Oz Puppetry Email Newsletter - Dream Puppets
Oz Puppetry Email Newsletter - Dream Puppets
Oz Puppetry Email Newsletter - Dream Puppets
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O<br />
P<br />
<strong>Oz</strong> <strong>Puppetry</strong> <strong>Email</strong> <strong>Newsletter</strong><br />
In this Issue:<br />
e<br />
Whatʼs On - November<br />
News of Puppeteers and Projects -<br />
BIG! Some giant projects - Kay Yasugi, Dave Jones, Deiter Barry<br />
Tarrengower Puppetfest Update<br />
Puppet Palace 2012<br />
On the Road, Deck, Rails and Tarmac with CIE Philippe Genty by Simon T. Rann<br />
Arlyn Arward for Puppet Theatre Design<br />
Just Desserts - Kassius Kamel<br />
Pat Brymer in Sydney<br />
Nø 21, November, 2011<br />
N
Whatʼs On - November<br />
Front Cover: You never know what some people have in the back<br />
shed! Fabulous dragon puppet by Dieter Barry.<br />
More about Dieterʼs work below.<br />
SLAM NOIR<br />
SLAM NOIR<br />
The inaugural Australian puppet slam - Slam Noir - is co-produced by Black Hole Theatre and Lana<br />
Schwarcz. Supported by UNIMA Australia and hosted by St Ali's Cafe, the puppet slam will feature<br />
short adult performances by puppeteers from Australia and overseas. The lineup includes: Stéphane<br />
Georis, Megan Cameron, Amanda Maddock, Lynne Kent, Hamish Fletcher, Jeff Achtem, Rod<br />
Primrose, Lana Schwarcz, Mike Bevitt, Jacob Williams, Penelope Bartlau, Leah Scholes, and Dan<br />
Goronszy.<br />
With shadow, hand, object and rod puppetry, lit only by handheld torches, the performances will unfold<br />
across the table tops, window frames and ceilings of the funky St Ali's Cafe in South Melbourne.<br />
They'll be funny, provocative, beautiful and satirical.<br />
There will be live music from Derek Rowe and his band, food and drink from the cafe, and tickets<br />
are a mere $10 at the door!<br />
WHEN: Sat., Nov. 12, 7:30pm<br />
VENUE: St. Ali's Cafe, 12-18 Yarra Pl, South Melbourne (between Coventry and York Streets). 7:30.<br />
Bring a torch and light up your night!
In supporting this project, UNIMA concurs with the producers' aims: 1)to reveal to the public<br />
the diversity and depth of the adult puppetry art form, and 2) to offer the artists a supportive<br />
opportunity to experiment with new ideas. Two more slams are planned for outer Melbourne<br />
and regional Victoria in 2012, and the producers will pursue potential slams interstate.<br />
The producers propose that these events be presented in nontraditional spaces (such as<br />
cafes and pubs) where the environment allows for more experimentation, and sets up a<br />
responsive, dynamic relationship with the audience. The performers may improvise, present<br />
a fragment of a developing work or try a form they've never used before. Each slam will be<br />
defined by different parameters - ie the works will be in response to a certain body of music,<br />
an event, or utilize particular imagery. The artists will be encouraged to move out of their<br />
comfort zones.<br />
The producers have joined the Puppet Slam Network in the US, opening up networking and<br />
support opportunities for Australian artists.<br />
PUPPETRY, LOCAL +<br />
GLOBAL<br />
WWW.UNIMA.ORG.AU<br />
PO Box 151<br />
South Melbourne<br />
Victoria 3205<br />
MELBOURNE<br />
Sat. Nov. 12 @ 7:30 he will<br />
participate in Black Hole's adult Slam<br />
Noir (puppet slam) with Snow White<br />
and a toothbrush....St Ali's Cafe,<br />
12-18 Yarra Pl, South Melbourne. Tix<br />
$10 at the door.<br />
Sun. Nov. 13 @ 2pm, Puppet in the<br />
Drawers, La Mama, 205 Faraday St,<br />
Carlton. Bookings: (03)9347 6142.<br />
http://www.lamama.com.au<br />
UNIMA AUSTRALIA<br />
A CENTRE FOR L'UNION INTERNATIONALE DE LA<br />
MARIONETTE<br />
STÉPHANE GEORIS RETURNS!<br />
Last seen at the UNIMA International <strong>Puppetry</strong> Festival in Perth 2008, the<br />
acclaimed Belgian puppeteer Stéphane Georis returns in November for<br />
performances in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth - presented respectively by<br />
ImaginArta, Black Hole Theatre, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and the<br />
Fremantle Festival. UNIMA, Australia is proud to support his tour to the<br />
eastern states. His shows will vary from place to place - checkout the<br />
presenters' websites for details - and see below:
The Arts Centre presents Perth Theatre Company and Weeping Spoon<br />
Productions'<br />
The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik:<br />
Deep Sea Explorer<br />
A tiny tale set in the deepest dark blue sea of a solitary explorer with a heart<br />
as big as a whale.<br />
When<br />
19 - 20 Nov 2011 11.00 a.m. and 1.,30 p.m.<br />
Venue<br />
Playhouse Rehearsal Room, Victorian Arts Centre<br />
Price Range<br />
$16 - $18 Book Now<br />
______________________________<br />
News of Puppeteers and their Projects<br />
Gary Friedman is in London. He writes:<br />
