"Poste Restante" at Charlestown Working Theater

Squirrel Stole My Underpants Creator Performs for Adults

by Guest Blogger: Bonnie Duncan, (They Gotta Be Secret Agents)

Bonnie Duncan and Tim Gallagher in "Poste Restante"

Poste Restante: A madly inventive mix of acrobatics, paper, laughter, dance, flight, puppetry, longing, and film…all stuffed neatly into a box.

Before creating "Squirrel Stole My Underpants" at Puppet Showplace, I focused my performing work on adult audiences.  "Poste Restante", a piece I made with my dance partner Tim Gallagher, is returning to Boston Feb 20-23rd at Charlestown Working Theater. 

Beyond being a lovely piece of theater, here are the...

Top 5 Reasons you should go see Poste Restante:

1.  If the child in you enjoyed Squirrel Stole My Underpants, the adult in you will be charmed, wowed, and touched by Poste Restante.  It’s the perfect date-night piece of theater.  Or, bring the kids to our Sunday, Feb 23rd show at 2:00 pm---it’s family-friendly!

2.  You can have it all:  Soulful Acrobatics!  Cheeky Theatre!  Refreshing Dance, Puppetry, & Film!  Tim Gallagher and I perform a brilliantly imaginative form of physical theater, effortlessly moving back and forth between acrobatics, puppetry and dance. Our poetically beautiful, absurdly logical show is by turns funny, dazzling, and, in the end, surprisingly poignant.

3.  Poste Restante brings communication down from a high-tech, instant, "now,now, now" process to a more tangible, visceral level where letters and boxes travel through real space and time, and survive countless potential mishaps along the way.  “The charming performance piece is a love letter to the deep human need we have to connect and the terrible trouble we have in succeeding.” – Culture Map Austin

4.  We perform under the name “They Gotta BeSecret Agents” which is apt, considering how we usually spend our daily lives:  I am the mother of 3 kids under the age of 5, living in Jamaica Plain; Tim is finishing up medical school in New York City and will begin a 4 year residency in Emergency Medicine in June.  We created and currently rehearse this show on the weekends, traveling between cities, mailing various items and ideas through the mail.

5.  This show won “Best Touring Show” (Austin Critic’s Table), “Best of the Fringe” & “Best Physical Comedy” (San Francisco Fringe).  It’s received standing ovations from audiences across the US and Europe.  The Prague Post called Poste Restante "Inspired choreography that is so stark and evocative... this crowd pleaser is not to be missed.”  It was developed with support from the Jim Henson Foundation, Puppeteers of America Endowment grant, Cambridge Arts Council, and the Mass Cultural Council. 

See you and your friends there!

- Bonnie

TICKETS:  http://www.charlestownworkingtheater.org/

MORE INFORMATION:  http://www.the-secret-agents.com

Learn Mouth and Rod Puppetry at Puppet Showplace!

Furry Monsters 101 with Jonathan Little, Little's Creatures

4 sessions, February 25 - March 18

Tuesdays, 6:30-9:00pm
Members save 10% on registration!

MORE INFO/ REGISTER ONLINE

Some characters are too good to keep bottled up. Let out your inner monster with the "Furry Monsters 101" class at Puppet Showplace Theatre taught by master puppeteer Jonathan Little of Little's Creatures. This class is for adults and mature teens ages 16 and up.

Students practicing with puppets made by Little's Creatures at Puppet Showplace.

Take a page of the Muppet, Sesame Street, or saucy Avenue Q handbook and create your own character through the use of a professional hand and rod puppet. Work with “Little Creatures” puppet company founder Jonathan Little, and give life to your inner characters. Will your puppet character be sassy? Meek? A childhood hero or an inner demon? Explore an exciting, visual storytelling medium in a supportive classroom environment with fellow adventurers.

Jon Little of Little's Creatures, Fury Monsters 101 instructor at Puppet Showplace

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Jonathan Little is the founder of Little’s Creatures, a full service puppet company based in Medford, MA. Little’s Creatures has built puppets and performed for individuals and companies across the United States and abroad. Current puppetry projects include the Time Machine Guitar TV series and the National Fire Prevention Association’s “Sparky the Fire Dog” fire safety videos. Jon has been a Puppet Showplace teaching artist since 2011.

