Over the Years,
I have Bled for them.
Chef Sharpsalot from Antipasto’s.
Greaser from Bird v Grease: Battle For the Word
They have bled for me.
But usually things are a bit less gory.
These are shows for which I consider myself the primary generating artist and projects which I felt I made a noteworthy contribution to and that I was proud to be a part of.
the puppet journey begins:
Experimenting with materials and narratives, forging ahead ahead cluelessly,
Presenting the results to late night crowds
2006
Aunt Diane’s
Writer, builder, co-performer
mixed media: (object theater/shadow puppet)
Shadow screen consisted of a 50 ft paper scroll, depicting the travels from Rhode Island to Michigan. Images projected onto screen were a combination of shadow puppets and overhead projections.
Sammy Davis Therapy
Writer, builder, performer
mixed media (oversized toy theater, table-top)
Mostly soft puppets in a foam core landscape. First use of strong magnets for puppet control.
2007
Shawerma
Writer, builder, co-performer
rod?-style plus shadow screen
The main character remains seated with motions controlled through magnets and strings, hidden in the furniture in set. Most non-shadow action in this piece consisted of changes to the seated character’s environment. It was the first piece that did not rely on comedy.
2008
2009
Grease vs. Bird: Battle for the Word
Writer, builder, performer
hand carved wood, leather, and tape rod puppet vs. a modified plush toy.
An audio mash-up of “Grease (is the word)” and “Surfing Bird” was the soundtrack for this show, which lasted 4 minutes and ended in the bloody death of Grease, thereby confirming that “bird” is indeed the word.
Requiem for Hunter
Writer, builder, co-performer
object theater/ prop non-comedy /props as puppets or “proppets”
Four years after Hunter S. Thompson was unable to suffer another four years of G.W. Bush and killed himself, I wanted to share the Obama inauguration with him. In this piece, Hunter was portrayed as the negative space around which his trademark props took on life. I still like the concept and cringe at its execution.
2010
2010 was the first year that came in as a consultant or advisor on a project that was not something that I was a creator of.
Consultant, director, builder
Shadow puppet sequence within longer, non-puppet play
I was brought in after rehearsals had started to assist with the shadow puppet sequences of O Guru Guru Guru by Mallory Avedon. Although many beautiful shadow puppets had already been acquired, I helped complete the needed puppets and assisted the director with the staging and rehearsals of the puppet sequences, which were being performed by trained actors with no puppet experience.
O Guru Guru Guru
Field’s Point Sunset
Writer, builder, co-perform
Mixed media adaptation from previous text
Performed as a ten minute stand-alone show, with the intention of incorporation into a full-length theater piece along with poetry, dialogue between humans, video, comic book projections, and song. Adapted from poetry. Two shadow screens, one map, a tiny puppet dressed as the puppeteer, birds made of trash and yards of fabric.
Antipasto’s
Writer, builder, co-performer
found objects including knives, corkscrews, and other things found in a restaurant
A puppet realization of an earlier comedic writing piece that had been originally intended as a short screenplay or stage play.
After a damn busy 2010, I made one cute show in 2011
Smuggo’s Birthday Surprise
Writer, builder, performer
Soft monster in a mixed media landscape
Once again, after pushing the conceptual envelope, I wanted something that was fun to make and fun to watch. A demented coffee addicted troll with a heart of gold helped me find what I was looking for..
2011
2012
The Odyssey
Generating artist, co-performer
polyethylene shopping bags, helium, magnets
Invited by Matthew Glassman to consult and collaborate on various puppetry aspects of Double Edge Theatre’s 2012 summer spectacle, I focused on the creating a fully functional Trojan Horse from materials found on the farm.
Baggage
Generating artist, co-performer
polyethylene shopping bags, helium, magnets
Created at the 2012 National Puppetry Conference, Baggage was redesigned, rebuilt and performed with greater satisfaction for both artist and audience at the Contemporary Theatre Company in Wakefield, RI and the Culture Park Festival in New Bedford, MA.
2013
2013 was less about the late night salon and more about bringing the my puppetry to other parts of Providence, from the Ivory Tower to the sidewalk.
The Insubordination of Certain Individuals
Co- creator
Upcycled puppets
This show, my first foray into agitprop puppetry, is a response to the firing of a valuable and beloved librarian in Providence..
