The Puppet Shows: Part II

Peering into the peephole of the polygonal structure, I see a two-story, Japanese-inspired house slowly turning. A woman walks by and goes behind the house. I quickly get over the awkward excitement of being a voyeur when a man walks by, stops to look around (Did he see me?), and continues behind the house.Here comes the woman again, and as the house turns to the front, she enters the bottom floor as the man passes by just missing her. While I am eager to find out if the two shall ever meet, I sense sadness in their blank expressions and their slow, heavy, rhythmical movements. One after the other, they pass by the peep hole only giving me a glimpse of their whole journey.

I become fascinated with the house: dried brush, rice paper and yes, rulers. A video of another man walking is projected onto the second floor of the house. The disjointed, but steady rhythm of all four, the house included, is calming, but I'm stilling waiting for them to- Oh! He saw me! I jump back from the peephole, my nerves slightly shaken, and I laugh at myself for actually thinking a puppet could actually see.

This unique structure was just one part of "The Reptile Under the Flowers", a multimedia puppet show, which, along with the unique "Le Petit Macabre" and the humorous "Matchbox Shows", was a part of "The Puppet Shows: Part II" accompanying "The Puppet Show" exhibit at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. The exhibit is as eclectic as the shows, with rooms full of traditional puppets from around the world, mechanical dancing puppets à la Team America, and videos of various puppet shows, stop-motion animations and hand puppets. I enjoyed the children's furniture all dressed up, but the puppets watching the videos of puppets? Let's just say I didn't wait to see if one of them was going turn his head around. After satisfying my appetite for puppetry, I headed over to the other many galleries of Bergamot Station, but that's another story.

-Tiina Vuorenmaa, ExperienceLA Staff

For other great events at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, visit ExperienceLA.com!

Mr. Punch Grown Up

I'm always on the lookout for the dark, sinister and slightly quirky here in LA, and I certainly found it (and more) in the multimedia performance of The Comical Tragedy OR Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch. Once I saw the unique YouTube advertisement for the show (see end of post), I set on getting my hands first on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. This isn't your ordinary comic book. Filled with both photographs, sketches and photographs of sketches, the story follows the memories of a young boy at his grandfather's arcade. Throughout his time at the arcade, the boy visits the Punch and Judy (puppet) Show, which, at first, I thought was a fantastic element created by Gaiman, but only to find out it actually existed in England during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Enthralled by the richness of the imagery in the graphic novel, but still a bit confused by the story, I made my way to the Bootleg Theater, where the stage alone reflected the whimsical and bleak nature of the seaside arcade with intricate writings on the floor, flashing carnival lights and tattered curtains. The play - no, the performance - began unassumingly enough, but this "hyper-theater" of the Rogue Artists Ensemble truly brought the graphic novel to life. Actors wore half-masks and full-body masks to reflect the art style in the book, while two screens played in the background featuring film animations of the graphic novel and doubling as shadow screens hinting at the vagueness of childhood memories. The fantastic sound effects set the eerie mood and brought you right to the seaside, and of course, there were puppets doing… well, outrageous things. Plus, like the Punch and Judy Shows of old, there was audience participation bringing a sense of intimacy to the whole production.

The show was mixed with light humor and painful topics. There were humans imitating puppets and puppets imitating humans that one would sometimes forget - they're just made of sticks, paper and cloth. In the end, I came out with an immense appreciation for this multimedia approach to theater, a better understanding of the graphic novel, and a childlike fascination with puppets! Catch this sick, twisted, but totally fun show on weekends through August 31st!

For more info check out ExperienceLA’s listing of The Comical Tragedy OR Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch. See below for a YouTube trailer from Rogue Artists Ensemble:




-Tiina Vuorenmaa, ExperienceLA Staff