Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 11:55:53 -0500
From: Preston Foerder <slovpete-AT-telesouth1.com>
Subject: Re: PUPT: Almost Being John Malkovich



Widerman-AT-aol.com wrote:

> There have been many great string puppeteers on the streets of New York that
> have done remarkably well, with a handsome take from passing the hat as
> proof. (New Yorkers are a particularly sophisticated, discriminating and
> tough to please audience.) Joe Castine, Leela Puppet Theater, and myself
> could all testify to this.

Not to mention, Addis Williams, Laurent Devime, who has performed both in New York
and France, any number of street performers whose names I don't know that I've seen
in Europe, and, from time to time, myself.  Having been a street performer for
fifteen years,  I can tell you that not only is it possible to gather a crowd with
marionettes, but, particularly as a solo puppeteer, it is easier.  People are
fascinated by marionettes as something they see as very complex and vaguely
mysterious.  Generally, just hanging from a rack, they'll gather a crowd.

I had no problems with the film's portrayal of the street performer. In the
beginning, or when they are working out new material, any street performer goes
through a period where they are not gathering crowds, until the material is worked
out.  Some people go through this period for years before they either get better or
give up.  My basic formula for street performing is that you keep doing it until
people stop walking away.

John Bell wrote:

> I agree that there are great depths and heights in the relationships between
> puppeteers and puppets, in the way you describe.  But I don't think
> puppeteers want to "be" their puppets the way that Cusack's character puts
> it.  Puppeteers are not trying to be flesh-and-blood people, which is what
> the "Malkovich" movie is all about.

Some puppeteers are.  Some puppeteers aren't.  I don't think there is a single
motivation for all puppeteers.

>         This to me is an interesting aspect of puppet theater now.  Even if
> we discount the  "avant garde," I would still insist that in the puppetry
> most people see, marionettes are not a dominant element; the work of Jim
> Henson, Frank Oz, and so many other Muppet performers, on t.v., in films,
> and live proves my point: that's the one puppet style almost everyone has
> seen, and it's not classic marionettes.

I was discussing live puppet theatre, which is what is presented in the film, not
television. I believe people generally think of a puppet show as a live phenomenon,
placing television puppetry into a different category.  If someone says "I went to
see a puppet show", you don't envision them sitting in front of a television set.
In the places where the average person generally sees live puppetry, the malls, the
parties, the school auditoriums, and, yes, even the streets, they are as likely to
see a marionette as any other style of puppetry.  It is very common that someone
calling me up looking for a puppet show will specifically be looking for a
marionette show.

Finally, (that's right, I'm bored and I'm not getting enough e-mail) I'd like to
second Alice's glorification of our freak status.   Face it, what we do is not
normal.  The average person would never consider doing it, and generally is shocked
to find that people make a living at it, let alone, attempt to do serious theatre
with it.   Unlike being an actor, very few people have fantasies of being a
puppeteer (and probably fewer after having seen "Being J.M.").  Being an outsider
gives us a certain amount of freedom in what we do.  I think Roman Paska said that
he was glad that puppet theatre was outside the mainstream and hoped it would never
enter it.

Preston



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