This is Rachel.

The reason why I was interested in learning a bit more about puppets and getting involved in the shadow puppets is because one of the previous courses I took, A world music course for my minor MUS 3014 we looked a bit at Wyang Kulit. In central Java they have on of the oldest traditions of story telling in the whole world.

The Wayang Kulit is a flat puppet that are as we did in our show manipulated behind a white screen with a light. They however are not made out of cardboard rather they are made out of buffalo leather, which im sure makes them last a lot longer than ours did. The Wayang kulit is a huge part of Javanese culture it was established in the Eastern Kingdoms over one thousand years ago.

It was an excellent way to show the community its culture as well as tell stories to people who couldnt read, a great way of education and for telling people of all ages moral stories, religious epics and current events. Music was also a very large part of the Wyang Kulit it enhanced the emotion behind the puppet show and created a much more vivid type of spectacle. The puppet shows in Java could go on for a great deal of time, some lasting well through the night into the early morning and it would be the same puppeteer who would continue through the night telling stories.

Different colours would mean different things, for example a rich blue colour would mean that the puppet is representing royalty, as well as the way the puppet moved would determine its gender and social class. There were specific movements for specific characters in the shows they put on as well as specific costumes adorned by different individuals too.

I have tried to add a picture to this im not sure if it will show up when I publish this…but I guess we will see….

This is Rachel Again.

Here are some links that show a bit about shadow puppetry and what it is like and how they are made and that sort of thing!

http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/definitions/shadow.html

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/shadowpuppets/artsedge.html

This is Rachel i am still silly and still cant figure out how to log myself in.

I thought I would add a new category for puppets seeing as we dont have one and it was a big part of the show.

Shadow Puppetry in recent times:

Where shadow puppetry is commonly known to come from Asia and bits and pieces in Eastern and Western Europe it is still evident in western popular culture, for example there have been appearances of shadow puppetry in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Season 7 of the show. The kids TV show Bear in the Big Blue House, Once Upon a Time in America, a film released in 1984, it is shown every now and then in the Opium house scenes. It appears in the 2002 film Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary, Humdrum released in 1998. Shadow puppetry is also common in a few of the magic acts that are performed in Las Vegas. Bablu Mallick an entertainer in the early eighties used as part of his act a shadow play he appeared on the Paul Daniel’s Magic Show.

Musicians are beginning to use shadow puppetry to enhance the viewing experience some of those musicians include Feist, Jethro Tull in his Rock Island tour and Louis Armstrong.

This is Rachel I am a bit silly and cant figure out how to log in for myself.

Recently in class we were talking about applying for grant and how exactly to go about it. There are some really good websites that show you how to increase your chances in successfully recieving a grant. One of the really good ones that I have used in the past is the one from canada council:

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/NR/rdonlyres/779312CB-5974-4B85-95F9-2BADFF30F21B/0/CORRECTPreparingyourprojectgrantapplicationApr1008.pdf

Hopefully the link works, if not you can search Preparing Your Project Grant Application:How to Increase Your Chances of Success on canadacouncil.ca.

There are lots of available arts grants for people of all ages and levels, some of the good places to look are:

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/grants/

http://www.canadaart.info/filesE/funding.html

http://www.nlac.nf.ca/grants/index.htm

and for any of you who are from Nova Scotia:

http://www.nstalenttrust.ns.ca/

If you are interested in doing work in other countries then sometimes its worthwhile looking into what grants are available to visiting artists. The British Council has very good grant programs for people who will be doing work in the UK and they are apparently relatively easy to get so long as you meet all the criteria.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/canada-arts-and-culture-visual-arts-and-design-support-through-partnerships.htm

There are some ideas! Good luck!

On With The Show!!

Hey y’all,

In case youse guys don’t know who I am, I am the man who was responsible for the tickets, programs, and dealing with the printing services. It has been a hectic semester, along with stressful dress/tech rehearsals. Because I’m also in the Physical Stage class, I’m also involved in backstaging, and I’m thoroughly impressed on the difference between last night’s and Sunday’s rehearsal. I think and hope the play will be phenomenal. It’s sad, a little funny, pretty surprising, and a little strange, but in an awesome way.

With that said, tonight we go on for the first night, so everyone better be there! I wanna see those darn seats filled!! But, the tickets look good, Krysta’s superawesometastic poster designs look perfect, and I’ve just received the programs (I know, I’m cutting it close!) and they look amazing too. It’s sad to say I wasn’t able to make some last minute changes, but that’s all you can do when you’re rushing to get everything done in time!

So, everyone thank Krysta for the poster and ticket art! She’s been saving our butts with regards to getting the artwork done, and she rocks all our socks. I hope everyone who goes to see Mama Courage will take something from it, because personally, just from watching backstage, it leaves me with a different feeling everytime. And no, I’m not just saying that to make you all view it multiple times. However, I wouldn’t complain if you did!

As the Muse has been saying for weeks now, MOTHER COURAGE IS COMING!!

