Toy Theatre @ 2nd Int'l Puppet Fringe Festival NYC

Here are the toy theatre performances, workshops, and exhibition highlights at the upcoming 2nd International Puppet Fringe Festival NYC, August 11-15, 2021 (Live Events & Performances), and August 16-31, 2021 (Virtual Performances) - SEE BELOW!

LIVE and FREE for a limited audience outdoors; Live-streamed online for everyone else! (Due to pandemic restrictions, there will NOT be spaghetti)

Featuring:

Chinese Theatre Works

Excerpts from 3-Scale Zhongkui! -- The Chinese Judge of Hell brings Justice to the Lower East Side. 

Yuling Fang as Chinese Opera Zhongkui
Jing Shan as Hand Puppet Zhongkui
Stephen Kaplin and Harrison Greene as Giant Puppet Zhongkui 

Chinese Theatre Works, co-directed by Kuang-Yu Fong and Stephen Kaplin, brings together Chinese and Western performance styles and techniques. Its programs cut across ethnic and cultural boundaries and aim at sparking interest in Chinese cultural traditions among the wider public, as well as in Chinese Americans who have not had access to this part of their heritage.

Boxcutter Collective/Bread and Puppet Theater

Excerpts from The History of Laughter, a collaboration between Peter Schumann of The Bread and Puppet Theater and Boxcutter Collective (including Lindsay McCaw), initially created during a 3 week residency in spring of 2021. The History of Laughter looks at the role of fear in our society, and how the transcendent power of fools can subvert the crumbling empire and empower the masses to create something new instead. With appearances by Mikhail Bakhtin, Gargantua, the Suffering Valley, Santa Claus, and Satan! 

Boxcutter Collective is comprised of 4 core members: Sam Wilson, Jason Hicks, Tom Cunningham, and Joe Therrien, with an extended family of puppeteers, painters, performers, builders, educators, workers, union organizers, and mischief makers who have been working together in various forms for the last 15 years. You can find them creating and performing original High-Art, Low-Concept political puppet shows in New York City regularly, appearing at The Jalopy Theater & Coney Island USA and beyond! They are currently working on a commission from Handmade Puppet Dreams to create a short film.

Bruce Cannon/Songs from Harlem River Drive, which celebrates the history and diversity of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world. Harlem.

Bruce Cannon is Artistic Director for the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre and President of the Puppetry Guild of Greater New York.

Piedmont Blūz - Valerie and Benedict Turner

Piedmont Blūz is an acoustic, husband/wife duo, ambassadors of Country Blues music and the Piedmont style of fingerpicking. Their mission is to help preserve these rural, east coast traditions by educating audiences about this unique aspect of African American culture through musical entertainment.

AND - Great Small Works' own Roberto Rossi will be teaching TOY THEATER WORKSHOPS online through the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival! 

Toy Theater introduction to the form, the basic skills concluding with a showing. Make your first toy theater stage using recyclable materials. Learn conceptual and design approaches in building an original work. Build basic jointed 2D puppets and moveable set pieces and discover the unique theatrical language of the Toy Theater.

Session 2/Toy Theater 2 (Level 2): July 26 - August 1, 2021

Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun, 7-9PM CT; Sign up here

Session 3/Toy Theater 2 (Level 2): August 9 - August 15, 2021

Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun, 7-9PM CT; Sign up here

PUNCH Kamikaze!

Puppets Come Home! & Drama of Works present...

-- PUNCH Kamikaze: Punch & Judy --

When: Thursday, August 13th, 8pm ET
Where: www.coneyisland.com/puppets
Who: Adults Only

An assortment of puppeteers perform various scenes from the 358-year-old traditional English puppet show, Punch & Judy.

FEATURING:
- Drama of Works (Brooklyn, NY)
- Connor Hopkins, Artistic Director and Janitor, Trouble Puppet Theater Company Workshop (Austin, TX)
- Deborah Hunt, Jorge Díaz and musician Agustín Muñoz (San Juan, PR)
- Jeghetto's Entertainment, LLC (Asheville, NC)
- Sarah Nolen, Resident Artist at Puppet Showplace Theater (Boston, MA)
- Noisy Oyster (Somerset, UK)
- Brendan Schweda/Puppets Come Home! (Brooklyn, NY)
- Tooth and Nail Cabaret = Elle Love, Caitlin Ross and Marcus Fioravante (all over the place)
- Amy Trompetter/Redwing Blackbird Theater (Rosendale, NY)

* * * * * * * * * * *
Once upon a time in Coney Island, there were so many Punch & Judy shows happening, that "Punch and Judy together with [their cohorts] the devil, the priest and the hangman could be viewed on almost any part of the beach..." - Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 Jun 1878

For the first time in PUNCH puppet slam’s history (it’s been around in some form since 2005) we are taking on our namesake! Artists who already had a tradition of doing Punch & Judy shows were asked to share a snippet of their piece with us or create a new scene for this event - and it’s going to be EPIC!!!

