Anna in the Tropics.....Experience

            When entering the J.M. Goddard Theatre I kind of had an inkling of what to expect from the room itself, I believe I saw a play many years ago there. The large room was set up into three sections of seating. The three separate sitting bleachers were laid out in an almost crescent shape with 10 foot gaps between them giving the audience right, frontal, and left stage views (I sat on the right stage side). The seats weren’t the most comfortable things, plush but warn faux velvet collapsing theatre seats with some pattern on them.

            I noticed the lights all above and the sound/lighting booth in the wall to my right. As I sat down I surveyed the audience from the right to left and I saw all walks of life. I saw different ethnicities, and ages all around. I also noticed a couple that brought a 3 year old and an infant sitting in the bleachers parallel to me. Everyone seemed in good spirits, girlfriends whispering to boyfriends, or girlfriends to girlfriends the atmosphere felt light.

            Once I was able to take in the audience and the general layout I looked at the set and stage. Set up like an old cigar factory with all the wood finished to look like it had been used for a long time. A raised platform that ran along a huge wall with four archways made up the main backdrop. To the right side of the platform a little balcony with a wooden chair jutted out over the main stage area. This really had me curious as to what its purpose was, but I’ll mention that later. The main floor of the stage area was either empty or fitted with cigar desks and crates for the actors to sit at. On top of each cigar desk was fake tobacco and half and whole cigars.

            Once the lights went down the audience immediately became quiet. A crackling of old time Spanish music filled the air and the play began. Because there were two scenes going on at once, the first being between Santiago and his step brother Cheche, and the second with all the female characters Ofelia, Conchita, and Marela waiting for the new lecter Juan Julian, I noticed they used different lighting techniques to set the scenes back and forth. In the brothers they used a darker more nighttime combination, and the women got full lighting for a more optimistic scene.

            Throughout the first 30 minutes the audience was a distraction. First the baby cried, then at the 20 minute mark 10 people came in late very loudly, and finally the door woman’s phone started to ring despite everyone being told to quiet their phones. Luckily none of this fazed the actors or the audience really. The actors performances were strong enough to drag us back in. Throughout the performance we laughed as a unit at all the places where the jokes were put, and we also clapped in the appropriate times, like when the lights would go out after each scene. I definitely would say we were in a community on this night.

           

The Vaudville Formula

       Vaudeville, in it’s most basic elements describes an “American variety show”. Now I could wax on about the “earliest” forms of vaudeville but I think I’ll just start off talking about the man considered the “father of American Vaudeville”.  Benjamin Franklin Keith was a pioneer in the of Vaudeville due to his vision of what entertainment should be, who it should cater to, and what the environment should be to present such acts.

            A former barker from different stints with circuses, Keith resigned himself to opening a “museum” in Boston to which different entertainment acts would perform, the most prominent of which was an act called “Baby Alice the Midget Wonder”. After being very successful Keith came up with the funds to construct the Bijou Theatre. This amazing theatre was a clean and fireproof place for Keith’s acts to perform.

            After procuring the theatre Keith began to book many acts, all of which would have to meet specific guidelines for decency. These acts varied from comedians, solo musicians, comedy duos, and magicians. Keith was very concerned with making sure that the acts flowed well together and also were willing to perform multiple times per day instead of the once or twice a day most performers were accustomed to.

This formula was successful because it appealed to all demographics and really proved successful. So successful in fact Keith began to solicit “legitimate” theater to be involved with his variety shows. This was ground breaking because now the general public could be exposed to the formal and dramatic form.

            After Keith’s success many promoters followed his booking structure and policies and with it came many tours and money was made. This type of Vaudeville proved so successful that a lot of theme parks adopted the craft into their attractions. DisneyLand, Knotts Berry Farms, and many others made the “variety” show a staple as part of their allure. Steve Martin actually got his start doing Vaudeville type shows at Knotts Berry Farms in a comedy musical troop.

Benjamin Franklin Keith

           

Steve Martin

Boston Bijou Theater

                                              Works Cited:
                                       The World of Theatre
                                               Vaudeville!
                                 History of the Musical Vaudeville
                                        Boston Opera House

All These Puppets!

            In the history of theatre there have been many different styles of performance that have evolved. From early Indian theatre all the way to modern day western culture, puppets have been a staple of story telling and entertainment for centuries. The amazing thing is puppets have been used almost universally around the world. Puppetry and puppets themselves have also evolved almost as diversely as the cultures that have used them. It can be argued that the people of India were the first to use puppets or even the ancient Greeks; the truth is no one really knows. However, in ancient Sanskrit (dated 4,000 years ago) the narrator is called Sutradhar which is translated to “holder of the strings” which would be likened to a puppeteer.

Puppetry is the art of animating an inanimate object or manipulating puppets. In any puppet performance it is generally understood that a story will be told and characters will be involved, the characters being the puppets. Now if the puppet requires speech (which is not required) either the puppeteer(s) or a narrator will perform the parts usually. Last but not certainly least a puppet must be created.

Even though the definition is general most puppets resemble people and animals. A puppet can be made from any material from toilet tissue, leather, various metals, to even rocks. These creations can be of any size and shape;in fact the world’s largest puppet is 49ft 11inches and is a marionette. There are no set rules to making puppets or the manner in which the puppeteer operates it.  

When attending a puppet performance, there are no set rules because it is all up to what the performance is about and where the performance is held. For instance, if you were to see a reenactment of “Death of a Salesman” performed by marionettes at the New Amsterdam Theater, you would behave just as you would at any serious Broadway play, clapping where it’s appropriate and quiet while the performance is going on. But if you went to see “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” at a Shakespeare festival outdoors with hand puppets, you are more likely to be relaxed and find it okay to jeer and react with the performance. Your behavior and the setting is all up to the party putting the play on. However not all puppet performances are put on for entertainment, in India and most Asian countries a puppet show is a useful tool to teach spiritual and life lessons to both old and young.

           

Ancient Puppets of Indian Tradition

Lion King: Puppets can reach enormous heights

Works Cited:

The World of Theatre by Mira Felner

History of Puppets

Puppet Snow

Sage Craft