Mythic Kitchen
By Diane Darling
Once again, the aptly named Odd Fellow’s Hall in Sebastopol was transformed. Tonight, sixty or so uncomfortable folding chairs face a twelve foot cube hung with black cloth. Behind it, mystery...
...puppets that stand head high. The glass eyes in their deeply sculpted faces catch any light and give them an air of disbelief in their costumes of silks and rags, leaves and cobwebs. Surrounded by the puppets, several people in black speak quietly among themselves. This is the Mythic Kitchen Ensemble, the human cast of Descent of the Goddess Inanna, Trenton NJ, 5:42 p.m., and it is opening night.
House lights down, stage lights up, and the full house is brought into a world of modern madness and ancient myth. Two stories are told concurrently, the familiar one of a woman descended into her dark night of the soul, and the most ancient tale of a goddess who descends of her own will and gets more, and much less, than she had intended. And yet, the audience laughs, gasps, groans. Two strong comedic characters, Enki and The Gatekeeper, repeatedly bring mirth amidst the often startling events that comprise the stories. At the end, the audience stands in applause, smiles on their faces.
In 1999, theatrical artists Elizabeth Fuller and Conrad Bishop brought to Sebastopol their 60+ plays and revues generated over their 45 year collaboration in exploring the social functions of theatre. They settled into a house and converted the garage to a studio and workshop. They offered workshops and performed singly and together in many productions, some written and composed by them years or only a few months ago. In their spare time they did Hitchhiking Off the Map on public radio and hosted a performance cabaret that showcased dozens of local performers.
In 2007, they began the twice-monthly "Mythic Kitchen" workshops that grew into an ensemble. James Pelican, a long-time clown and animator of the skeletonic Gatekeeper of the Dead, says: "With puppets, not only are we embodying a character, but that character is projected six inches in front of your body into a mechanical creation. When I first started nine months ago, the puppet was dead to me. But then I began to experience short periods when the puppet felt alive. I wasn't premeditating its movements. When we began concerted rehearsals for Inanna and I worked almost exclusively with The Gatekeeper puppet, this embodiment became a much more consistent experience.”
Bishop & Fuller have long experience with puppetry - their three-actor Macbeth toured nationally for over fifteen years.
"We've turned back, or forward, to puppetry," Conrad Bishop adds, "because it gives us scope for the stories we want to tell. Puppetry can change scale and worlds. It can make a character out of a sculpted head, a shadow, or a single thumb. And it has that 'child-like' element of dream, where we can feel the deepest terror or craziest joy."
Meeting twice a month, Mythic Kitchen Ensemble works on techniques of stagecraft, improvisation and the delicate arts of puppetry, escalating their rehearsals as opening night approached. They performed their first piece of experimental puppetry in December and in May 2008 they performed Inanna in Sebastopol. In November they will present a series of short pieces, called Rash Acts.
The Mythic Kitchen's fall production, Rash Acts, will include short puppet plays, including "Freeway," about a couple who miss their exit and never, ever get off the road, a coming-of-age piece called "At the Prom with Kali," and "The Shadow Queen," from an ancient Chinese story about a puppeteer who revives the emperor's dead queen.
Recently, the ensemble received a $5,000 Theatre Bay Area CA$H grant toward the production expenses.
Besides an annual main-stage show, the ensemble is creating a repertoire of short sketches for informal venues such as house parties, gallery openings, festivals and concerts. They periodically hold open auditions for new members, and interested readers may contact Independent Eye for information. Their website is www.independenteye.org
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Once again, the aptly named Odd Fellow’s Hall in Sebastopol was transformed. Tonight, sixty or so uncomfortable folding chairs face a twelve foot cube hung with black cloth. Behind it, mystery...
...puppets that stand head high. The glass eyes in their deeply sculpted faces catch any light and give them an air of disbelief in their costumes of silks and rags, leaves and cobwebs. Surrounded by the puppets, several people in black speak quietly among themselves. This is the Mythic Kitchen Ensemble, the human cast of Descent of the Goddess Inanna, Trenton NJ, 5:42 p.m., and it is opening night.
House lights down, stage lights up, and the full house is brought into a world of modern madness and ancient myth. Two stories are told concurrently, the familiar one of a woman descended into her dark night of the soul, and the most ancient tale of a goddess who descends of her own will and gets more, and much less, than she had intended. And yet, the audience laughs, gasps, groans. Two strong comedic characters, Enki and The Gatekeeper, repeatedly bring mirth amidst the often startling events that comprise the stories. At the end, the audience stands in applause, smiles on their faces.
In 1999, theatrical artists Elizabeth Fuller and Conrad Bishop brought to Sebastopol their 60+ plays and revues generated over their 45 year collaboration in exploring the social functions of theatre. They settled into a house and converted the garage to a studio and workshop. They offered workshops and performed singly and together in many productions, some written and composed by them years or only a few months ago. In their spare time they did Hitchhiking Off the Map on public radio and hosted a performance cabaret that showcased dozens of local performers.
In 2007, they began the twice-monthly "Mythic Kitchen" workshops that grew into an ensemble. James Pelican, a long-time clown and animator of the skeletonic Gatekeeper of the Dead, says: "With puppets, not only are we embodying a character, but that character is projected six inches in front of your body into a mechanical creation. When I first started nine months ago, the puppet was dead to me. But then I began to experience short periods when the puppet felt alive. I wasn't premeditating its movements. When we began concerted rehearsals for Inanna and I worked almost exclusively with The Gatekeeper puppet, this embodiment became a much more consistent experience.”
Bishop & Fuller have long experience with puppetry - their three-actor Macbeth toured nationally for over fifteen years.
"We've turned back, or forward, to puppetry," Conrad Bishop adds, "because it gives us scope for the stories we want to tell. Puppetry can change scale and worlds. It can make a character out of a sculpted head, a shadow, or a single thumb. And it has that 'child-like' element of dream, where we can feel the deepest terror or craziest joy."
Meeting twice a month, Mythic Kitchen Ensemble works on techniques of stagecraft, improvisation and the delicate arts of puppetry, escalating their rehearsals as opening night approached. They performed their first piece of experimental puppetry in December and in May 2008 they performed Inanna in Sebastopol. In November they will present a series of short pieces, called Rash Acts.
The Mythic Kitchen's fall production, Rash Acts, will include short puppet plays, including "Freeway," about a couple who miss their exit and never, ever get off the road, a coming-of-age piece called "At the Prom with Kali," and "The Shadow Queen," from an ancient Chinese story about a puppeteer who revives the emperor's dead queen.
Recently, the ensemble received a $5,000 Theatre Bay Area CA$H grant toward the production expenses.
Besides an annual main-stage show, the ensemble is creating a repertoire of short sketches for informal venues such as house parties, gallery openings, festivals and concerts. They periodically hold open auditions for new members, and interested readers may contact Independent Eye for information. Their website is www.independenteye.org
Labels: PERFORMANCE
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