This mix of shadow and live-"shadow puppet pantomime," David Wisniewski calls it-is not "an entirely new concept, but I can't think of an example where I've seen it done. Performances will take place at the Publick Playhouse in Cheverly today at 10 a.m. Tickets: $15-$25 ALREADY ex- plored some fascinating new corners of traditional and shadow puppetry, the Clarion Puppet Theatre is going to try something new for its production of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." The fully staged theater piece will feature not only rear-projection shadow puppetry, but live actors and accompaniment. Where: Presidio Theatre, 99 Moraga Ave., San Francisco Written by Eugenie Chan, music by Paul Dresher, presented by ShadowLight Productions, New Performance Traditions/Paul Dresher Ensemble and the Presidio Theatre Basically the guy is a colonizer who kind of realizes the futility of that in terms of the bigger picture.”Ĭontact Sam Hurwitt and follow him at /shurwitt. “And the whole idea of exploitation,” Reed adds, “that in order to save the Earth you need to mine somewhere else. So in many ways, it’s about a re-finding of our place in the world and the universe.” Well, I don’t think that has led us to a great place in this world. “In the modern world, many of us walk around thinking that humans are No. “It’s about a reset and a reconciliation of mankind’s role in the universe, and specifically with nature,” Chan says. “Because a lot of the traditional shadow play stuff deals with mythology, and science fiction is basically the modern mythology.”Īctor Mark Margolis dies at 83 played fan favorite Hector Salamanca on ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’Ī large-scale shadow puppet play, “Sojourner ZY” follows a space explorer searching outer space for natural resources sorely needed by a drained-dry and starving Earth and the difficult lessons he learns from the foreign creatures and societies he encounters along the way. “I was interested in science fiction, particularly Chinese science fiction,” Reed says. “Guanyin started out as Avalokiteśvara, as a man, but shapeshifted to becoming a woman and then back again, and then incarnated in different names and different entities in different cultures. There’s huge diaspora of not just Guanyin followers, but the impact of this goddess of compassion or god of compassion in all their incarnations.” “For a long time I’ve been wanting to write or create a Guanyin play, because in my travels in Asia, in particular China, I found her worship all over,” Chan says. The script is by Eugenie Chan, a fifth generation San Franciscan and award-winning playwright of “Bone to Pick” and “Diadem” (Cutting Ball), “Rancho Grande” (Thick Description) and “Madame Ho” (EXIT Theatre).Īmong other influences, Chan drew upon Buddhist imagery for inspiration. I mean, after I die, it would be harder.” And so I said I really would like to do a big project with Larry sometime before I die. So I’ve watched his process, I’ve watched the amazing results, and I have a deep passion for Indonesian shadow play as well. “He developed a lot of his projects over the last 20, 25 years in our studio. “I’ve known Larry since 1974,” Dresher says. Oakland’s Paul Dresher Ensemble has been creating dazzling new music and new musical instruments since the 1980s, crafting acclaimed music theater works such as “Slow Fire,” “Power Failure” and “Pioneer.” That’s where shadows seem to dwell, at least in my life.” I think it stems from the same place in your brain that dreams come from. And that has an effect, I think, on audiences that’s very different than animation or film or other kinds of theater. I was using cinematic ideas and a combination of different lights and scenery, so that I could do a live montage, a live movie in shadow. And after a while, I discovered that I was doing that. “So I wanted to do a really big shadow play. “I sometimes used to joke when I was doing the traditional Bali shadow theater that Americans only respond to really big things,” Reed says. What happens when you bring together three visionary Bay Area theater creators who have never worked together before? In the case of “Sojourner ZY,” you get a futuristic space fantasy full of liquid, animal-headed and intangible alien beings.īearing the subtitle “An Asian American Science Fiction Fantasy,” “Sojourner ZY” is a world premiere coproduction of ShadowLight Productions, New Performance Traditions/Paul Dresher Ensemble and the Presidio Theatre, where it’s playing for one weekend only.įounded by Larry Reed in 1972 as a Balinese shadow puppet theater, ShadowLight Productions has since branched out into more modern hybrid forms of shadow puppetry incorporating film and live actors.
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