No Time for Details

Yesterday was a long day (8am - 10:00pm) of great workshops, films, a puppetry slam and a two hour walk around town that took me, eventually, to the West Liberty Train Depot where I had an interesting conversation with a historian. But since I have to be ready for the pancake breakfast shortly I will only post a few pics directly from the iPad. Evaluation of all the workshop material and "better pics," downloaded from the camera, will come when I return home.




The preschoolers are watching and responding with giggles and laughs




All it takes for the most basic of puppets




The Owlglass Puppetry Center




West Liberty Train Depot




One room school house




Sunrise over the Presidential Inn in West Branch, Iowa

Steaming Ahead

The Great Plains Puppet Train, fired on by a wonderful, big family of puppeteers, educators, artists, facilitators, helpers, and one curious newcomer and admirer, me, is off to a fascinating start.
With housing and transportation under control and a three hour nap behind me, I joined the group Thursday evening for dinner and two excellent performances.

A one woman shadow puppet show, Calliope, gave us the answer to what happens "When Night Dreams" in three culturally diverse stories projected onto a big screen.

The second show, "Roman Reverie" was a paper or toy theatre production by "Little Blue Moon" in which two puppeteers transported us to Italy and the adventures of two young lovers.

I will go into these performances in more detail later; for now it is off to breakfast and a day of workshops.

We wave hello and fly into the puppet world.

This self-promoting thing is kind of fun. Mariela now has her picture on Facebook, on a few postcards, a t-shirt, and a shopping bag. And all she can do is wave her hand and take a few steps.

As I wait for the shuttle driver to take us to the airport, I take a final look at the stage made of PVC pipe and cotton fabric. Mariela's house.

And now we are off. Off to the Great Plains Puppet Train Festival.

Deconstruction

"Am I being deconstructed?"

It is one of the questions Mariela has for me when I take the scarf off to inspect her neck where the hook is attached to the body.

I shake my head.

"Are you using me to figure out your state of mind?" is another one.

"I'm not using you. Not exactly. Well..... maybe it depends on how you look at it. I think that I'm making you into the best puppet you can be. And while I do that, I learn things about myself."

"Like what?"

"For instance, I've learned that I like to transport big projects into little settings. That way I can enjoy places I can't afford to visit frequently, or places that have been lost to the past. I remember the big meadow I made from plastic flowers a few years ago. It looked like the part of Germany where I grew up. Then there was the 100 stuffed rabbits project; I sewed a colony of bunnies because my mother gave away my favorite toy rabbit to another child. As for your place in the scheme of things, right now I'm interpreting a setting I've visited in British Columbia. It will be the backdrop for your tea with Dr. Steinfeld. There is a garden behind a big window and the room is full of flower pots. And you, my dear, will be the princess who reigns supreme in this little paradise."

She twirls and bows. Her hair flames.

"What else? What else did you learn from parading me around?"

"I enjoy bright yellow and royal blue together. I love red hair. I wish I could sing. I am impatient but try to persist. I have a wonderful time imagining different lives."

"Why do you need me for that? "

"You're my medium. Just like Madam X, the mannequin, was. Or Sammy Lucius Putnam, the frog. Isabelle, the toddler doll. Sunlit Cloud, the shaman. Tyana J LittleString, the traveling bear. I sort facts, eliminate old concepts, add new ideas through you. When I look at you I see the details of my life better than if I just sat and thought about them. It's like snipping myself apart and sewing tiny pieces of me into you, so they can grow and let you dream and live happily ever after.


"You ARE deconstructing."

I'm deconstructing ME. Not you.

She shakes her head. I notice the sadness in her eyes at the same time as her lips part into a slightly mocking grimace.


"Same thing."

