The Stage is Set. The Set is Staged.

To enter or not, that is the question.
I took the stage outside and propped it against the back shed on the patio table, along with a yellow chair, a yellow table, and a tiny flower pot.A black cardboard background. I think I am done here. Mariela will be able to sit for interviews in her new home.
But wait, something is wrong, though it looks nice and seems to photograph nicely.







Eventually this stage will be on the floor; I will be standing behind the background scene (or black cardboard, depending on the perceived location) and manipulate the marionette. The camcorder will be on a tripod in front of it all. Youtube, here we come.

A scene from the Czech Marionette Theatre in Prague flashes through my mind. I see the white hand pushing a character in a swing back and forth. Apparently the manipulator had forgotten her black glove. I realize what's wrong with my stage. It is too tall. My hand is visible when Mariela is sitting in the chair. Back to the drawing board. Tomorrow I will add another valance,

Emotional Scar(f)

Sometimes I wish I could wear an emotion out loud. A visible sign that would indicate my mood. Then, I bet, most of my friends would stand back if they saw me with a long black scarf wound twice around my neck.
"Hey, keep your distance, Gisela is angry. Look at that black scarf hitting the wind."
I imagine it to be like a plague warning. Good. They'll leave me alone.
Well, life doesn't work that way. It takes interaction, conversation, to coax the emotion onto the scene. Most of the time I pretend to be fine. But the Manipulator is allowed to have visions of vibrant outbursts. She might even force the Marionette to be her guinea pig.
It's pink for HAPPY.
"Can you see me now? Can you see my pink scarf? Watch me dance my happy dance? I"ll tell you a happy story today."








There is one problem. Mariela has a scar. Sadness is painted all over her face. The French call it tristesse. The melancholy of the young. Francoise Sagan made it popular in her 1954 novel "Bonjour Tristesse." I think she was eighteen when the book was published.
There is another type of sad, "Ennui'" also French. It indicates weariness, boredom, lack of interest. Ennui is a subcategory of sadness foreign to Mariela, (though the Manipulator is familiar with it) as Mariela is always engaged.
So the question remains. Can a scar be overruled by a scarf? I think it can be. I think that allowing Mariela to wear different scarfs to show her prevailing mood is a great way to indicate to the audience what to expect from her opening act. Once you get to know her you will be able to chime in.
"Oh yeah! That's great! She's in control! She's wearing royal blue today."

Manipulating the Domicile into Shape

I am making slow progress with the stage. After running to Home Depot several times I finally had all the connections I needed, including male connectors, tees, and elbows.



The cutting of the pipe was a piece by piece operation. The length of connectors had to be calculated into the overall size. At first the bottom front panel was too high and I had to cut some more. Eventually I reversed bottom and top. Then came the coloring of my leftover plain oat color fabric. Though it does not have the truly dark green color I had hoped for, it is adequate. Not as light tight as expected either. I might have to cut up a couple of green pillow cases for backing.



After I contaminated the ivy with green water - it took half an hour of rinsing - I dried the fabric and spray-painted the stage skeleton.



It fell apart as I brought it inside and I had to retighten all the connections. The next day I draped it with the fabric to see the effect.



And now, for the last few days I am cutting, sewing, measuring again and again, to gradually attach the fabric to the PVC pipe skeleton.



Mariela is watching with wide eyes.