Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 22:26:55 -0500
Subject: Re: PUPT: Sudden topicality


I was scheduled to perform "Punch's Magic Lamp" at the Long Island Fair
about three weeks after 9-11. I knew the audiences wouldn't make any
connection between Arabian Nights - Aladdin - and any persons connected
with 9-11 - if I didn't bang them over the head with the "Arab" aspects
of the story. So, while in previous performances Judy had referred to
Punch's father "Mustapha the tailor, the greatest tailor in all of
Bagdad," in the post 9-11 version of the show she refers to Punch's
nameless father as "the greatest tailor in the city". The evil magician
also now refers to arriving in "this magical city" instead of "this
magical city of Bagdad". That's all it took - Nobody complained. Others
may feel this was being overly cautious, but I've been doing this fair
for more than 10 years and believe that I know my audience, and many of
us were still very raw with what had happened right here in New York.

Fred Greenspan
Traditional Puppeteer
http://home.earthlink.net/~greenspan/


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