Zaide! A Desperate Stab
Designer, builder for Casey Llewllyn
large puppet/ stage and small puppet
With design impulses from playwright Casey Llewellyn, I designed a puppet stage that doubled as a one of the two puppets in this play that otherwise was performed by human actors. Zaide! A Desperate Stab was presented as part of the 2013 Writing is Live festival at Brown University. A few more pics can be found here.
Regretzerfruzhennacht
2014
Writer, builder, co-performer
mixed media: toy theater/shadow puppet
This show tells the story of the newest olde time holiday, celebrated on the eve of the first trash nigh of the new year. It is a magical tale of self shame, community building and leftovers, with a spirit to be carried through the spring cleaning season and the rest of the year.
2015
Not a bunch of activity of activity in Providence this year, but the year was not quiet, with some assists in Brooklyn and a premiere in New Bedford, Mass. I also went to Staten Island and stood in a pond over night in the name of puppetry.
A Haunting on Buzzard’s Bay
Librettist, designer, builder, co-performer
Overhead projector shadow puppetry with Live musical accompianmnet
Created for the 13th Culture Park Short Play Marathon at the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, MA. Screened on the sails of a sailboat, this is the story of a whaler, long lost at sea, who finally makes his way back home to New Bedford in the present day. Jeremy Fortier - musical arrangement and viola, Vanessa Gilbert - dramaturgy and vocals.
There’s Nothing to See Here
Performer/Facilitator
Lighting and object design, fabrication, and manipulation
Objects consisted of found object and flashlight projectors and special effects that provided environmental effects to a interdisciplinary work created by Vanessa Gilbert, Justine Williams and Eva Peskin.
2016
2016 carried on with new adventures in New Bedford, Mass.
Everlasting Itch
Writer, builder, co-performer
shadow Puppetry, video projection
Adapted from Patricia Thomas's script for a solo show of Moby Dick, this one time performance at a neighborhood festival in New Bedford used shadow puppetry and video projection on the screen as well as being projected onto the actor to highlight different narrative elements of Melville's classic.
Serve, Protect, Occupy
Writer, builder, co-performer
shadow Puppetry, video projection
Originally concieved of as a response to the militarization of municipal police forces in America and developed at the Eugene O'Neill Center in 2014 (Toy theater portion), this show remains unfortunately relevant. This Standing Rock version was created for the CulturePark short play marathon in New Bedford, MA. Performed with Stuart Window and Vanessa Gilbert
2017
Buzzards Bay redux
Got Stuart in to help
2018
Rt 18.
Writer, builder, performer
knit scenery, storytelling with ropes
As the inaugural Artist in Residence at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, my research led me to tell the story of the highway that cut through the center of the city and what was stolen to make that highway. For a bit more info, here’s the blog post.
2019
We Made This
Co-Writer, builder,
lots of rope, mixed media, projections
Vanessa Gilbert performed this piece at the Devised Theater Festival in Pawtucket, RI. .
Really Cool Things
Writer, builder, co-performer
FUCKING COVID
2020
2021
Paper Play: Rock Creek and Wisconsin
Co-creator
Paper Play! was a performance created by Natsu Onoda- Power at Georgetown, which featured several smaller performances that were inspired by the Japanese tradition of Kamishibai, in which stories are told with the aid of several drawn or painted scenery “slides”. My student partner and I told the parallel stories of Wisconson Ave and Rock Creek, while taking the audience on a tour through the corridors. It was pretty fun.
2022
Writer, builder, co-performer
mixed media: toy theater/shadow puppet
Shadow screen consisted of a 50 ft paper scroll, depicting the travels from Rhode Island to Michigan. Images projected onto screen were a combination of shadow puppets and overhead projections.
Revisits and new visits
2023
Aaron Burr
Researcher, builder
Modified toy theater
Delayed due to some of the original materials being misplaced during COVID work resumed on this effort to reconstruct the historic puppet opera of this American political icon. However, any public showing of this work in process was then knocked off the rails due to real estate-related legal squabbles around who had rights to the 200 year old source material.
2024
Buildings vs. People: A Bondster Story
Writer, builder, co-performer
A really big pop-up book and a volunteer in a suit covered in Bonds.
Performed in Charlottesville, Va. as part of the Modest Puppetry Festival, this show highlights the anti-human dynamic that results from floating municipal bonds for capital projects while not safe-guarding the livelihood of those people that work in the shiny new buildings.