‘London is abuzz with puppetry this week. I arrived rather jet lagged, after a 24 hour flight, yesterday in a<br />
cold, wintery, but welcoming London, right in the middle of the Suspense Puppet Festival and a myriad<br />
of great performances.<br />
Staying with friends in North London is not too far from the Little Angel Theatre, where the centre of the<br />
action is taking place. In fact, I'm participating in a '<strong>Puppetry</strong> in Politics' symposium at the Little Angel<br />
today, which is examining how puppetry has been used to change our world, past, present and maybe<br />
even future trends.<br />
There's even find a write up in 'The Stage' covering Suspense Festival and events here! Keep posted for<br />
some of my personal experiences and reviews from London.<br />
If you want to find out even more about what's happening in the UK puppetry scene, you can find the<br />
British publication, Animations Online here! ‘<br />
B<br />
I G<br />
A number of puppet makers have been<br />
experimenting with large works recently.<br />
Snuff <strong>Puppets</strong> have been woking with the Bellerrt Mooroop<br />
Collage students to develop the Bunjil Creation Story . This<br />
will be performed at the Big Opening of the Big West Festival.<br />
Barking Spider have also been making giant lantern<br />
puppets with Footscray North Primary for the same event and<br />
last week Barking Spider performed with giant butterflies at<br />
the Albury Botanic Gardens.<br />
Read more about the large puppet projects of Kay Yasugi,<br />
Dave Jones and Dieter Barry below
Kay Yasugi (Pupperoos Sydney) recently ran a 2 day giant puppet making workshop at Shopfront<br />
Theatre for Young People in Carlton, Sydney. Puppeteer Kay Yasugi workedwith the Junior Ensemble<br />
group of 8-15 year olds to devise and create a giant sea monster puppet for their end of year production<br />
(directed byHoward Matthew & Luke Kerridge). The workshop involved experimenting with various<br />
materials (including umbrellas, fans and cardboard rolls) to brainstorm ideas of what their sea monster<br />
could be - including how it moves, what it looks/sounds/smells like and how it thinks. A twist<br />
to this process was drawing the character of the monster from within the participants’ own selves (the<br />
monster representing the side of themselves that people don’t see, e.g. loneliness, anger, fear).<br />
Needless to say, building the monster was a lot of fun. The children used cane, masking tape, paper<br />
and glue to create 2 beastly heads, 2 long necks, 2 tentacle-like arms and 2 ferocious claws. After the<br />
various parts were joined together, some of the group had a go at operating the puppet. For many it was<br />
their first time working with puppets (let alone giant ones!). Pupperoos will be returning to<br />
Shopfront to help finish off the puppet and work with some of the ensemble in operating it.<br />
Shopfront is a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity foryoung people aged 8 - 25. It is a<br />
cultural network and production co-operative where all young people, regardless of their background or<br />
ability, can create themselves. For more information about this organisation, please visit http://<br />
shopfront.org.au/
Dave Jones, artist and puppet maker, was commissioned to create a giant puppet for the<br />
Natimuk Frinj Festival (Nati Frinj) This festival is held annually in the small rural town of Natimuk<br />
in western Victoria.<br />
The massive puppet was designed to be suspended from the silos. Local primary school<br />
children helped create an animation which was projected on to the front of the 12 metre<br />
puppet. The animation focused on the drought, bushfire, locust-plague and floods that have<br />
affected the town over the years. Dave recorded the remarkable process of building the puppet<br />
in his blogs :<br />
http://theartofdave.blogspot.com<br />
http://natifrinj.blogspot.com<br />
Erecting the puppet called<br />
ʻPhoebe Sparklesʼ (named by children at the<br />
Natimuk Primary school<br />
The performance of Highly Strung at<br />
the festival<br />
_________________________________________________________________<br />
Deiter Barry of Deiter Barry Creations. The Saber crowned dragon or “Abrasax” was made by<br />
Deiter Barry Creations to hover above the bar at Revolt bar and Arts space in Kensington.<br />
With a wingspan of three meters and measuring nearly two meters in length he peers down on wary<br />
patrons as they shakily enjoy their wines.<br />
Abrasax was made starting with a PVC skeleton. The body shape was made using sheet foam and the<br />
detail was hand stitched.<br />
Finer details such as teeth and claws were made from super sculpy and the body was finished with a latex<br />
and cotton layer to ensure the finished painted coat would have lustre, as you would expect a dragon’s<br />
skin to. Finally, the wings were made with a mixture of PVC piping, sculpy claws and clear plastic sheeting<br />
