Off the Map and into the Murk: Spelunking into Puppetry

Links Hall’s new Artistic Associates each curate a month-long series of performance, based on expertise in their respective artistic fields. January’s series, Off the Map and into the Murk: Spelunking into Puppetry, has been curated by Barbara Whitney. The performances are presented during four programs over the course of the month. In addition, there is a workshop in tabletop puppetry.

Program One
January 5 – 7, 2007
Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm
Sunday at 7:00pm
Tickets: $12.00 ($10.00 students and seniors)

Myopia
By Lolly Extract & Amber Marsh
An exploration of the inner space between life and death, centering on the dubious reality of the expensive, enigmatic world of medicine and modern society’s relationship with it.

Handmade Puppet Dreams: Volume One
Presented by Laura Heit
A festival of independent artists’ films exploring the art of handmade craft especially for the screen–a provocative, challenging, and savvy collection of puppet shorts created by the next generation of small-scale artists.

Program Two
January 12 – 14, 2007
Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm
Sunday at 7:00pm
Tickets: $12.00 ($10.00 students and seniors)

Babel
By Clare Dolan
Inspired by a series of short stories by Issac Babel, this piece combines an ancient form of picture-story recitation with puppet and mask dances, battles, births and deaths. In true Babelian fashion, this puppet show careens from the banal to the beastly, illustrating greater truths about the generosity and avarice of human beings, and the sheer beauty of life, despite all of its brutality and disappointments.

Myopia
By Lolly Extract & Amber Marsh

Handmade Puppet Dreams: Volume Two
Presented by Laura Heit, collected by Heather Henson

Program Three
January 19 – 21, 2007
Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm
Sunday at 7:00pm
Tickets: $12.00 ($10.00 students and seniors)

Mrs. Wright’s Escape
By Amanda Maddock & Ensemble
A puppet piece presenting some of the life of architect 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, their self-created architecture fellowship in Wisconsin and Arizona.

Alchemy
By Finn Campman
A trio of pieces incorporating tabletop, rod, and shadow puppetry, film, found objects, and music. The pieces explore a clockmaker’s world, and how the slow infusion of memory manipulates time; a grandson facing the bittersweet memory of his grandmother and her tragic death; and the meditation of change and transformation, inspired by Iranian poet Rumi.

Egg Noir
By Jana Zeller & Zak Grace
A retro-futuristic tale of the challenges of reproduction and genetic engineering.

Workshop – Tabletop Puppetry
Saturday, January 20 from 10:00am to 2:00pm
Ronald Binion and Amanda Maddock
Tickets: $30.00
This workshop gives participants a general knowledge of the basic requirements of tabletop puppetry, an understanding of the performers’ roles, and hands-on exercises to put into practice concepts learned during the course. No prior experience necessary; to register please contact Erica at [email protected] or 773-281-0824.

Program Four
January 26 – 28, 2007
Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm
Sunday at 7:00pm
Tickets: $12.00 ($10.00 students and seniors)

Fat Kid Opera
By Merrill Garbus
Fatilda is scorned for her plentiful flesh, but soon comes to realize that she is one of thousands who are being bred for exactly that… how will Fatty escape her fate as someone’s dinner? Inspired by Jonathan Swift’s essay A Modest Proposal, Fat Kid Opera is morbidly funny, musically haunting, and does include farting.

Since We are Bound
By Barbara Whitney
Inspired by the formal study of the ancient art of mnemonic devices, “wonder cabinets,” and memory theaters, Since We are Bound explores the mirrors and devices of memory and the accompanying objects of a life that summon a real or imagined past according to the needs of the present.

Three Piggy Opera
By Merrill Garbus, Barbara Whitney & Meredith Miller
It’s a great big world out there where the big bad wolf lurks around every corner. What’s a mother to do but kick out her ungrateful children in order to fend for herself? Stories within stories unfurl as a mother-daughter stripper team struggle to get the job done, some pigs wander helplessly in a dark wood, a wolf plans for a barbecue, and a couple of songs lurch their way out of a couple of nervous broads.