Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 10:47:19 -0400
From: Alexander Winfield <sheepwpunks-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Nightingale in Toronto: Lepage and Curry


I wonder about this trend to forgo puppeteers and simply train the actors
and musicians in basic puppet handling. Iremember many productions of Avenue
Q have not bothered to hire professional puppeteers in this fashion -
though,
in contrast, William Kentridge had both singer and puppeteer share
manipulation of his large puppets in a recent production of his. In this
case, Curry seems to be interested in the dramatic dynamic between singer
and puppet - how they interact, and how the audience perceives that
interaction. I could understand how the inexperience of the singer in puppet
operation could be fascinating in this context, as the singer would not
necessarily always put the puppet first - there would be a tension in the
performance, singer and puppeteer competing for space, which Curry at least
seems to feel will be dramatic.
However, I do suspect there is always another, less spoken of motivation for
hiring puppeteers; budget. Not hiring professional puppeteers means you can
skip out on a professional puppeteer's fees. In our culture too there are
very few 'celebrity' puppeteers (in english Canada I can only think of
Ronnie Burkett, and he is hardly a marquee name), so having a puppeteer on
staff would not be a box office draw. Finally, the audiences of today are
not trained in observing puppet performance - often they do not know the
joys of seeing a truly gifted performer as compared to a novice who is
fooling with dolls. So, they come for the puppet - thus in this case it is
the puppet itself that is the box office draw. 'Performing Object' - a
recent term in puppetry - tends to place the emphasis on the OBJECT - the
puppet is a novelty, something to be seen - more than on the PERFORMANCE, in
my experience.
I'd be curious to read some of Taymor and Curry's thoughts on not using
puppeteers, if anyone knows where I might find them. I do remember reading
that Taymor first trained in mime under Lecoq, and so perhaps comes to
puppetry seeing it as a means to experiment with human movement and body,
rather than focusing on the puppet itself.

yrs.

Alexander

On Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 8:38 AM, Hobey Ford <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com> wrote:

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGu_mwN8v3A&feature=player_embedded
>
> Yes Bruce your right, Curry says in the youtube link, that he "doesn't
> use puppeteers".  That is an odd statement. He says he prefers the
> actors and dancers,  .  I have heard statements along these lines from
> Julie Taymor as well.  I do think actors and dancers can be wonderful
> puppeteers, but  I think it is unfair to assume that "puppeteers"
> aren't qualified to operate puppets in the big leagues of theater.
> Its a pretty broad assumption.  "Puppeteers" as a group range from
> novice to expert.  It is the same with any artform.  Orchestras don't
> hire dancers because there are novice musicians.  Curry and Taymor
> have done alot for the artform of puppetry, but their careers wouldn't
> exist without the artform and all of "Us" who have brought it down
> through the ages.  They didn't invent it after all.  They seem to
> almost snub puppeteers saying things like that.
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 8:36 PM, Bruce K. Chesse
> <brucec-AT-chesseartsltd.com> wrote:
> > Yeh,
> >
> > But I don't know about puppeteers not acting. He doesn't seem to be
> > the puppeteers friend.
> > On Oct 2, 2009, at 5:32 PM, Mathieu René wrote:
> >
> >> I'll try to go see it!
> >>
> >> Curry's work is amazing, and I've never seen any of his creations
> >> up close.
> >>
> >> Thanks a lot for letting us know, Jamie.
> >> I do hope you go see the opera, and write us a few words about it!
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