 |
RSVP by calling
(773) 281-0824.
Give us your cash at the door!
LINKS HALL studio theater seats 65.
|
WINTERROOT
PUPPET FESTIVAL
"There is a quiet steady pulse to a Chicago
winter. Nothing slows down, but there is a shell of ice around our
movements and pauses in between. Breath is visible, armchairs hold
parking spots into the dark afternoon, men sleep on vents as hot
yawns push up from the subway. The world is transformed, and we
might fight against it or retreat. I take heart from the lowly root:
the potato, rutabaga, turnip or beet. Quiet, strong, rich and steady
beneath the earth. Resistant to the cold, hearty, enduring, the
winter root reminds me how to embrace the changed city, and with
lungs full of ice, break the hush."
- Shoshanna Utchenik, curator of
WINTERROOT PUPPET FESTIVAL
|
|
| |
|
Weekend 1: Roots
February 4, 5 and 6, 2005
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Admission $12
Shoshanna Utchenik: Punch’s
Opera or The Dominion of Fancy
Once crude and raucous advocates for the working class, Punch &
Judy shows have only recently been relegated to kiddie parties.
Through adapted Victorian scripts Utchenik pays homage to Punch’s
irreverent plight against oppressive institutions, returning the
grandfather of modern slapstick to his earlier uncouth splendor.
Blair Thomas & Co.: Buster
Keaton’s Stroll by Federico Garcia Lorca
Buster Keaton sets out on a bicycle in search of love, which he
discovers in the most unexpected way. Puppetry virtuoso Blair Thomas
reprises his spectacularly constructed toy-theater interpretation
of Lorca’s surreal puppet play. The Chicago Sun-Times calls
the piece “masterful
and visually gorgeous work.”
Meredith Miller: Burlesque Interludes
Meredith Miller is devoted to resuscitating traditions of fringe
theater, including burlesque and puppetry. Burlesque Interludes
is a series of traditional and original routines that incorporate
puppetry to heighten the absurdity and tantalization of Burlesque
performance.
Michael Zerang: Elishoo’s
Long Roll
Michael Zerang is a professional musician, composer, and producer
focusing on improvised music, free jazz, and contemporary composition.
In Elishoo’s Long Roll, each specific, episodic drum roll
mirrors the long life of his recently departed grandmama, Elishoo.
Weekend 2: Into the Dark
February 11, 12 and 13, 2005
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Admission $12
Incurable Theater: Faust
Incurable Theater uses intricately handcrafted marionettes in this
miniature interpretation of the story of Dr. Faustus, an aging scholar
dissatisfied with life, and his ill-fated pact with the ultimate
trickster, the devil himself!
Matt Marsden, Mark Kinsella and
Ellena Kenny: The Pedunculated Flap
Marsden’s subconscious-pricking assemblage and pus-and-guts
drawing style evokes a visceral pleasure/horror response. True to
form, The Pedunculated Flap presents the loving story of a disaffected
stranger who wanders from his wayward sales position into a swamp
wherein he enters a hotel that is in fact a submarine.
Mike Serwich and Chad Southard:
The Tortured Head
Physical performer Southard and actor/puppeteer/filmmaker Serwich
present a darkly comic puppet kidnapping tale: a story of puppet
to puppeteer miscommunication and violence. Ear plugs and safety
glasses may be provided.
Jesse Mooney-Bullock: The Woman
and the Serpent
An allegorical tale of ancient enmity and the fall of mankind, based
on prophetic scriptures, and told through visionary verse and apocalyptic
puppetry. Jesse Mooney-Bullock is a contraptionist from Cincinnati,
returning to the Midwest after two years in New Hampshire where
he trained in woodworking.
|
Weekend 3: Resistance & Quiet Songs
February 18, 19 and 20, 2005
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Admission $12
Spiro Dousias: Two Cantastorias
The cantastoria follows a long tradition of presentational storytelling
pairing static image with moving voice. Dousias reveals the natural
connection of pop culture’s sense of narrative to traditional
storytelling by linking the ballad with the comic book.
Michael Montenegro: The Sublime
Beauty of Hands
“Our society, like a somnambulant giant, prepares for and
participates in mechanized violence. Blocked from speaking their
truth in the real world, the victims find a secret door into the
psyche of sleepers everywhere: where the dream image sets fire to
denial.” Montenegro is a thirty year veteran of the puppet
theatre world.
Theater Oobleck and El Moderno
Circo Absurdo: Natural History
Taking 37 volumes of Pliny the Elder’s writings on how the
universe works and compressing it into a box of scrolls, songs,
and signs, Natural History brings together Argentinian puppeteer/musician
Sebastian Paz, and Dave Bluestate, author of Theater Oobleck’s
recent election show, The Passion of the Bush.
Weekend 4: Finale, Film &
Feast
February 25, 26 and 27, 2005
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Admission $15, includes a seasonal feast, and film screenings
Laura Heit: Untitled
Laura Heit currently lives in the UK, where she is working on an
animated film about being invisible. Heit previously worked with
Redmoon, Theater Dank, and En Fuego. This recent film presents a
toy theater show based on the life of Mary Anning (1799-1847), who
changes the world with her hammer.
Chris Sullivan: Recent Animation
Sullivan’s work tightens the screw on human consciousness
and the social structures it manifests with a subtly jarring, unique
voice. He is a recipient of Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundation
fellowships, and has shown work at the Museum of Modern Art (NYC)
and the Whitney Biennial.
Lisa Barcy: The Guilt Trip &
The Ordovicians
In The Guilt Trip, or The Vaticans take a Holiday, icons of Catholicism
run amok as Jesus and Mary Magdalene steal away for an adventurous
road trip. In The Ordovicians, made with Jim Trainor, Yves Tanguy
meets Busby Berkeley. The Ordovician landscape is a-splendor with
squashing, gyrating, and other primal activity.
Michael Zerang: Improvised Music
Percussionist, improviser and composer Michael Zerang has collaborated
with many innovative musical groups, choreographers, theater companies,
performance artists, new music ensembles, and film & video makers.
Heidi Dakter: Spectacle Characters
Dakter has shown her work internationally and is versed in spectacle
performance, runway showing, and installation art. Dakter’s
costumed characters, designed exclusively for the Winterroot Finale,
will serve a seasonal feast.
Additional event
Late-Night Cabaret
Saturday, February 26 at 10:30 p.m.
2¢ minimum donation
The Late-Night Cabaret offers a smorgasbord of short puppetry pieces
and works-in-progress from professional puppeteers, students of
SAIC and Columbia College Chicago. Like the work presented, the
line up will remain in-progress until February. The Cabaret will
include: The Outside Puppet Theater’s Petrushka; Lynn Bathke’s
The Growling Old Man and Cackling Old Woman; Katie Hanger’s
Animated Film; and More… |
|
