Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 09:14:27 -0400
From: Liz Evans <Liz-AT-Etherboy.com>
To: puptcrit-driftline.org-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] American puppetry and children


Mark S. Segal wrote:

> Gee I am confused, is puppetry just for kids?
>
> I didn't know that.
>
> I mean, I play for kids, but there are adults in the audience as well 
> and if I don't play for them....then I am missing part of my audience.

 I would have to agree on the whole with Mark on this one.
So often we see puppet performances that have not included the whole of their audience.  Yes, they are entertaining, but they are on a base child level of entertainment.  And I really believe that if we are going to change the perception of our communities, we have to think beyond the base common intellectual level (We aren't a TV show, we are theatre).
Like most companies, Renaissance does a lot of Family theatre, to be able to eat, but we are also trying very hard to write our shows with a multi level theatrical base.

Just as an example, our "Alice Through the Looking Glass" show was written as a tribute to the Author and because we really love the second book, which so often gets crammed into some homogenized version of the story with the first book.  A six year old child will enjoy the performance from the stand point of the basic story and the cool characters, and some physical humor, but an adult, Hopefully, will get the next two layers of subtle political jabs and from the artistic level.  They will also probably pick up on the way the music acts as another unseen character to lead Alice on her journey.  

Most of our performance we try very hard to remember that a parent who brings their child to one of our shows is audience to.  And from a financial standpoint it makes sense. A parent that enjoys the show is more likely to want to bring their child back to one of our performances
knowing that the experience is not just for their child.

Just my two cents.

Liz

K. Elizabeth Evans, Artistic Director
Renaissance Artist Puppet Company
http://www.RenArtPuppetCo.com
610-630-4259
Serving NY, NJ, PA, and DE
Full Puppet Theatre Performances, Walk Around Puppets, 
and Custom building.

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