which were coated in a latex and shellac finish.<br />
So if you find yourself in Kensington, stop in at Revolt (12 Elisabeth Street) and say hello to Abrasax. Also<br />
the guys there make a mean latte.<br />
deiterbarrycreations.com
DEITER BARRY<br />
HOW TO MAKE<br />
YOUR DRAGON<br />
1. Frame with head and tail<br />
2. Body shape<br />
3. Arms, legs, claws<br />
4. Threading detail<br />
5. Latex base<br />
6. ABRASAX, the dragon
Tarrengower PuppetFest<br />
March 10, 11, 12, 2012<br />
Maldon, Victoria<br />
The festival is now four months away, with the<br />
programme finalised and only a few days before the<br />
website is published with information about the Fest.<br />
The website will be officially launched on Monday<br />
14th November.<br />
This festival promises to offer a rich and varied experience of the <strong>Puppetry</strong> Arts. The<br />
programme includes ten different shows plus an adult cabaret, a family cabaret,<br />
roaming performances at the markets and on the Maldon/Castlemaine steam train,<br />
the UNIMA Slam Noir, two wonderful workshops and a powerpoint presentation by<br />
Richard Bradshaw. All this in two and a half days.<br />
Providing for a broad age group, there is something for everybody to enjoy - from<br />
puppetry for under 5ʼs, families and general audiences to adult puppetry with 15+<br />
adult concept themes. Audience sizes vary, with performances for 1 person, 50, 100<br />
and 200+. The range of venues encompasses the main community centre halls, a<br />
disused mine tunnel, a huge climate-controlled steel shed at a vintage museum,<br />
outdoor areas and the steam train.<br />
There will be five new productions including 3 debuts by Sydney Puppet Theatre,<br />
Men of Steel and Rachael Guy. Other performers/companies include Lemony S,<br />
Richard Bradshaw, About Face Productions, Jenny Ellis, Dennis Murphy, <strong>Dream</strong><br />
<strong>Puppets</strong>, Lana Schwartz and Anna Paola; there are workshops and performances by<br />
Gary Friedman, and the Puppet Slammers. (More about this in forthcoming news).<br />
Some cabaret acts and roaming acts are yet to be announced.<br />
Low cost accommodation (back-packer style) and camping opportunities will be<br />
available for the festival. (Details and booking arrangements for this will be available<br />
shortly.)<br />
All those currently involved in organising this wonderful event feel that we have now<br />
arrived at the point of HAVING A NEW PUPPET FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA, and itʼs<br />
going to be a momentous occasion.<br />
New Website address is: www.tarrengowerpuppetfest.org.au - available Monday,<br />
14/11<br />
Richard Hart<br />
Artistic Director<br />
Mob. 0408 898 337
FOR YOUR DIARY<br />
!"#$%&'"("%)"&<br />
*+,,-.&*/0/1-&&<br />
22&3-45+/56&&78&!/519&2:72&&<br />
%;-0/
ON THE ROAD, DECK,<br />
RAILS AND TARMAC<br />
WITH<br />
CIE PHILIPPE GENTY<br />
By Simon T. Rann<br />
Thursday 29/9/11, 10.30am: on the TGV to Paris,<br />
somewhere between Vannes and Rennes<br />
I think Leunig’s Mr Curly would feel very much at home in<br />
this part of the world (Brittany); we never seem to travel on<br />
a straight portion of track (which becomes VERY apparent<br />
when you try to carry two cups of hot tea from the restaurant<br />
carriage, through several other carriages, back to your seat),<br />
and the TGV, capable of barrelling at an astonishing 300km/<br />
h, seems to be rattling no faster than a Melbourne tram;<br />
apparently there’s an antiquated law in Brittany that<br />
prevents the government from building freeways here, but I<br />
wouldn’t be surprised to find that the law in fact states that<br />
they can’t build anything, from houses to train lines and<br />
roads, with straight lines. It is in fact a blessing, as well as a<br />
curse.<br />
Two more shows behind us, performed in Vannes. These<br />
were our first shows in Brittany, and there is only one other<br />
scheduled (for Lorient, March 2012), which is unusual<br />
because Philippe and Mary live here, in Quimperlé, and<br />
there are usually more performances in the region. The<br />
theatre in Vannes was big, modern and very comfortable, but<br />
the acoustics were strangely flat, or ‘matte’ as our sound<br />
technician says. The fact that the theatre was only half full<br />
both nights made the ‘matte-ness’ seem ‘matte-r’, but it<br />
didn’t matter, the shows were good anyway and we had<br />
terrific feedback. We seem finally to have found our rhythm<br />
again after the summer break.<br />
Friday 7/10/11, 7.30pm: on the train from Trondheim to<br />
Oslo, Norway<br />
The 30 th of September we played Nogent sur Marne, in the<br />
banlieue of Paris (south-east of the centre). When I<br />
recognised the exterior of the theatre (it’s a particularly ugly<br />
60’s or 70’s glass and concrete construction that shares a<br />
