A site-specific staging of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, in which Roderick Usher entombs his still living sister, Madeline, in the vault of their decaying mansion.
To offset, and interweave with this piece, we chose a scenario suggested by David Ives in his short story, Bolero, which tells the story of a contemporary couple listening to noises in their building, where it also sounds as though a woman is being harmed.
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A poor miller leads his family from rustic poverty to middle class comfort by gently guiding his none too ethical landlord, a gullible, grasping fellow, into simple financial speculations that go way over his head. This play is an adaptation of a classic folk tale known around the world under a multitude of names.
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Four classic tales of misadventure, full of venerable folk wisdom from around the world, are retold in a celebration of our shared humanity. Presented in a deceptively simple, low tech style, each story is told using a different style of puppetry, and highlights how we humans can overlook the obvious when we worry needlessly about the impossible, take advice without thinking, or use yesterday’s solutions to solve today’s problems.
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Rich in magical surprises and mechanical ingenuity, inventive puppetry and exuberant folk music, Tea at the Palace is a sumptuous retelling of two stories told in old Russia about justice, humanity and compassion. In the first, a peasant finds a samovar in his field, but when he uses it to make tea “just like the Tsar” he is charged with treason. In the second, the Tsar is introduced to a wise and intriguing peasant girl, which scandalizes the courtiers who plot to thwart their friendship. Full of riddles, ritual and humour this play is both relevant and enchanting.
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This production, set in early 19th century China, explores the true story of Shih Yang and her rise from prostitution to her command of one of China’s most ruthless pirate combines. We know that she married a gang leader named Cheng I, but how were they able to forge a confederation of pirate fleets that numbered 80,000 strong? When her husband died, how was it that the Widow Cheng was elected the Paramount Admiral of the combined pirate fleet? Was it her charisma that enabled her to transform the pirate’s violent activities to the more lucrative and stable business of protection and extortion?
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Join the Puppetmongers to work on the creation of a show. Beginning with a story idea, we will work through the entire process
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To get a sense of how important gravity and leverage are to marionettes, the participants will start by making simple cloth marionettes, and learn to manipulate them. Then we will move on to the construction of more complex puppets, with working joints and functioning controls.
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Rod puppetry is a form of puppetry that originated in Asia long ago. In the 1800s European colonizers and merchants took samples back home, and then European puppeteers picked up on the idea. These figures are built on a central control rod, and manipulated from below. The arms, and sometimes the legs, can be moved with separate rods.
Continue readingWorking together in small groups students plan their stories to be performed and create simple but wonderfully effective 2 dimensional figures, scenery and props, using readily available materials, to be manipulated behind a lit fabric or paper screen in visually magical presentations.
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It was the best performance for students I have seen in 25 years of teaching. Your play was a superb historical “lesson” combined with a well-loved fairy tale; your sets were intricate, fascinating and interestingly complex; the way you mixed the puppets in with your own roles made it feel like we were watching a cast of thousands and your performance was flawless. You kept everyone from 9 years old to us adults enthralled… you are awesome performers who have lit a spark in many a heart today. Grade 4 teacher, Charles Howitt PS
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