Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 10:49:30 EDT
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Nightingale in Toronto: Lepage and Curry


I remember hearing about a puppet company who's prerequisite for hire was a 
 valid driver's license.
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/3/2009 10:47:44 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
sheepwpunks-AT-gmail.com writes:

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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