wall with a railway bridge), I realised that I’d played there<br />
before. The show went very well and the audience were<br />
unexpectedly responsive: I say ‘unexpectedly’ because<br />
anywhere in Paris, the centre or the banlieue, the public are<br />
usually warm, appreciative (some, like my girlfriend, might<br />
dispute this), but also intelligent and critical; it takes a lot to<br />
get them fired up, in either direction, because they are an<br />
educated audience that sees a lot theatre, but once they are<br />
fired up they like to let you know. I’ve seen a full house in<br />
the grand Théâtre de la Ville standing, booing and shouting<br />
abuse - intelligent abuse, but abuse nonetheless - almost<br />
rioting during one particular show, and apparently it’s not<br />
unusual. It wouldn’t happen in Australia. In fact I can’t<br />
think of anywhere else in the world where something like<br />
this would not be unusual, as it isn’t in France.<br />
Last night we played in Verdal, which is a very small town<br />
about an hour and a half west of Trondheim (Norway’s<br />
second biggest town) by train. Verdal has a relatively new<br />
and alternative (for Norway) theatre school that is part of a<br />
larger university college called HINT. When Jacques Lecoq<br />
died in 1999, one of his long-standing and highly respected<br />
professors, Sandra Mladenovitch, took the unexpected<br />
decision to leave the famous L'École Internationale de<br />
Théâtre Jacques Lecoq -whose previous students include the<br />
likes of Mummenschanz, Julie Taymor, Steven Berkoff, and<br />
our own Geoffery Rush - to accept an offer to work at the<br />
fledgling HINT theatre school, started by a former student of<br />
hers, in Verdal. Philippe Genty had a long and professionally<br />
stimulating relationship with Lecoq and took several of his<br />
former students into the company. The HINT theatre school<br />
has a policy of inviting teachers with specific skills and<br />
directors with a specific vision to teach workshops to the<br />
students or create a project with them. In 2008 the school<br />
approached Philippe and Mary to teach. Philippe is not<br />
interested in working with students, preferring to work with<br />
professionals, so the company organised for myself and two<br />
others to teach a workshop in France for five weeks to the<br />
second year students in place of Philippe and Mary. The<br />
workshop culminated in a performance that was staged<br />
firstly in Nevers, and then in Paris, Oslo and Verdal. The<br />
workshop and performance were a fantastic success, and<br />
ever since the school has maintained a relationship with the<br />
company and has organised several other workshops and<br />
performances with us. In fact Philippe was in Verdal (doing<br />
some preliminary work with students with whom he will be<br />
remounting one of his old shows, Forget Me Not, next year)<br />
when he had his stroke, and he and Mary were there with us<br />
until this morning. The school has also started a festival of<br />
visual theatre, the Internasjonal Festival for Visuell<br />
Scenekunst. I think the intention is that their festival will<br />
eventually become part of the Effervescence festival<br />
(Philippe and the MCNN’s visual theatre festival in Nevers)<br />
circuit. We were in Verdal, although in fact we played a few<br />
kilometres away in Indereuil, for the festival. It was<br />
probably the most enthusiastic audience I have ever played<br />
for in my life; from the very beginning they were laughing<br />
and responding to almost every little thing we did.<br />
Norwegians are a very warm and very responsive audience<br />
in general, but the addition of all the students and teachers<br />
from HINT seemed to magnify this by a factor of ten.<br />
Poster for the<br />
Internasjonal<br />
Festival for<br />
Visual<br />
Scenekunst,<br />
Verdal, with<br />
image from<br />
Voyageurs<br />
Immobiles
We were invited to have a discussion with the students the<br />
following (this) morning, during which one of the cast<br />
used the metaphor of downhill skiing for performing on<br />
stage (I’m expanding on what he said, because I think it’s a<br />
good metaphor): you do all the necessary preparations<br />
before launching yourself from the top of the mountain and<br />
effectively you don’t (can’t) stop until you reach the<br />
bottom; sometimes you feel in total control, taking the<br />
turns with skill and grace, controlling the rhythm and<br />
tempo, even allowing yourself to lairise a little; other times<br />
the descent is mechanical and boring, because you know<br />
the mountain like the back of your hand, and you can<br />
safely pass the time thinking about what your going to eat<br />
for dinner; and still other times you feel totally out of<br />
control, and everything whizzes by so quickly that you can<br />
barely stay on your feet, and you don’t understand it<br />
because you’ve skied the same mountain 200 times before,<br />