Jon and Chris Little, Little's Creatures performing Sparky the Fire Dog.

He received his own puppetry training from some of the nation’s best television puppeteers including Muppeteers Martin P. Robinson, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Tyler Bunch, Tim Lagasse, and Jim Kroupa. For the past four years, Jon has worked as the teaching assistant in Jim Kroupa’s mechanism workshop at the Eugene O’Neill National Puppetry Conference. In addition to performing, Jonathan is skilled in the fine arts, including sculpture, film, video, drawing, and painting. He holds a degree from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He is a skilled dancer, with over 14 years of ballet training (Red Shoes Ballet, South Shore Dance, and Boston Ballet). He has also trained in comedy improv with ImprovBoston.

ABOUT THE CLASS:

In Furry Monsters 101, participants will learn the proper technique of hand and rod puppetry. Professional puppeteers know how to make these characters appear as living, breathing beings with their own thoughts, desires, and motivations. After learning the basics (breathing, lip-synch, focus, and body position), participants will also be able to bring their own characters to life too. Their hands will start to have minds of their own!

For samples of last year’s students’ creations in the Furry Monsters class checkout Little’s youtube page:



Participants will also cover essentials such as character interpretation, rhythm and timing, storytelling, puppet-assisting , working with props, creating a puppet film, improv and comedy, television monitor technique, and puppet/actor interactions. This is an ideal class for actors, comedians, die-hard Muppet fans, dancers, animators, or anyone interested in learning puppetry.



For those ready to embark on the hilarious, rewarding adventure of bringing your own puppet character to life, “Furry Monsters 101” is the perfect opportunity!

You can find more info about upcoming classes at Puppet Showplace online. CICK HERE.

Behind the Scenes of "The Great Red Ball Rescue"

The Challenges and Rewards of Developing New Work

by Guest Blogger: Sarah Goone, Artistic Intern

Puppet Showplace Artistic Intern Sarah Goone shares her experience assisting local artist Faye Dupras with the creation of "The Great Red Ball Rescue." The show is part of the 2014, "New Year, New Shows" series of world premiere performances by local artists. VIEW CALENDAR

I started working with Faye Dupras on "The Great Red Ball Rescue" a few weeks ago at her studio in her home, which was such a wonderful experience. She let me design and build some important props for her show based off of my own artistic ideas, and really encouraged me to do what I felt was right for the show.

Props created by Sarah Goone for "The Great Red Ball Rescue"

It was another situation in which I would be allowed to have the opportunity to play such a big role and hold so much responsibility for the set of a show. I think that it challenged me as an intern, a student, and an artist in taking the risks to trust my own instincts and skills to create something for another artist’s piece.

Set piece painted by Sarah Goone for "The Great Red Ball Rescue"

Once we moved the show to the Puppet Showplace Theatre for tech week, I helped Faye with her pre-set and am now running the light board for the rest of the shows while I am here. It’s really interesting for me to work the lights because I have only ever been involved in theater as an actor or in stage/costume crews, never in the sound or light area. It’s also great because I get to see the show so many times, and as a new piece of work, I can witness the changes that keep happening.

Sarah Goone and her "The Great Red Ball Rescue" display.

Puppets and Tap Dancing at Puppet Showplace!

Puppets At Night for Adults and Teens presents...

"The Joshua Show" by Joshua Holden
TWO NIGHTS ONLY!
Fri, Feb 28 at 8pm
Sat, Mar 1 at 8pm

BUY TICKETS

Puppets At Night, a series of provocative puppetry performances for adult and teen audiences returns this February with an award-winning production by North Shore native, Joshua Holden! Join us for the amazing vaudeville infused puppets and tap dancing extravaganza that is "The Joshua Show," winner of the 2013 National Puppetry Festival "Fan Favorite," and "Best Performance" awards.

About the show:

Mr. Nicholas, a sock puppet and Joshua’s soulmate, makes an unnerving self-discovery that causes him to spiral down a path of loneliness and hopeless despair. How do you cheer up when life gets you down? Is it possible to be so different from everyone that you are truly alone? Explore these ideas as a world full of whimsy, magic, and abundant joy unfolds before you. The Joshua Show provides audiences with a loving friend to cheer them up and an acknowledgement that when life gets tough, they are not alone.

