   |
| created with the support of The Jim Henson Foundation |
|
|
| created with the support of The Jim Henson Foundation |
| Chinese Theatre Works | ||
Peony Pavilion
The Birth of the Monkey King |
Toy Theater Peony Pavilion - Love finds its way across the barrier between life and death in this 16th-century Chinese opera masterpiece. This classic story is presented in a production using both traditional Kun Opera and toy theatre puppetry. The Birth of the Monkey King - A shadow theater adaptation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West, in which the fantastic simian troublemaker Sun Wu Kung gathers superpowers and shakes the foundations of Heaven, causing such a cosmic ruckus that Buddha eventually intervenes to take him down. Our retelling features a lively and topical original script, and figures based on antiques from our collection. Contact: Kuang-Yu Fong, Executive Director
| |
| ||
| Great Small Works | ||
The Rapture Project |
The Rapture Project - A serio-comic epic spectacle about fundamentalism and American culture and politics,inspired by rough-and-tumble Sicilian marionettes, current events, popular End Times literature, and day-to-day anxiety, with visual motifs from the Cockettes and 1920s Christian iconography. The Rapture Project brings together tabloid newspaper stories, popular literature about Armageddon, and fundamentalist iconography to create an epic spectacle following an unlikely cast of characters from the USA to The Middle East and beyond. Contact: Trudi Cohen | |
|
| ||
| Chris Green | ||
Tin Lightning |
Tin Lightning is a new, original work from Chris Green using puppetry, protean sets, shadows, Victorian magic lanterns, a marionette, and dozens of other objects to create a visual world where dance and puppetry are indistinguishable. The piece is drawn from the aesthetic of the contemporary 'Bulgarian School' of puppetry - a vital, earnest, and poetically minimalist form of puppetry rarely seen outside of the Balkans. Contact: Chris Green | |
|
| ||
| Inkfish | ||
The Nose |
The Nose is an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's 1836 classic short story for puppets and film. All characters are portrayed by puppets with an emphasis on Bunraku, and hand and rod puppets. The production juxtaposes design and place, incorporating both 1836 and contemporary elements, live action and film. Contact: Alissa Mello, Director
| |
|
| ||
| Sean Keohane | ||
Terrible Polichinelle |
Terrible Polichinelle - "The Merchant of Blows-with-a-Stick" is a half hour glove puppet comedy, intended mostly for adults, in which bourgeois hypocrisy leads to a round robin of violence with a snapping slapstick. "Cassandre and the Beautiful Day" is a 15 minute glove puppet comedy for family audiences in which Monsieur Cassandre faces down his daily challenges, and even a ghost, with a smile and charming cluelessness. "Le Tonneau" is a 12-20 minute glove puppet comedy featuring a hungry crocodile hiding in a barrel; can be performed in a version appropriate for family audiences as well as in an adult "puppet slam" routine, each of adjustable length. Contact: Sean Keohane | |
|
| ||
| Anna Kiraly | ||
The Quake |
The Quake - Inspired by Haruki Murakami's short stories, a shadow puppet/live action Everyman is left by his wife after an earthquake and gets an enigmatic package, which he is asked to deliver to a far corner of the country. He takes the journey and learns what the content of the package is just a bit too late. Next, Everyman gets a strange visit while riding the elevator. A giant frog tells him he has been chosen to save the city from a disastrous earthquake, a task he must attempt. Contact: Anna Kiraly | |
|
| ||
| Tom Lee | ||
Ko'olau |
Ko'olau: a true story of Kaua'I - Based on a true story of Hawaii in the 1890s, this intimate and inventive puppet performance utilizes live music, animated projections, shadow puppets and Japanese kuruma ningyo figures. The performance tells the story of Kaluaiko'olau, a respected Hawaiian cowboy and roper who contracted leprosy and was forced to choose between his family and exile. NYtheater.com writes "Tom Lee's production of this story not only reveals its lyrical beauty but, through his rich combination of music, film, and puppet animation, brings out the sadness and strength at its core." Contact: Tom Lee | |
|
| ||
| LOCO 7 | ||
Open Door |
Open Door by Colombia-born master puppet theater artist Federico Restrepo, his puppet theater troupe Loco 7 and award-winning composer Elizabeth Swados, directly addresses the impact of the many new immigrants who now make up New York City from such diverse cultural backgrounds as North and South American, African, Middle Eastern, European and Asian; friends and strangers, living in the same city/apartment/room/building, meeting and exchanging stories that reveal their histories and states of mind. Contact: Federico Restrepo | |
|
| ||
| Lone Wolf Tribe | ||
Animal
Bride |
Animal - Deep in the bowels of a bio-genetics lab, a shaman's animal guide is held in a cage. Can healing and happiness be found through more experimentation? Kevin Augustine takes us on a labyrinth excursion where life-size puppets come alive in a haunting and provocative tale of a boy and his dog. Bride explores the historical and forgotten shift of polytheism to monotheism in a visually strong and brutally poetic, epic production. Animating puppets 1/4" to 13' tall, Lone Wolf Tribe tells a 4,000 year old story that continues to shape our future. Contact: Kevin Augustine | |
|
| ||
| Amanda Maddock | ||
Mrs. Wright's Escape |
Mrs. Wright's Escape is an hour-long puppet piece presenting elements of the life of Frank Lloyd Wright from the point of view of his third and last wife, Olgivanna. Tabletop puppetry, shadow puppetry, object manipulation, and music recreate their life at Taliesin, the architecture apprenticeship program created out of their homes in Wisconsin and Arizona. In development by Amanda Maddock since 2004, Mrs. Wright's Escape has been performed in New York City, Chicago, and Putney Vermont. Contact: Amanda Maddock | |
|
| ||
| Nana Projects Studio | ||
Luna |
Luna explores what happens when a group of thieves steal the moon. They make their fortune but also awake the underworld. When whimsical monsters dance across the screen, the thieves must restore order. Performed by two or three puppeteers who project 2-dimensional images made of plastic and acrylic gels onto a screen with 3 overhead projectors. Relying on inventive ticks including scrolls of plastic, masking illusions, and faders allow the puppeteers to manipulate the pieces of plastic with a fluidity that is often mistaken for animation. Contact: Molly Ross, Nana Projects Studio
| |
|
| ||
| Eric Novak and Sarah Provost | ||
The Adventures of Charcoal Boy |
The Adventures of Charcoal Boy is a dark, musical journey where an unlikely hero - a charred stick - becomes a star and incites a revolution! Found object and original puppets by Eric Novak, direction by Sarah Provost, and an original live music score by Elyas Khan of the indie-rock band Nervous Cabaret. In this puppet work for adult audiences, a tree branch is struck by lightning, falls to the ground, and wakes up in a strange world beginning a musical journey of self-discovery - realizing that one's predicament can become a useful artistic talent as he learns to draw with his charred feet. Contact: Sarah Provost | |
|
| ||
| Wakka Wakka Productions, Inc. | ||
Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz |
Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz - An original theatre piece featuring expressive hand and rod puppets created by Kirjan Waage. Inspired by Nordic and Yiddish folktales, "Fabrik" has been written, directed, and designed by the Wakka Wakka ensemble, informed by research of the time period, the writings and life of Moritz Rabinowitz, his family, workers and countrymen. Contact: Gwendolyn Warnock | |
| Please contact the artists directly for more information about touring their shows. | ||
|
Copyright © 2008 The Jim Henson Foundation |