but somehow you always manage to arrive at the bottom,<br />
even if it is sliding on your bum with only one ski still on<br />
and a black eye. Performing for an audience as enthusiastic<br />
as they were in Verdal was like the latter for me; I seemed<br />
to reach the bottom before I’d even drawn my first breath.<br />
I never would have thought it possible to have an audience<br />
that was too good.<br />
Now I’m on the train to Oslo. This train trip, from<br />
Trondheim to Oslo, which I’ve had the good fortune to<br />
have made before, is one of the most beautiful I know. My<br />
girlfriend, Angelique, and I have decided to stay in this<br />
part of the world for a few days instead of returning to<br />
Paris and then going to Helsinki from there, because that<br />
would mean losing a lot of time in airports, airplanes,<br />
trains and buses. We’re staying a couple days in Oslo, from<br />
where we’ll fly directly to Helsinki.<br />
Thursday 13/10/11, 11.00am: Sokos Hotel, Tapiola<br />
Garden, Espoo, Finland.<br />
Espoo is the second largest city in Finland, although<br />
Helsinki (the largest) has only half a million people. Espoo<br />
actually makes up part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area,<br />
along with a few other municipalities. It’s on the shores of<br />
the Gulf of Finland, so there’s plenty of water around.<br />
What I’ve seen of Espoo, and to be fair, I’ve seen very<br />
little, reminds me of Canberra: lots of big, ugly, concrete<br />
and glass, 50’s - 80’s architecture with plenty of nature in<br />
between.<br />
The<br />
Theatre<br />
Espoo,<br />
Finland<br />
S o f a r w e ’ v e<br />
done two shows here, and there are three to go. The theatre<br />
is very small (perhaps 200 seats), but it feels warm and<br />
intimate. After the premier we were invited to share drinks<br />
and something to eat with the director of the theatre, the<br />
French Ambassador, the local minister of culture, and a<br />
host of other invited guests, and we were officially<br />
welcomed. The director of the theatre explained that he had<br />
seen Lands End, Boliloc and Vanishing Point (Cie Genty’s<br />
last few shows) and had wanted to bring them all here, but<br />
that his theatre was too small. Finally, with Voyageurs<br />
Immobiles, he found a Genty show that could be squeezed<br />
in, so he was very happy. The premier was a little rough for<br />
us, but I don’t think the audience noticed (I don’t think<br />
they ever notice), and they were very appreciative. In fact<br />
the French Ambassador explained to me that he had never<br />
seen an audience in Finland so demonstrative, and how this<br />
was a huge compliment to the show. Of course he loved the<br />
show too. The second show, which was a much better<br />
show, made clear what the Ambassador had explained: the<br />
audience were practically non existent, even though the<br />
front row were only a couple of metres from us and we<br />
could see them as plain as day. The applause at the end<br />
though was very long and warm.<br />
Sunday 16/10/11, 12.30pm: on a boat from Helsinki to<br />
Tallinn.<br />
The last three shows in Espoo were very good, and the<br />
theatre was full and the audiences more alive than during<br />
the second show. These shows were particularly good for<br />
me. Every now and then, when I least expect it, something<br />
shifts for me, and I seem to find another level of energy,<br />
awareness, relaxation... This happened for me in Espoo.<br />
Now I’m on a boat to Tallinn. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour<br />
boat trip to Tallinn, so I’m taking advantage of the time by<br />
writing this and learning my text for the Netherlands.<br />
Voyageurs Immobiles is unusual for a Philippe Genty show<br />
in that we, the performers, carry the story (the word<br />
“journey” is perhaps more accurate) more than usual.<br />
Usually the lighting, music, décor, props, materials and<br />
puppets carry as much of the “journey”, or have equal<br />
importance on stage, as we do. It’s also unusual in that we<br />
speak and sing quite a lot: we speak in French, English,<br />
Spanish, Italian and Haitian Creole, and we sing in<br />
English, Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish, Persian and<br />
American Indian (which Indian language exactly I don’t<br />
know). On top of this we speak portions of our text in the<br />
language of the country we’re in. It’s quite difficult. Here’s<br />
one of my lines in Finnish: “Pahoittelen, liian myöhäistä”.<br />
Obviously, the only way we can learn to say things like<br />
this is phonetically. It’s quite surreal to say mouthfuls of<br />
strange syllables on stage, hear the audience reaction and<br />
suddenly understand that the nonsense that came out of<br />
your mouth is in fact comprehensible to the eight hundred<br />
or so people who are listening to you. To date we’ve also<br />
