On June 9th and June 10th, 2010, I peformed Fudgie’s Death at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn.
GROWING UP LINDA
FUDGIE’S DEATH
Fudgie’s Death was a segment from Growing Up Linda in which a woman who believes she’s the daughter of a famous ice cream mogul must come to terms with her troubled past. In Fudgie’s Death, table-top pop-up books transform into full-screen cinema for this neo-noir tale of depravity.
I wrote Fudgie’s Death with PJ McWhiskers, and Joel Egger. Korean paper engineer, Eugean Seo designed the pop-up books, while Kari Rae Seekons created a sound design I could trigger from the stage. Costumes were fashioned by Rachel Weir with specialty corseting by Lee Vargas and Hunter Wells. Liz Hara provided on stage live video feed for this performance.
PERFORMANCE
The performances were part of Program #3 in the Great Small Works’ 9th International Toy Theater Festival.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
at 7:30PM
Thursday, June 10, 2010
at 7:30PM
St. Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water Street
DUMBO, Brooklyn
St. Ann’s Warehouse plays a vital role on the global cultural landscape as an artistic home for international companies of distinction, American avant-garde masters and talented emerging artists ready to work on a grand scale. St. Ann’s signature flexible, open space allows artists to stretch, both literally and figuratively, enabling them to approach work with unfettered creativity, knowing that the theater can be adapted in multiple configurations to suit their needs.
Great Small Works is a collective of theater artists who reinvent ancient and popular theater techniques, producing outdoor spectacles with scores of participants, indoor miniature tabletop shows, variety cabarets with food and music, puppet parades and street pageants, all created with a wide circle of veteran associates and first-time volunteers. On any scale, Great Small Works productions aim to renew, cultivate and strengthen the spirits of their audiences by keeping theater at the heart of public life.
While in NYC, I was interviewed by Brooklyn Independent Television.
CURATORIAL
Using flat, paper cut-out figures and miniature scenery, Toy Theater (also known as “paper theater” and “model theater”) originated with 19th century advances in printing and engraving. The original toy theaters of Europe were complete dramas modeled on stage hits of the day, do-it-yourself home entertainment kits containing scripts, characters, and scenery between the covers of a printed book, available from a specialty shop like those of Pollock, Webb, or Skelt in London, Schreiber in Germany, Seix i Barral in Spain, Jacobsen in Denmark, or Scott and McLoughlin in New York. While a few of these printing houses still exist to serve a network of collectors and enthusiasts, the hand-decorated paper and cardboard proscenium stage that sits on a table in the parlor has been replaced by another ubiquitous box that transmits dramas and the news of the day into the contemporary home.
Great Small Works
Great Small Works’ 9th International Toy Theater Festival ran from May 30th – June 13, with nine different performance programs and The Temporary Toy Theater Museum at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood.
PROGRAM #1
June 2nd at 10 PM
+ June 3rd at 10 PM
- Elviira Davidow, Iida Vanttaja, Kaitsu Kääräinen (Finland)
- John Mejias (NYC)
- Little Blue Moon Theater (Vallejo, California)
PROGRAM #2
June 4th at 10 PM
+ June 5th at 10 PM
- Blair Thomas & Co. (Chicago)
- Meredith Miller (Chicago)
- Toni Schlesinger and Chris Maresca (NYC)
- Puppeteers Coop (Boston, MA and NYC)
CABARET
June 6th at 7:30
- Great Small Works (NYC)
- Dolly Wagglers (Minneapolis, MN)
- Howie Leifer (NYC)
- Alissa Hunnicutt (NYC)
- Jamie Davis (NYC),
- Quality Slippers Productions (Montreal)
- Meredith Miller (Chicago)
PROGRAM #3
June 9th at 7:30
+ June 10th at 7:30
- Marsian DeLellis (Los Angeles)
- Dan Hurlin (NYC) and Dan Froot (Los Angeles)
- Concrete Temple Theatre (NYC)
PROGRAM #4
June 10th at 10 PM
+ June 11th at 7:30
- Clare Dolan (Glover, VT)
- Bread + Puppet Theater (Glover, VT),
- Kyle Loven (Seattle, WA)
- Open Eye Theatre (Minneapolis, MN)
PROGRAM #5
June 11th at 10 PM
+ June 12th at 7:30
- Laura Heit (Los Angeles)
- Great Small Works (NYC and Boston)
- Modern Times Theater (Hardwick, VT)
- Ann and George Neff (Monroeville, NJ)
- Brian Selznick (NYC)
PROGRAM #6
June 12th at 10
+ June 13th at 7:30
- Shoddy Puppet Co. (Philadelphia, PA)
- Clockworks (NYC)
- Facto Teatro (Mexico City)
Great Small Works (NYC)
FAMILY PROGRAM #1
June 5th + 6th at 11 AM
- Papel Machete
- Spica Wobbe (NYC)
- Ron Sopyla
FAMILY PROGAM #2
June 13th at 11 AM + 2 PM
- Laura Heit (Los Angeles, CA),
- Michael Romanyshyn
- Drama of Works (NYC)