“Kamikaze” is a term Drama of Works uses for its themed puppet slams, based around one story/event/play. A multitude of puppet artists are given sections of the story to reinterpret and create with wild abandon. Then it is presented in order. No one knows how it will come together until the night of the show. www.dramaofworks.com/punch

Puppets Come Home at Coney Island is a series designed to celebrate Coney Island's 150-year legacy of puppetry & provide a platform for contemporary cutting-edge puppeteers. Produced in collaboration with Coney Island USA.

Suggested Donation - A link will be provided during the show to support the artists, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Domestic Violence Project at the Urban Justice Center.

PUNCH Kamikaze is made possible in part through the generosity of The Puppet Slam Network.

Gepetto: Extraordinary Extremities

La MaMa in association with Concrete Temple Theatre and Bridge Street Theatre presents

Geppetto: Extraordinary Extremities

Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 2 PM – 3 PM EDT; to join this live event, go to http://lamama.org/gepetto/

We are deeply honored at this time to be able to present a live streamed performance of Geppetto!

Geppetto: Extraordinary Extremities is a tale of resilience, adaptation and ingenuity that tells the story of puppet-maker Geppetto, who is attempting to perform — all by himself for the first time ever — the grand mythical love story of Perseus, who slays a sea monster to save his beloved Andromeda. During the show things begin to go haywire, and Geppetto finds himself desperately improvising to overcome the challenges of performing solo while at the same time scrambling to devise new story lines, new characters, and even new limbs.

Geppetto: Extraordinary Extremities was inspired by a NPR story on Hugh Herr, whose legs were amputated after a climbing accident and who now designs technologically advanced artificial limbs.

“The play focuses on a longing for magic, a wish for a transformative power…A compelling performance, enhanced by haunting cello music…It celebrates human ingenuity.” – New York Times 

“It’s romantic in an old-fashioned way…lovely music…Carlo Adinolfi’s performance is charming.” – New Yorker

We dedicate this performance to anyone who has lost a loved one during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Isolating Together: Virtual Toy Theatre Festival IV

ISOLATING TOGETHER 

Another night of Toy Theater wonders.

Another colossal event of miniature proportions.

Presented by Great Small Works: John Bell, Trudi Cohen (Cambridge, MA), Jenny Romaine (New York, NY), Stephen Kaplin (Jackson Heights, NY), Roberto Rossi (Red Hook, NY) and Mark Sussman (Montreal, QC) Technical Support: Sarah Goshman

All proceeds from Days #5 and #6 of Isolating Together will go to The Black Puppeteer Empowerment Grant & Creative Research Residency under the leadership of Program Mentor Brad Brewer through an initiative by Puppet Showplace Theater Brookline, MA. Congratulations to the first grantee cohort!

WE SUPPORT THE MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES. www.greatsmallworks.blogspot.com

With thanks to the Puppet Slam Network, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and the Mental Insight Foundation for their generous support.

RUNNING ORDER

In Kinship Fellowship: Lilah Akins, Devon Kelley-Yurdin, Emilia Dahlin, Cory Tamler, Jennie Hahn, Tyler Rai (Maine)

Sieglinde and Martin Haase, Haases Papiertheater (Germany)

Maria Camia (Brooklyn, NY)

Honolulu Theatre for Youth (Honolulu, HI)

Houseboat Productions (Baltimore and Cincinnati)

Amelia Castillo (Glover, VT)

Precarious Works, Siena Mayers (Lake Worth, FL)

Paul Zaloom and Lynn Jeffries (Los Angeles, CA)

Kate Brehm (New York, NY)

Kathleen Doyle (Newburypoort, MA) and Christa Haxthausen (Los Angeles, CA)

eliana stinky (Worcester, MA)

Coalfather Industries (NY and Illinois)

Great Small Works/Stephen Kaplin (Jackson Heights, NY)

Patrick Costello (Brooklyn, NY)

Leah Ogawa and John Chao (NYC and Houston)

Elle Love and Caitlin Ross (Glover, VT)

Kalan Sherrard (New York, NY)

Andrea Lomanto (New York, NY)

13 Pratt Theater Company – Rainier Pearl-Styles, Nick Chieffo and Riley Fox Hillyer (Boston, MA)

Isolating Together: Virtual Toy Theatre Festival III

We're back! Coming again to a personal screen near you!