The Words

Now that the stage is ready for occupation, the long and short of the front panel has been solved, I am seriously beginning to think about script. And since I know nothing about script writing for a puppet play, I have to look to the experts for guidance.
A few years ago I took an introductory class in script writing, but for totally different reasons than writing words for Mariela Sinti. At the time I was experimenting with ways to make my memoir writing more realistic, more visual. The immediacy of a play requires action, reaction - interaction. Dialogue has to be crisp, voices varied, action meaningful. No fillers. Also, surroundings have to be described in short, precise directions for those who set the stage.
Starting to read an article in Puppetry International confirms some of my thoughts on writing for a puppet play. At first I see nothing that doesn't apply to good writing in general.
From Puppetry International page 29, Issue #27, Spring and Summer 2010. Article about Joe Cashore, edited by Andrew Periale:
Joe Cashore on script: "For each piece , I want to know what is the beginning, what is the middle and what is the end, so that the piece has a sense of completeness. After that it's like a short story, in that I'm trying to trim away everything that is non-essential, so that every gesture supports the main idea."
I have learned about trimming away in me memoirs workshops.
"When in doubt, leave it out." One of my instructor's main suggestions when critiquing my pieces.
But there is more in this Puppetry International article. There is something that makes me pay greater attention..
"What's really important is the relationship between movement and stillness."
Most of the time I am worried about movement. Mariela is one of the simplest marionettes. Six strings for manipulation of wooden arms, legs, body, and ball-shaped head. I have barely mastered the simplest gestures. Stillness seems a luxury. But Cashore is right, of course. Stillness is a necessity. I have to learn to place it in the right spot.
Then I pick up the most important sentence from this master of strings:
"At its best, the marionette can be like a mirror which allows us to see ourselves, and it's through the understanding of ourselves that real change takes place."
Cashore's way is not the only way to look at a puppet. In the same issue, in an interview with Karen Smith, Steven Ritz-Barr says on page 35:
"I don't really care about the puppet, if truth be told. I am not a purist puppeteer. I care about the story, and the total viewing impact of the artistic experience that is created by a talented team of artists."
In my amateur mind I have already made a decision. Cashore's words reflect best my own sense of connection between puppet and manipulator and therefore will have to play a big part in the way I write for Mariela Sinti.
Of course, I learn, while watching Cashore in action, that he uses no words at all. Music, a super-intricate network of wire and strings, the power of observation, and a most sensitive, soulful approach to daily activities make his characters come to life. He is designer, maker, manipulator, all in one. He is the consummate artist. My first hero among puppeteers.
But I don't have all that many years ahead of me to perfect the handling of thirty or forty-string marionettes. And not only is my time limited; my artistic insight is by far not as keen as Mr. Cashore's. I need words. Words to be spoken in order for Mariela's purpose in my life to be acknowledged. Maybe there needs to be dialogue. Maybe Dr. Carl Steinfeld, my imaginary shrink, will have to appear.
"I think I do," he says, "because, as much as you need me, Mariela needs me even more."
For more information on Puppetry International go to www.unima-usa.org

Looking Forward to the Great Plains Puppet Train Festival

Like Blank Paper

Imagine a blank piece of paper. I fold it into the shape of an airplane. I throw it into the air. It flies.

That's how I see Mariela Sinti. A nineteen-year old without experiences. No particular preferences. No knowledge of knowledge. She is endowed with certain capabilities. She can walk and talk when made to do so, but she lacks initiative to explore and the purpose of mental tools is not known to her.

Wouldn't it be awesome if somebody could mold her into a sensitive, compassionate young woman? Hey, the future of awesome doesn't belong to Comcast alone. And while I hate their arrogant commercial that claims that having command of hundreds of TV channels makes tomorrow "awesome," I have seen awesome - mainly produced by nature - and I yearn to write awesome lines for the little gypsy girl with the sad eyes.


I haven't started yet. But in my eagerness to give her a great life, I have taken steps to promote her. Mariela has fans. Fans who would like to help with plot lines. Mariela has a Facebook presence. A blog devoted to her existence. A photo album.

I might have jeopardized her innocence. There are people who ask, "How's the puppet thing going?"

On top of it all, I have just sent Mariela's photograph to Monica Leo, founding member of the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theater in West Liberty, Iowa, and Festival Director for the Great Plains Puppet Train Festival. She will put her portrait in the program booklet.

Yes, friends, Marcela Sinti, the marionette without a plot, will fly to Iowa near the end of September and spend four days among skillful puppeteers and their charges. She will be at the Great Plains Puppet Train Festival www.puppetspuppets.com/festival to learn from the best. Well, wait, I am getting ahead of myself: I will be there to learn from the best. Mariela will be surrounded by good karma and good communicators.

Maybe pre-accomplishment popularity is not so bad. Cell phones and laptops make self-promotion quite easy in today's social media environment and many young amateurs perform before their time. The difficulty lies in "living up to the hype." Will we - she and I - eventually be able to channel my intentions into a good performance?

Last year, when I was sick and unsure of my future, I made a list of things I want to accomplish. Producing a short YouTube video with Mariela Sinti is on this list.

I will be open to suggestions about plot, as I learn the hows and whys of script and mechanics, but the end result must develop without force and impatience. It will happen when the time is right. Maybe the Great Plains Puppet Train Festival will inspire me to scribble fascinating words onto the little blank paper airplane. Maybe I will go from being a manipulator to being a puppeteer. Maybe Mariela will go from popular nobody to stage presence.