Blending puppetry, an original score of live musical numbers, physical comedy, and a smattering of tap dancing, the show empowers people of all ages to celebrate their differences. Joshua’s beautifully hand-crafted puppets help us understand the vulnerable feelings associated with the human experience and uncover the immense joy that surrounds us every day.

Joshua Holden in "The Joshua Show"

About the performers:

Joshua Holden is an award winning puppeteer, actor, and joy-maker based in New York City.
Most notably, he was on the Broadway national tour of Avenue Q, and was the Lead Puppeteer on the national tour of Peter Pan 360. Most recently, Joshua worked with international artist Banksy on his controversial NY "Sirens of the Lambs." In August 2013, Joshua was one of 24 puppeteers representing American puppetry at The Puppeteers of America’s National Festival, with The Joshua Show. This proud Massachusetts native is an alumni of the Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and has a B.F.A. in Acting from The Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University.

Tim Hansen, composer/musician in "The Joshua Show"

Tim Hansen (b.1978) is an Australian composer and teaching artist. He has had pieces performed in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Belgium, France and Mexico, and has been a composition fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute and the Norfolk Contemporary Music Festival. In addition to being short listed for the APRA Professional Development award in 2010 and 2013, he has been awarded the Frank Ponton Memorial Prize, the Darwin International Guitar Festival Composition Prize and an ArtStart Grant from the Australia Council for the Arts. He is a founding director of both ExhAust New Music and the W4 New Music collective in New York.

Behind-the-Scenes of "Robin Hood" at Puppet Showplace

DIVING INTO THE "PUPPET WORLD"

by Guest Blogger: Sarah Goone, Artistic Intern

Puppet Showplace intern, Sarah Goone shares her experience working with Artist in Residence Brad Shur on his new production of "Robin Hood." The show premiered this January as part of the theater's "New Year, New Shows" series, an annual event that showcases new work by local artists.  VIEW SHOW CALENDAR

Sarah Goone, Artistic Intern at Puppet Showplace

Hello! My name is Sarah Goone and I am currently the Artistic Intern at Puppet Showplace Theatre for about 7 weeks this winter. I kicked off the season on literally the first day of the year at First Night, where I first met Roxie, who’s acting as my supervisor while I’m at Puppet Showplace, and many other amazing people from the theater and from other puppet theaters. It was a crazy, long first day, but I knew right away that I was in the right place.

Robin's clothes on the clothes line made by Sarah in "Robin Hood" by Brad Shur

Right after the crazy First Night, I started working with Brad Shur on his original production, "Robin Hood." My first assignment was to design and sew tiny clothing items to go on a clothesline in the "Robin Hood" set. I was very grateful that he gave me so much freedom to do so. I am very experienced in sewing but have never made a pattern before, and Brad just told me to try something out and see what I could do. I worked for the day on some little knickers, a few shirts, and a few pairs of socks. It really was not that difficult, and I was pretty happy with what I had come up with, as was Brad.

Guard costume built by Sarah for "Robin Hood" by Brad Shur

After that, he just kept giving me a lot of projects to either completely construct props by myself, or to help prime and sand different props and scenery items that were in the process of being built. My favorite project was to completely re-sew the Guard’s costume because it again challenged my patterning skills, but this time for an actual puppet to wear. It also was a very challenging knit fabric to work with, so finishing the costume felt like I had really accomplished something great. 

Maid Marion's mask, details painted by Sarah for "Robin Hood" by Brad Shur

When I saw one of his shows on the opening weekend, it was so exciting to point out all the things I had made to my roommates who came to see the show with me. I never thought, going into the internship, that I’d be able to say I helped build the set and even got to mend and create some costumes!

Overall, I had an amazing time working with Brad, and enjoyed the times when we’d both be working in the same space so he could tell me about how he got into puppetry, which is very similar to how I did, and he gave me some neat insights into the “puppet world”.  -Sarah

For more information about becoming an intern at Puppet Showplace: VIEW INFO