ISOLATING TOGETHER

Another night of Toy Theater wonders.

Another colossal event of miniature proportions.

Presented by Great Small Works: John Bell, Trudi Cohen (Cambridge, MA), Jenny Romaine (New York, NY), Stephen Kaplin (Jackson Heights, NY), Roberto Rossi (Red Hook, NY) and Mark Sussman (Montreal, QC)

With thanks to the Puppet Slam Network, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and the Mental Insight Foundation for their generous support.

With thanks to the Puppetslam Network, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and the Mental Insight Foundation for their generous support.

RUNNING ORDER

Amanda Card (NYC)

Robert Poulter’s New Model Theatre (London, UK)

Maisie O’Brien (Dallas and Philadelphia)

People’s Puppets of Occupy Wall Street (Brooklyn, NY)

Felice Amato (Boston, MA)

Alex and Olmsted -- Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas (Takoma Park, MD)

Steph Hill-Wood (Detroit, MI)

Sue Truman, The Crankie Factory (Seattle, WA)

Paradox Teatro Family (Mexico City)

Bénédicte Guillon Verne et Pierre Bérerd of Le Chemin qui Marche (near Québec City)

Edna Bland (Sanford, FL)

Léonie Zikos (Cappadocia, Turkey)

Felicia Cooper (Stafford Springs, CT)

Great Small Works/Roberto Rossi (Red Hook, NY)

Linda Wingerter & Polly Sonic of the Stringpullers Puppet Company (Ithaca, NY)

The Weeping Mary Collective, submitted by Alva Rogers (New York, NY)

May Fayre Memories Documentary

For 45 years Maggie Pinhorn and Alternative Arts have organised the Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival. In this video Punch and Judy professors, puppeteers, entertainers and puppet builders discuss what makes the day so magical, why people travel from across the globe to attend, and thank Maggie for her unparalleled contribution to British puppetry.

Beverley Puppet (Online) Festival: Back to Nature

The award-winning Beverley Puppet Festival usually fills the streets with excited onlookers. Giant creatures roam around Toll Gavel, Butcher Row and the Flemingate Centre; tiny, magical worlds are revealed to unsuspecting audiences in the Friary Gardens and indoor shows for all ages from 0-103 take place at The Friary, East Riding Theatre, Beverley Masonic Hall and Toll Gavel Church Hall.

The Covid-19 pandemic could have caused cancelling this year's festival; however, it was decided instead to go online. This is a new adventure for the festival team and one that now spans two months instead of just one weekend!

Anna Ingleby and Kerrin Tatman, Founder & Co-Artistic Director / Co-Artistic Director respectively, share:

"The emphasis is on what can be done at home, not on filming finished performances which we would prefer to see live. Three artists’ videos per week have been commissioned, to start appearing from May 18th – July 12th to inspire and invite people of all ages to participate in a diverse range of puppetry-related activities that can be completed at home."

This year's festival theme is BACK TO NATURE to which the  artists will each bring their own unique interpretation and audiences are encouraged to do the same. The original stimulus for this theme is the current climate change crisis. Unless nature is respected, important ecosystems which are needed to support human survival will collapse.

Sounds pretty exciting.  MORE innovative ONLINE solutions to physical world limitations...

Student Production: Shakespeare Film Adaptation

Anglia Ruskin University's Film & Television program students created this toy theatre trailer recently. They shared with me that, "...We are going to release a very different version very soon!"

I look forward to it!

Article: Toy Theatre Thrives Online During Quarantine

Great Small Works, a New York-based performance collective, recently organized the first virtual Toy Theatre Festival, providing an online platform for international artists who responded to an open call. 

And boy, did they respond!  In a matter of just days - sometimes hours - performers from around the world stepped up to volunteer performances in the time of our mutual pandemic quarantines.

John Bell (Great Small Works) hosts the festival with two alternating puppets designed by Isaac Bell. 