had to learn our pieces of text in German, Spanish,<br />
Catalan, Polish, Czech, Norwegian, Italian, Russian,<br />
Portuguese and Finnish. Finnish was the most difficult for<br />
me so far, but for others Polish and Czech were the most<br />
difficult. Next it’s Dutch: that same line is now, “Jammer,<br />
te laat”. Speaking of Dutch, after our brief holiday in<br />
Tallinn the dreaded tour of the Netherlands and Belgium<br />
will begin.<br />
Monday 24/10/11, 11.45am: Golden Tulip Inn,<br />
Zoetermeer, The Netherlands<br />
Three down (Rotterdam, Drachten, Apeldoorn), seventeen<br />
to go. We were supposed to do twenty-two shows in The<br />
Netherlands, but two have been cancelled. Nobody<br />
complained, on the contrary, we were all slightly relieved.<br />
Unfortunately, Amsterdam is one of the two shows
cancelled, however Amsterdam was to be our last show,<br />
so now we get to go home a day earlier, and we’ll have<br />
three days at home (instead of two) before a two week<br />
season in Lyon.<br />
There has been quite a build up to this tour: we’ve all<br />
been terrified at the prospect of performing so many<br />
shows in so many theatres in so few days. Only a few<br />
times so far have we had to bump in, set up, perform,<br />
break down and bump out in the same day. Here that’s<br />
what we’ll do every time except once (in Eindhoven we’ll<br />
have the luxury of playing twice), and most of the time<br />
we’ll do it on successive days. For the technicians it<br />
means going to the theatre in the morning, setting up all<br />
day, doing the performance in the evening, breaking<br />
down the set, bumping out, eating dinner on the mini-bus<br />
while travelling to the next town (which could be as much<br />
as three hours away), sleeping briefly in a hotel, going to<br />
the theatre in the morning, setting up all day… and so on;<br />
they will sleep only a few hours a night for as many as<br />
five successive nights. The cast, on the other hand, are<br />
based in Zoetermeer, which means we have to drive to the<br />
theatre (which again could be as many as three hours<br />
away), warm-up (normally we set up immediately and<br />
warm up just before the show, but we’ve had to change<br />
our routine so that the technicians can have as much time<br />
as possible on stage to set up), do our set up, do a vocal<br />
warm-up, perform, pack up our stuff, and drive back to<br />
the hotel in Zoetermeer. It’s tough, or it’s going to be<br />
because until now we’ve only had one long drive (two<br />
and half hours). It’s not the going to the theatres that’s<br />
hard; in France we regularly do 3, 4, up to six hours of<br />
travel the day of a performance (which incidentally is not<br />
allowed in Australia, or wasn’t when I last toured there),<br />
it’s the long drive after the show that’s tough, because it<br />
means arriving back at the hotel around 2am, tired, stiff<br />
and hungry, and then cooking and eating - if we’re not too<br />
exhausted. In France we can at least relax after the show<br />
and bump out because we stay in the towns we play. The<br />
next block of five successive shows will test us.<br />
Wednesday 26/10/11, 3.05pm: on the mini bus to<br />
Turnhout (in the north of Belgium), The Netherlands<br />
Bad news: one of the cast has strained or torn his medial<br />
collateral ligament (MCL) and has gone back to France to<br />
have an MRI. It happened during the performance in<br />
Apeldoorn. He finished the show, although in some<br />
considerable pain, but the day after he couldn’t walk.<br />
Fortunately we had the day off. I went with him to see a<br />
physio and her diagnosis was that it was his MLC, but to<br />
be sure he should have an MRI. In The Netherlands<br />
there’s a three-month waiting list for an MRI, so he’s<br />
returned to France where he can have one sooner. He will<br />
be out for anywhere between two and ten weeks.<br />
Fortunately it’s the same guy who was out with a<br />
different problem before the summer holidays, so we<br />
needed simply to talk through what we did the last time<br />
we performed without him and we could perform last<br />
night in Delft. It’s a bugger (if I could write something<br />
stronger I would); the show is much more difficult -<br />
especially for the guys - without him, and at the<br />
beginning of an already difficult tour it’s not what we<br />
need. We have no choice but to go on. It’s highly unlikely<br />
that he’ll be back during this tour, and in all probability<br />
he won’t do Lyon either. There’s even a question mark<br />
about whether he will come back at all, because on top of<br />
these health setbacks we’ve all noticed that his heart no<br />
longer seems to be in the show. If he doesn’t come back<br />
we’ll be faced with a whole new set of problems, but it’s<br />
too soon to start worrying about that. It’s a sunny<br />
afternoon and the Netherlands is flying past my mini-bus<br />
