Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 15:35:01 -0700
From: Mary Robinette Kowal <maryrk-AT-earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: PUPT: Puppetry Critiscm


Hmm.... I'm not sure I totally agree with this.

> The perception problem will only be changed on a show to show basis, with
> public disclaimers. Cause no matter how we talk about it, Puppet and child
> seem stuck in the public's mind. Of course seeing puppets used in different
> venues helps. For a long time did trade shows (for adults) . It took a
> creative corporate mind to see the possibilities for sales and marketing -
> not art but boy it certainly was a job!

On a short term basis, yes.  But long term?  The fact that the
perception problem seems to be predominately an American problem leads
me to believe that it is not inherent in the form.  Even in the U.S. it
appears that the role of puppetry as primarily children's entertainment
didn't become truly established until the early part of the twentieth
century.  Surely we can change it back.

(Again, I want to stress that I believe that theater for children is a
real and valid form, and don't want to see it short-changed in anyway. 
The perception of the role of puppetry in the theater pantheon is the
area that I find intriguing for this discussion.)

> Who are they???? I'd really like to know....Do they write mime pieces as well????
Don't know about the mime pieces... Check out "A repertory of Marionette
Plays" by Paul McPharlin.  It's a collection of work from around the
world, and it's not intended for just marionettes.  I haven't finished
going through the other's I've checked out, so I hesitate to
reccommend...  I was surprised to learn that Eugene O'Neil's "Emperor
Jones" incorporated puppetry in it's first production.  Then of course
there' "Skin of our Teeth."  And Gertrude Stein wrote a puppet play! 
Definitely read Mr. Bell's book. (Strings, Hands, Shadows) it's got a
lot of excellent sources.

-- 
Mary Robinette Kowal
Other Hand Productions
http://www.otherhandproductions.com


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