The result has been magical!  The first two evenings were last month, and the next two are later this week and early next week.  I invite you to come watch, to join in, LIVE, as amazing small stage productions are streamed out to the world...

Isolating Together: Virtual Toy Theater Festival II

Pollock’s Easter Instagram Exhibition

Benjamin Pollock's Toyshop will be hosting an Easter Instagram Exhibition, posted over the weekend starting at 3:00pm (GMT) Friday 10th April on Instagram @benjamin_pollocks_toyshop

The full exhibition will be posted on Facebook on Easter Monday 13th April 

Facebook.com/BenjaminPollocksToyshop

And will also be posted to the Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop website.

Isolating Together: Virtual Toy Theater Festival

COMING TO A PERSONAL SCREEN NEAR YOU!

*** I s o l a t i n g    T o g e t h e r  ***

Great Small Works' Online Toy Theater Festival

Day 1: Thursday, April 2, 2020 @ 7:30 - 9:00pm EDT
Day 2: Friday, April 3, 2020 @ 7:30 - 9:00pm EDT

Toy Theater practitioners from around the world will offer original (very) short shows. From the intimacy of the Victorian parlor to the intimacy of your personal viewing device, puppeteers transform the traditional form to reach out during these days of separation.

Some of the lineup of performers:
Dirk and Barbara Reimers, Papiertheater Polidor (Germany)
Modern Times Theater (East Hardwick, VT)
Great Small Works/Stephen Kaplin (Jackson Heights, NY)
Dan Van Allen (Baltimore, MD)
Dan Hurlin (NYC and Hawley, PA)
Ira Karp and Peter Schumann (Glover, VT)
Katherine Fahey (Baltimore, MD)
Katya Popova (Boston, MA)
Eli Nixon and Ida Marcus (Providence, RI)
Lindsay McCaw (Detroit, MI)
Tianding He, Yiru Chen, Ge Gao, An Hua (NY, NJ and Shanghai)
Laurie McCants (Bloomsburg, PA)
Amelia Castillo (Santiago, Chile, via Glover, VT)
Isabel Bazan and Mauricio Martinez (Mexico City)
Joshua Krugman (Glover, VT)
Kate Brehm (Brooklyn, NY)
Birthe Thiel, Theatre Mont d'Hiver (Germany)
Miss Pussycat and Quintron (New Orleans, LA)
Alissa Hunnicutt (North Hollywood, CA)
Michael and Valerie Nelson (Vallejo, CA)......and many, many more!

Sock Monkey Sneak Peek

Punch & Judy Man Documentary Short

Pontine Theatre Review: Storytelling at its Best

Review: Pontine Theatre’s ‘A New England Christmas’
By Jeanné McCartin
Posted Dec 2, 2019 at 9:27 AM

Pontine Theatre’s “A New England Christmas” is a brimming cup of holiday magic and cheer. Two people on a largely blank stage act out two intriguing short stories with minimal props in an easy, designed manner that transfixes their listeners. It’s rare so little offers so much.

This year, co-Artistic Directors and the company’s sole actors Marguerite Mathews and Greg Gathers adapted two short stories for their holiday fare: “A Neighbor’s Landmark,” by Sarah Orne Jewett, and “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” by Dylan Thomas.

The most outstanding aspect of Mathews and Gathers work is its deliberateness. Every move is designed for effect, every gesticulation is poignant and graceful. Every prop, toy element and sound used is calculated for effect. They are masters of their art. 

They begin each piece with an informal setup that contains a bit of information about the author, their style, and the origin of the selection. 

The stage backdrop is a black curtain. The props are a small table, set a few feet before another, where the story’s backdrops are placed. Beneath both, hidden away, is a collection of small toy theater pieces and a handful of props. 

That’s it, a few visuals, two people and a lot of talent that bring a pair of entirely different stories to life. 

“Landmark,” set in Maine, is about a struggle to preserve two majestic, old pine trees. The trees’ owner is offered a tempting price for their lumber and leans toward felling them. His decision divides his family and sets his neighbors against him. In the synopsis, not so interesting, in the hands of Pontine, the tale very much is. 

The piece is blissfully colored by the rich language and dialogue of Orne Jewett, who had an astute ear for Down Maine dialect. The performers’ delivery demonstrates an equally canny ear. The sound alone is captivating. Coupled with Mathews and Gathers usual flawless performance, it’s simply mesmerizing. 

The structure of the piece is like a well-arranged musician’s set. Alone on stage with few props, they keep it interesting with their usual use of toy theater characters, mixed with performances by the actors without their aid, and the marriage of action between both. 