window. Soon we’ll be crossing into Belgium. Things<br />
might seem difficult, but I can always console myself<br />
with the thought that what I am living was once my<br />
dream.<br />
Sunday 30/10/11, 12.15pm: Golden Tulip Inn,<br />
Zoetermeer, The Netherlands<br />
Two days off – phew! We’ve spent a lot of time on the<br />
road; Delft was not so far, but the others (Turnhout and<br />
Aalst in Belgium, and two shows in Eindhoven) were<br />
more than two hours drive. Apart from our departed,<br />
injured friend the rest of us seem to be holding it together.<br />
We all have niggling pains: a swollen knee here, a bit of<br />
tendinitis there, a bad nights sleep and headache over<br />
there… it’s not very often that you’re 100% for any<br />
performance (it comes with the territory), but we are all<br />
very tired. We were tired also when we did five weeks in<br />
Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris last year, but we still had<br />
the energy to complain about the relative lack of<br />
hospitality, but two nights ago, during the setting up,<br />
when there’s usually a lot of banter going back and forth,<br />
we were so tired that nobody spoke. It was eerie. I can’t<br />
say I’ve ever experienced that before. Last night the<br />
banter returned, but that was because we knew we had<br />
two days off ahead of us.<br />
The theatres have all been big, modern, clean, and with<br />
lots of space back-stage, which makes our work much<br />
easier, and the technical crews have been very efficient.<br />
Audience numbers are down a little, but apparently they<br />
like popular entertainment, like musicals, in this part of<br />
the world, and Philippe Genty is relatively arty and<br />
unknown; in times of financial crisis people go the theatre<br />
less often and so want to see a sure thing. Last night was<br />
a full house though.<br />
The Theatre<br />
Nogent sur<br />
Marne<br />
The big news is that our injured cast member has decided<br />
to leave us. The manner in which he has done it has upset<br />
everybody: he left for France to have an MRI, without so<br />
much as agood-bye to most of the cast and all the<br />
technical crew, and then just sent an email telling us he<br />
was quitting the show. He was injured before the summer<br />
holidays and went four months (including the holidays)<br />
without performing, so we rehearsed him back into the<br />
show, and now, not even a month later, at the beginning<br />
of perhaps our toughest tour, he’s quit; the feeling is that
he’s been inconsiderate and selfish, and that after<br />
everything we’ve been through together he owes us<br />
more. We’ve had to decide if we continue without him,<br />
or if we replace him. It’s really a decision for the cast,<br />
as we bear the burden of the extra work. We don’t know<br />
yet what Philippe and Mary want, because we don’t<br />
know yet if they know (it’s his responsibility to inform<br />
them), but usually they let us decide. We’ve discussed<br />
it, and in general we agree that it would be better to<br />
replace him, but only of it’s with somebody who knows<br />
the drill, i.e. someone who’s already worked for the<br />
company, because we don’t have much free time to<br />
rehearse and it’s hard enough learning a new show<br />
without also learning the ins and outs of working for the<br />
company. If we cannot find somebody soon we will<br />
continue as seven. We want to rehearse again with<br />
Philippe and Mary in any case, to simplify what we’re<br />
now doing, as most of the decisions we made the first<br />
time our colleague was away incapacitated were made<br />
very quickly and under duress, so that we could at least<br />
perform, but they are not perhaps the best decisions.<br />
I haven’t yet written anything about Zoetermeer;<br />
something to look forward to (not!). Au revoir!<br />
Simon T. Rann, 2011<br />
ARLYN AWARD SOCIETY<br />
! ! ! ! ! Luman Coad, Administrator<br />
! ! ! ! e-mail: coadpuppet@eastlink.ca<br />
2012 Arlyn Award for Outstanding Design in Puppet Theatre Deadline<br />
February 15, 2012 is the closing date to receive entries for consideration in the next Arlyn Award<br />
for Outstanding Design in Puppet Theatre. Eligible productions must be premiered in 2010 or<br />
2011. Any puppeteer, anywhere in the world is eligible to enter.<br />
The Arlyn Award is a world-wide search for outstanding design in puppet theatre. In 2010, the<br />
Arlyn Award was presented to Sima Mizra-Hosseini of Tehran, Iran for her production of<br />
“Arash.” As well, three Certificates of Recognition in Design were awarded to Onny Huisink of<br />
Edam, Netherlands for “Riket met de Kuif”, Karina Bleau and Anne Brulotte-Légaré of<br />
Montreal, PQ, Canada for “Häiku du Dernier Souffle?” and Michael Haverty, of Atlanta, GA,<br />
USA for “The Phantom Limb.” Puppet designers from Russia, England, and Canada have<br />
received previous Arlyn Award which consists of a trophy and a cash prize. As well, Certificates<br />
