To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 20:38:49 -0400
From: dhpuppet-AT-aol.com
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Peter Arnott and others


Thanks Kurt,

That's?good advice, coming from someone who has given so much to P of A in so many ways. 







-----Original Message-----
From: Kurt and Kathy Hunter <HunterMarionettes-AT-earthlink.net>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Sent: Tue, 19 May 2009 7:24 pm
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Peter Arnott and others



Dave,

I agree completely about the benefits of joining P of A and the guilds.
I've spent a lot of time up to my neck in the business of guilds, regions,
nat'l P of A, festivals, etc.  The conclusion that I've reached is that the
best way to support the goals of P of A is to concentrate on making your own
puppetry work the best it can be.  If that doesn't leave you with time to
actively support P of A, guilds, etc., so be it.  If you can manage to do
both (and lots of excellent puppeteers do), that's wonderful.  I definitely
understand your frustration, but I've just given up on bemoaning anyone
else's lack of contribution (well, mostly given that up).      

Kurt

-----Original Message-----
From: puptcrit-bounces-AT-puptcrit.org [mailto:puptcrit-bounces-AT-puptcrit.org]
On Behalf Of dhpuppet-AT-aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 5:02 PM
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Peter Arnott and others

I get so ticked off with people that do not want anything to do with
puppetry organizations. What the Hell are they afraid off, that ?they might
actually learn something?? I have heard that Arnott was? pretty amazing, but
from what?I have?seen of Mr. Arnotts work from pictures in books he might
have benefited a great deal from dealing with other puppeteers, by learning
some better construction techniques. ?The people that now own the Stevens
Puppets want nothing to do with puppetry organizations. My God, I can just
hear Steve rolling over in his grave.? Steve gave me my first Puppetry
Journal and told me if I really wanted to learn about puppetry the first
thing I needed to do was join the P of A. That was over 40 years ago. ?We
have a puppeteer locally that has been invited to perform at several
regional festivals,and mind you is a wonderful performer.?It was suggested
to me when?I was artistic director of the last Great Lakes Regional that
maybe this?group should be invited to perform. I said nothing doing ,stating
that the person in question had performed at two regionals and that they
have never and by God I 
mean never contributed to the Great Lakes Region or
to the Chicago Guild in any way, and?I felt that the performance spot should
go to someone who had?supported their region and their Guild. The spot by
the way went to an Indiana Guild member who has indeed made a contribution
to the region and to his Guild. I know P of A and the Guilds are not perfect
far from it but I think most people are going to benefit from joining. Some
of the biggest names in puppetry have been ardent P of A supporters and no
matter how big and famous they got, or get,?they have still supported the
organization and continue to do so. 

Thank you for reading and I shall now step down from my soap box

Dave Herzog


-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Cook <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Sent: Tue, 19 May 2009 12:03 pm
Subject: [Puptcrit] Peter Arnott



Since I met Peter Arnott at a puppet festival, maybe his views about not 
associating with puppetry organizations underwent modification.

At my first Puppeteers of America Festival, 1948, Oklahoma City OK, Martin &

Olga Stevens presented their 2-puppeteer -one-year-old version of Macbeth,
using 
rod puppets and shadow figures for ghosts (shadows by Marjorie Batchelder 
McPharlin who produced Aristophanes" The Birds at Ohio State University).

More than one puppet festival has boasted shows NOT aimed at children. At 
Lubbock TX, Jim Gamble presented his flasher marionette for what was
supposed to 
be an adult audience, but someone sold tickets to families with children, so

there were the usual rumblings afterward about "inappropriate material".

I am willing to bet there were copies of Playboy Magazine in the homes of at

least some complaining families. As a former kid, I can attest to the fact
that 
kids in my day were familiar with Esquire magazine and the pinup pages.
Playboy 
served the same function more explicitly for later generations.


-----Original Message-----
From: Preston Foerder
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 9:43 AM
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re
: [Puptcrit] Peter Arnott

When I was a theatre major at Tufts University, Peter Arnott was the head of
the
theatre department. I was directed (as an actor) by him in a couple
productions. I also got the chance to see several of his shows.  The shows
were
short-strung marionette shows. Peter visibly manipulated the marionettes
from
behind the set which came up to between his chest and his waist. He had a
chain
system from which he could hang puppets onstage when they weren't in action.
He
did all the voices live using his own translations from the Greek. Almost
all
the shows were classical Greek tragedies or comedies, although he did have a
production of Marlowe's Dr. Faustus which I never had a chance to see.  The
marionettes were small, about a foot tall, and the faces were modeled after
ancient Greek masks. Since Greek plays generally have only o
ne or two speaking
characters onstage besides the chorus(at least until Euripides, who added a
third speaking character), the plays worked very well as one-man shows.
Peter felt the shows were the closest a modern audience could have to the
experience of an ancient Greek witnessing the original plays.  The actors
were
all wearing masks so their faces wouldn't move.  Their speaking voices would
all sound vaguely similar due to the oratory techniques used and that their
voice were possibly distorted through amplifications devices (little
megaphones) that may have been built into the masks.  And, since most of the
audience was seated on hillsides far from the stage, the actors would have
appeared very small, like puppets.

If you wanted to stop a conversation with Peter, all you had to do was tell
him
that you were a puppeteer. Having become completely frustrated with people
bringing their 4 year olds to Oedipus, he refused to have anything to do
with
puppetry organizations, festivals, or venues. This was his way of
associating
his shows with adult theatre. Apart from this, he was a brilliant, funny,
dear
man. He passed away in the 1980s.

Preston
Quoting Robert Rogers 
<robertrogers-AT-robertrogerspuppets.com>:

> Peter Arnott was a scholar of the classics as well as puppet theater
> performer.  By coincidence, I've been re-reading a book he wrote in 1964
> entitled, "Plays Without People."  A lot of his observations may seem all
to
> clear to the average full-time puppeteer.  But he does have equally
> fascinating insights.
>
> You can find a copy at www.abebooks.com.
>
> Robert Rogers
>
> _______________________________________________
> List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
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