One of the funniest moments is when the two “row the boat.” It’s most poignant - at a suspenseful juncture - has the pair turning pages of an over-sized book, advancing the story in silence through its illustrations. 

“Child in Wales” is equally captivating. It’s a sweet, humorous story, told with fewer props still, but is no less fascinating for it. This one offers even more of the picturesque movement of the two performers, who take you back to childhood and Christmas through the eyes of a child. 

Pontine’s “A New England Christmas”  is storytelling at its best. It’s a gentle, bewitching hour and a half, offering something different for the holiday. This is definitely worth your precious, discretionary time.
___________

WHERE & WHEN:
Pontine Theatre
November 29 - December 8, 2019
Fridays 7pm, Saturdays 3pm, Sundays 2pm

David in the Dark

David Worobec performing at King Friday’s Dungeon Puppet Slam,
a scene from "Sweeney Todd" (October 2018 in Portland, Maine...)

Second Annual Winnipeg Crankie Festival

The 2nd Annual Winnipeg Crankie Festival, taking place at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church, NOVEMBER 8-10th, 2019 promises to expand on the inaugural edition as a new, interactive and participatory festival, where audience members can immerse themselves in music and art; on and off stage.

 We are honoured to dedicate this year's festival to Canadian Folk Music Pioneer, Mitch Podolak.

To find out more, visit the festival website here, or check out the poster, below...

Pontine Theatre: Exciting Improvements!

Pontine Theatre announces its 42nd Performance Season at its newly renovated venue located in Portsmouth's West End at #1 Plains Avenue. Audiences will enjoy ample free onsite parking and comfortable seating in the intimately-scaled, fully-accessible studio theatre. This season offers three original productions by the company and two productions by invited guest artsts.

First up on the schedule is Pontine's adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Gothic Romance, The House of the Seven Gables, playing October 11- 27. Set in Salem, Massachusetts, the story follows several generations of the ill-fated Pyncheon family, bowed under a curse dating from the famous witch trials, and trapped in the once magnificent but now decrepit family mansion. This production is underwritten by Piscataqua Savings Bank.

November 8-10, guest artists, Great Small Works, perform their original production Three Graces & Other Works. This company is a collective of artists who draw on folk, avant-garde, and popular theater traditions to address contemporary issues. Based in New York City, they produce works on a variety of scales from outdoor pageants with giant puppets to miniature "toy theater" spectacles. The company has received a Puppeteers of America Jim Henson Award, a Village Voice OBIE Award, and an UNIMA Citation for excellence in puppetry.

Pontine celebrates the Holiday Season, November 29 - December 8, with its annual New England Christmas production. This year's rendition features a story by South Berwick, Maine's celebrated author, Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909). A Neighbor's Landmark: A Winter Tale with a Christmas Ending, is a tale set in a rustic coastal fishing village populated by taciturn Yankee characters who struggle to bring their community together in time for Christmas.

January 24-26, Pontine presents guest artist, Sarah Frechette, founder of Puppetkabob, in her original production, The Snowflake Man. The piece is inspired by Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley, the self-educated farmer and scientist who attracted world-wide attention when he bccame the first person to photograph a single snow crystal. The play features creative storytelling, intricately designed Czech-style marionettes, and a striking pop-up book of water color scenery. This UNIMA-USA award-winning show tells a little known story to magical effect. Ms. Frechette studied marionettes in Germany with legendary Master Puppeteer, Albrecht Roser.

The season culminates March 27 - April 12 with Pontine's premiere of a new production, Robert Frost's New Hampshire, based on the early poems of the long-time summer resident of Franconia NH. Known for his New England settings, his down-to-earth, stark depictions of the difficulties of rural farm life, and his use of colloquial speech, Frost is widely admired as a true American Master.

Performances are Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm and Sundays at 2pm. The five-event Season Subscription Package is $108 and may be purchased online at www.pontine.org. Tickets for single shows are $27 and may also be purchased online. All productions are designed for adult audiences. Performances are offered at Pontine's resident venue located at #1 Plains Avenue in Portsmouth's West End. Pontine Theatre is supported by a grant from the NH State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Source:  Broadway World

Coming in July: The Smallest Show on Earth!

Coming up next month in July: The Geisel Library's annual Paper Theatre Festival, aka

..."the Smallest Show on Earth"!