of Recognition in Design have been presented to designers from France, Canada, Finland, the<br />
United States.<br />
Any puppeteer, anywhere in the world is eligible to enter a production which premiered in 2010<br />
or 2011. To enter, please submit a brief paragraph of the designer’s goal for the production, up to<br />
ten illustrations of designs and production photographs, and a five-minute (maximum) video in<br />
Flash format showing the production’s design in action. Send entries to<br />
arlynaward2012@eastlink.ca or mail to Arlyn Award, General Delivery, Garden Bay, BC V0N<br />
1S1, Canada. Full information on entry requirements can be found at http://arlynaward.org<br />
Every two years the Society’s Board of Directors selects a three member international jury. At<br />
least one juror must be an established puppeteer and at least one juror must be an established<br />
designer in ordinary theatre. Each jury sets their own criteria and their decision is final - it cannot<br />
be altered by the Board of Directors.<br />
For information on the Arlyn Award and photos of past recipients, please visit<br />
http://arlynaward.org
" JUST DESSERTS<br />
Out and About in Melbourne<br />
with Kassius Kamel<br />
As you know I have been lying low for some months in order to evade those who would have<br />
me and my family served up as Christmas dinner alongside the turkey.<br />
But I did feel I was losing touch with the masses and with all that has been happening in the<br />
world. So I decided to get off my knees and join a crowd or two where I could mingle with the<br />
multitudes and remain undetected.<br />
Oh, and what a ʻcrowdedʼ couple of weeks itʼs been in Melbourne and Iʼve had quite a jolly<br />
time.<br />
First I caught a tram into the CBD, which is quite befitting for someone with royal connections, I<br />
believe, (although I must say, it was not a comfortable journey - a lot of rattling and scarcely<br />
room to spit).<br />
When I alighted, I was swept along Swanston Street by a tide of city workers and I cupped my<br />
ear and jabbered to myself about schedules and meetings as everyone else seemed to be<br />
doing.<br />
An lo and behold! - if I didnʼt find myself in a camp-out at the city square - lots of colourful tents<br />
and people singing and swaying and waving banners and there was face painting and yellow<br />
cake too.<br />
I enquired of one young fellow wearing a death mask if this occupation signified a protest<br />
against camel cullers. He responded, “Yes, that too, whatever takes your fancy!” and so I<br />
joined in and sang a few songs and chanted ʻWe are the 99%ʼ and ʻEat the richʼ and slept the<br />
night in a tent. All good fun, until the batten-bearing police surged in and things got a bit feral<br />
for my liking.<br />
So I moved on. Someone suggested that if I enjoyed ʻcommunal camp-outsʼ I might like to try<br />
the crowd at Tullamarine airport, although it was unlikely that anyone would be singing there.<br />
A little later I joined a crowd of people waving flags and smiling at an elderly lady in a pink outfit<br />
with matching hat. I tried to curtsey as I thought sheʼd appreciate such deference, but<br />
somehow my hooves got caught up in some of my knees and I suffered quite a nasty fall. In<br />
hindsight I think it would have been better if Iʼd just attempted a neat little bow.<br />
So I hobbled home to rest up - which was just as well because Melbourne Cup Fever was upon<br />
us and Iʼm so allergic to horses.<br />
May you all get your just desserts - K
About O.P.E.N (<strong>Oz</strong> <strong>Puppetry</strong> <strong>Email</strong> <strong>Newsletter</strong>)<br />
O.P.E.N. is a free and voluntarily produced newsletter and is open to all. You can contact us on<br />
dreampuppets@netspace.net.au Past issues of O.P.E.N. can also be accessed on our website:<br />
www.dreampuppets.com<br />
Please send reports of any known or suspected puppet activity by the 25th of each month.<br />
(Profiles of puppet characters or drawings/cartoons also welcome). Please keep photo resolutions<br />
low. Preferably send written material in .doc form so that it can be edited or rearranged on the<br />
page.<br />
Publication will be during the first week of each month.<br />
If you have urgent news: deadlines or notice of performances previously not advertised,<br />
you can send it to us for inclusion in Op-date at any time.<br />
LINKS to more information about Australian puppetry:<br />
www.PUPPETRYNEWS.com # # # # # # http://africanpuppet.blogspot.com<br />
www.unima.org.au # # # # # # http://twitter.com/<strong>Oz</strong><strong>Puppetry</strong><br />
www.dreampuppets.com www.puppetpalace.com.au<br />
www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au<br />
# # #<br />
Julia Davis and Richard Hart, November, 2011<br />
<strong>Dream</strong> <strong>Puppets</strong> has a new puppeteer : (Idan Friedman)<br />
Photo by Gary Friedman.