squiggums. They have placed a parasite inside of this seemingly Scottish hunter's stomach. In order to incubate and grow. We then see this worm-esk teethy creature tear it's way out of the mans mouth spattering blood everywhere. The clip ends shortly after.

This low budget film seems to take the well know puppet style of Sesame Street and place them into outlandish and mature situations. Very much like Avenue-Q. The use of puppets associated with childrens programing for such rated R material is what is intriguing to the audience. It gives a sense of familiarity while combining it with a sense of shock at these puppets behavior.

It is an interesting style and form of bringing in an audience, and sometime can be seen as very forceful and in your face. I am unsure of how this particular show goes about this, as I have only seen small clips, but I get the feeling that it is anything but subtle.

Looks like an interesting film though and I hope to be able to see the rest at some point in time.


http://www.puppetmonstermassacre.com/

http://anythinghorror.com/2011/04/07/indie-horror-scene-the-puppet-monster-massacre-2010/

Puppet Tech

http://www.smm.org/makingafterhours/

really cool looking stuff going on at the science museum

Shadow Puppet Animation on May 4th looks particularly interesting

Shadow Puppet Animation—Learn about making cut-out silhouettes, similar to shadow puppets, then using a stop motion animation program called SAM to animate the puppets. This process is similar to how Lotte Reiniger created her animated fairy tales.

would any one be interested in getting a group together to go?

Character's Big and Small

In looking at the physicality of puppets their possibilities are endless. Their structure needs no functional skeleton or structure other then what is needed for their character, what ever that happens to be.

The puppets that struck me the most were the gargantuan and the minuscule.

Gargantuan puppets are always so technical impressive to me. Something that can tower above us and be manipulated with such ease.

The same goes for the minuscule puppets. They are also technically impressive to me making such small movements to create a delicate and intricate character.

As the chapter states Gargantuan puppets have been used in almost every culture known to have puppets. Often times to show importance of a character or a godlike creature. Another use for gargantuan puppets is for monsters or other looming creatures.

A quote that I thought very nicely described the feeling giving off by gargantuan puppets is "They Harness the audience's imagination to extend through these physical barriers."

One of my favorite miniature puppets from the chapter was the puppet made by Hobey Ford, an Appalachian puppeteer, that was so small that they could swim laps in across a tea cup.

These smaller puppets bring thew audience in and are most often used for small intimate audiences.

These extremes in large and small in the puppetry world I find create some of the most effective uses for puppets as being different then real live is a part of what puppets do best.

chapter 1 question

What is the relationship between science and the presentation of "ojective data" and puppets?

War Horse

Joey (brown) Topthorn (black)


Last year, Spring Semester, I went on the International Traveling Classroom semester abroad program. The first city we were in was London. As a part of our group activities we went and saw quite a few shows while we were there. One of the shows we went to see was War Horse. There were many horses in this show all of which were life size puppets, many of which were manned by two or three people.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the plot
War Horse takes place in England, France, and Germany during World War I. A young man named Albert comes into possession of a young racing bred horse he names Joey. In order to keep the horse he must train Joey to be able to plow a field. Boy and Horse develop an unbreakable bond and show the rest of the town that the two of them can accomplish anything. Unfortunately the military comes into town seeking men and supplies and Joey is taken to become a Cavalry horse. Albert runs away from home and joins the military in search of Joey. The play breaks off here and jumps from scenes of Joey's struggles, Albert's life in the army, and Albert's family back home. Joey is used in service on both sides of the War. Towards the end of the play Joey becomes caught in barbed wire between the trenches in no-mans land. Both sides lay down their arms and help to free the horse. Joey and Albert wind up in the same encampment, but at this time Albert has severely injured his eyes after a shell blast and can not see. Luckily Albert recognizes the sound of Joey and they are reunited.


















the "Half Horses" used for the cavalry charge















Young Joey and Albert















Learning to race











I found these puppets to be exceptional due mainly to a few facts.
~They were artfully crafted, stylized but also realistic in their own fashion
~Structurally impressive, the larger horse puppets were ridden on stage
~The attention to detail in the small movements made by the puppets. This small business is what really brought them to life and made them appear as though they were living, breathing animals.

I was particularly impressed during the scene in which we witness a work horse collapse from exhsaustion and malnutrition, the way you can see it breathing and wheezing was heart wrenching.

A very heartfelt play. Made me tear up a few times, which is always a good sign. And was well deserving of the standing ovation that it received when we saw it.

-------
As a side note War Horse is going to be a Movie soon: coming out in December of 2011
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568911/