Every year, the UC San Diego Library hosts a Paper Theatre Festival, celebrating an art form with roots in Victorian Era Europe. Paper theatres, also known as toy theatres, were used to promote productions. They were printed on paperboard sheets and sold as kits at the concession stand of an opera house, playhouse, or vaudeville theater. The kits were then assembled at home and plays were performed for family members and guests, sometimes with live musical accompaniment. The theaters gradually declined in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but have enjoyed a resurgence in interest in recent years among many puppeteers, filmmakers, theater historians, and hobbyists. Presently, there are numerous international paper theater festivals throughout the Americas and Europe, as well as several museums.

Watch this short documentary celebrating paper theatre filmed by UCSD-TV for the Library’s Channel!

Dreamland Theater: Star Trek Marionettes

Careful attention to detail and mastery of puppetry give
Dreamland Theater appeal to a wide variety of audiences.

From:  Saline Journal article by Dell Deaton

This past December 16, 2018, Dreamland Theater in Ypsilanti Michigan hosted its second live performance of A Star Trek Mad Lib Puppet Show on stage in downtown Ypsilanti. From pre-show to behind-the-scenes debrief, it was thoroughly delightful. [1,2]

First off, this is very much a presentation fundamentally true to the golden age of marionettes with its ties to Saline Michigan through the legacy of the late Meredith Bixby. The scale, rigging, and attention to detail have all meticulously attended to. Behind and above the stage, five human beings manipulated hand-crafted figures from rather cramped quarters, hunched about, shoulder to shoulder. [3]

The area on which action took place couldn’t have provided a viewing space more than eight feet across, three feet high. And yet, as Bixby student Erik Grossman has regularly said in his own recollections, everything around it quickly disappears once the story starts and the audience is drawn into it. Appropriate to how the original Star Trek series was watched first-run in the 1960s, akin to a large family gathered in the living room to watch it on their home television. [4,5,6,7]

A “Mad Libs” approach was cleverly used as both warm-up and to invest audience members in the story to come. Post-show, it was revealed that significant differences in one performance versus another would come through the selection of one from among ten different music beds, for example. Backstage crew members weighed-in with real-time responses to suggestions that required some arbitration (eg, Was Warren G Harding appropriately considered a “historical figure” from the 1910s?). [8]

When the curtains then opened, it was pure, respectful Star Trek — with puppets. A solid third season episode, if influenced by Gene Coon. Rest assured, nothing like the animated installment. [9,10,11]

After the approximately forty-minute performance, troupe lead Naia Venturi invited all who were interested to come see their setup behind the curtain. Meticulously detailed string-puppet renditions of the five featured Enterprise crew members were suspended at the ready from ceiling hooks. Each was a work of art in its own right, without a visible hint of compromise. For this project, she’d elected to fabricate all characters in tandem.

Which was the most challenging? “Captain Kirk,” she replied without hesitation. “He just didn’t have any distinguishing features that I could call out for emphasis.” No one who heard this showed sign of agreement; the Venturi Captain Kirk marionette looked great.

Aside from the core work, there was evidence of modern technology that had been brought along side vintage puppet work. For example, a large screen hung above the curtain opening and visible only to the performers acted as teleprompter for script text. Ms Venturi additionally had a sound sampler from which she could deliver context appropriate sound effects and music beds in real time. [12,13,14]

References

1. Dreamland Theater (home page).
2. Star Trek (home page).
3. “Once Upon A Time, Marionettes Set The Stage For Entertainment Techniques That Remain Relevant To This Very Day” Dell Deaton (September 10, 2018) Saline Journal.
4. “A Brief Look Back On The Meredith Bixby Marionette Story, Part I: History Can’t Be Packed Away In A Single Box” Dell Deaton (September 20, 2018) Saline Journal.
5. “Star Trek” IMDb.
6. “Star Trek” Netflix.
7. “Tech Time Machine: Screens and Displays” Stephanie Walden, Mashable.
8. Mad Libs (home page).
9. “Coon, Gene” Star Trek.
10. “Gene L Coon: The Man Who Made Star Trek Worth Saving” Carlos Miranda (November 8, 2017) TrekNews.
11. “Star Trek: The Animated Series” IMDb.
12. “Hey, what’s that sound: Sampler” David McNamee (September 28, 2009) The Guardian.
13. “Music Recording: What Is a Music Sampler?” (December 18, 2008) expertvillage.
14. “Calendar” Dreamland Theater.