She’s here now! Mere hours away! Hope to see you all there!

 

-Jonathan Whitt

Costumes

Here are some examples of costumes we pulled for the Mother Courage production. Since we decided to set this 1600’s play in the 1940’s, we had to coordinate the costumes fufill this athestic. Maire from the Arts and Culture Center kindly let us sort through her bountiful collection, and we came up with some great pieces.

- Beth 

The costumes for Mother (or Motter, as Krista might say) Courage had to fit the World War II period, so we used a lot of beige, black, green, and red. Authentic, and inauthetic but very real-looking,  army uniforms were used, and some pieces are actually from this era (yes Marie, we will be very careful). We had a bit of difficulty with sizing and whatnot, but the end result turned out really well. Thanks to everyone who helped us out!

-Emma

Media Thus Far!

Make sure to tune into WAM on CBC Radio this Sunday Morning at 9:20 am! There will be a piece on the show featured!

Also, the Telegram apparently has something in the works and CHMR is featuring it as a PSA, waiting to hear if it will be a story. We are also waiting on word from the Current.

Zack Goudie from CBC Television is hoping to do a feature this Monday evening and we have events listings with a  number of publications including the Current, Snap and the Scope!

Check out the story featured in the Muse and keep your eyes open for our posters!

http://www.themuse.ca/view.php?aid=41467

Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral.

The above is a famous quote from Brecht’s Dreigroschenoper, which I would translate as follows:

“Chow comes first; morality second.”

This aphorism was recently used as a title in the German newspaper “Die Zeit” for an article on the impending finance crisis, showing that, for at least some of us, Brecht’s sentiments are relevant today.

http://www.zeit.de/online/2008/41/bankenkrise-kosten-gesellschaft

Ah, nothing like a night of coffee & working on puppetry.

Rachael & I are pretty much driven nuts & yet totally in love with these little pieces of bristol board. On behalf of both of us, I wanna thank everyone who helped out last night with some of the construction. Also, thanks to Danny who stayed at the Reid late with me tonight to help & make sure I wasn’t alone. Everything is looking very true to the form of the characters & set pieces in the stage half of the production.

Hopefully no one minds, but I noticed that we didn’t have a Facebook event posted for anything other than the opening night, so I took the initiative to create one as an event related to the group Danny set up, so we’re all in equal control. I invited a number of my friends, theatre lovers & anyone I think would be interested. I ask that you please do the same, so we can get a good crowd for each night. I’m also going to send messages from the event to the attendees to remind them of the times, ticket costs, etc. each night before the show.

Click here for the event!

I really wanna say that I’m very impressed with everyone’s work & I know we’re going to put off a hell of a production, guys. Looking forward to the tech rehearsal & potluck & I can’t wait for opening night.

Finally, stay tuned for a little video about the process, art & science that is puppetry. It should be up shortly.

Master of Puppets,
-Ellie.

Why use masks in this play anyway?

http://www.greektheatre.gr/greek_theater_masks.html

 

Hey, this is almost as much as I know about masks and the greek theatre. I know everything the wiki article says and a bunch of material I’ve concluded from my readings. The MUN Library is also a wealth of textual resources.

 

Hrm. Ok, I’ll spare you the read.

 

Masks eh?

The everyman masks represent the “faceless”. They are the fodder of this war. The masks with reference to their use in “Mother Courage and Her Children”, I feel, convey a stipulation of cold and death. We’re not privy to warm, human faces. But rather, are subject to these grotesque creations. Their dead sockets(depending on the light it is really hard to see anyone’s eyes) assist in encompassing what I’m trying to get at here. 

 

When I started these masks I didn’t have a sweet clue why we were using them. But over the past few months I have deduced a few things.

 

1) Everyone wearing a mask is an expendable bag of meat.

Their skin tone, seemingly stretched flesh and unchanging expressions aid to their lifelessness. The soldiers all carry the same face, a half-smirk almost, which is both reaffirming and creepifying. Reaffirming in the sense that they can draw from the power of anonymity.

None of the masked are “good” people. They exist at an extreme end of their personality. Eilif is brave to the point of foolish recklessness. Swiss Cheese honest to the point of stupidity(the man doesn’t lie well). Mother Courage’s ambition making way for insane, selfish greed. Yvette…well, let’s just say she lives a life of wanton excess and leave it there. She’s just bad.

 

2) You care a lot less about the well-being of a character when they’re dead on the outside.

This is purely a juxtaposition for Kattrin. Against all those hideous faces stands one innocent, one reminder that innocence remains even in the hardened times they face.(This, of course, goes all to hell after she is “sullied”). She is the only character in the play who is able to use facial expression to convey her point. She’s also the only member of the cast unable to speak. 

 

Take a moment and think about that. That’s a stark comparison when you put the two together. Wait till Sunday(if you haven’t been yet).

 

So there are a few things I’ve noticed. Maybe it is hours of latex fumes. Mayhaps it is sawdust in my brain.