Manual Cinema in Chicago

In a warehouse studio, Manual Cinema is in the early stages of rehearsing their upcoming show, ADA/AVA, which will debut June 13th-16th in the Pivot Arts Festival. Their clean, fast paced, heavily film influenced style of nonverbal shadow theatre is magnificent. 

ADA/AVA has 3 active overhead projectors, facilitating quick cuts, smooth fades and lucid double exposures, while a 4th overhead projector comes in at times for special effects.

In my conversation with Sarah Fornace she said "We live in a society where we see 2 dimensional images all the time without thinking critically about it. In shadow puppetry you can see the seems." Hanging out with Manual Cinema defiantly got me thinking creatively about how images are constructed.

Now for the video. Check out this music video they did for eighth blackbird.



Here's the trailer for their latest production, Lula Del Ray



If you're in Chicago you can see Lula Del Ray at Theater on the Lake, June 26th - 30th. Don't forget to like the Manual Cinema on Facebook for updates, and check them out on Vimeo for more videos.

Shadow Jam in Vancouver

The sun was reflecting off the snow capped peaks in the distance as I entered an industrial building in Vancouver, Canada for my first encounter with a Shadowjam. For 8 years now Mind of Snail has been putting on these fully participatory improvisations at the intersection of music, shadow puppets and storytelling. 

It started with a Potluck, then as the sun went down, we crafted shadow puppets out of old cardboard, plastic waste and color cellophane sheets. Once it was dark we gathered in a circle and tuned into the light and sound that was already in the space, before collaboratively improvising stories with light and sound. It's often described by participants as a shared dream.

I was excited to finally meet Jessica G and Chloe Z (Mind of Snail), compost-modern puppeteers, and I was blown away when they brought me along for a film shoot of their show, The Whales Back. Watching them weave a magical underwater world through music and cleaver shadow effects was truly inspiring. The video isn't out yet, but here is an old trailer with some of their work. Get their updates on the Mind of a Snail Facebook Page.

Dark Materials in Seattle

I met Nick Hubbard (Dark Materials) in a Seattle cafe today, and I chatted him up about Shadow Theatre. Nick said, "Puppets in general and shadows even more so have ann inherent quality of magic and wonder." He went on "because the images aren't fully fleshed out there is room for us to build our own imaginative interpretation of the image, which helps stories solidify in our memory."

Nick is currently the President of Puppeteers of America, and as established as that may seem, he is all about experimentation. We spoke about overhead projectors, moving light sources, various materials and screen textures. The pictures in this post come from the Dark Materials Flickr, and you can see his updates on Dark Materials Facebook.

Check out the video reel of puppetry design and performance work by Nick, 2008-2011.

Sbek Thom: Cambodia Shadow Puppets

In New York City with a fire flickering on a large flat screen behind the white shadow screen, the ancient art of Sbek Thom came to life as a part of the Seasons of Cambodia Festival. The Shadow Puppet Troupe of Wat Raja Bo from Siem Reap, Cambodia performed an excerpt from the Reamker (Cambodian telling of the Ramayana).

The show was beautifully coordinated, between the narration, puppeteers, dancers and musicians. After the show I spoke with the artists who shared with me that the tradition was revived 15 years ago by monk who was the last carrier of this cultural form in the Wat Bo Temple. I was told that puppets are drawn and carved individually, without tracing pervious puppets, an individual puppet can take up to 40 days to make!