From: "Bear Town" <beartown-AT-bear-town.com>
Subject: Re: PUPT: Re: Thoughts on Avenue Q
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 19:33:11 -0500


Well, said Robert. And yes there was a little reverse snobbism at work!

Incidently, by "capital A" actors I was attempting to descibre a specific
set of individuals I had encountered who were ill-mannered, uninformed,
pretencious ego-maniacs who rediculed and dismissed any form of theatre they
themselves didn't practice.

I'd like to keep as large a wedge between myself and that crowd as
possible!!! lol

- Andrew

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Smythe" <robertsmythe-AT-mumpuppet.org>
To: <puptcrit-AT-lists.village.Virginia.EDU>
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 12:43 PM
Subject: Re: PUPT: Re: Thoughts on Avenue Q


> Why is it that the technical aspects of puppetry make it an artform?
> Surely, then, weightlifting would outrank puppetry, based on that
> criterion. Technical proficiency does not an artist, nor an artform,
> make.
>
> While you decry the "capital A" actors who look down on puppetry,
> aren't you practicing reverse snobbism here?
>
> Let's not drive a wedge between different groups. But consider this:
>
> an actor (or dancer, or other performer) is hired to perform with a
> puppet and is able to pick up the needed skills in order to perform. So
> what? When movie stars in the old studio days needed to learn how to
> dance, they picked up the steps and made a movie. I'm sure that put
> some dancers' noses out of joint, but does any one really mind that
> that star was in that movie? There is that extra something in a
> performance that is greater than the sum of its parts. Puppetry's great
> magic is due to that: a number of things contribute to an experience
> that cannot be duplicated. It is not enough to just wiggle the dollies:
> depending on who's doing the wiggling there is a real difference in
> what happens between the performer and the audience.
>
> I've been reading this thread and noticed that some would set puppetry
> apart from theater at large. It isn't separate: it's a subset, as
> watercolor and oil painting are a subset of two-dimensional art.
> Puppetry is a technique, not an artform. It has no generally recognized
> aesthetic that is separate from its parent, theater. In the discussions
> that have raged over this board for years no one has yet come up with
> any kind of system for evaluating work with a puppet that is any
> different from evaluating dance or theater. In fact, it is interesting
> that the only discussions that attract a lot of contributors are about
> the objects and how to make them: very little time is spent talking
> about what is done with the objects after they are made.
>
> If you feel that actors with a capital A look down their noses at
> puppeteers, try looking at it from another point of view. A talented
> watercolorist who has no idea or understanding of other genres and
> techniques of painting or art-making, can be easily dismissed by other
> painters who may well respect what the watercolorist does ("he's good
> at that kind of thing") but expect nothing more from him, and with good
> reason: he has removed himself from the larger picture.
>
> Jean Claude Leportier has made the point that puppetry is like music
> and requires a performer (with musicality) an instrument (which is
> appropriate for the skill level of the performer and the piece to be
> played) and a score (which is worth playing). Very often, I think,
> puppeteers focus too much on the instrument.
>
> Just my two cents.
>
>
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