Brad, thank you for this posting. I have contacted them through their website. I hope they will consider publishing something in Wegway. Steve.
Steve Armstrong Publisher Wegway P. O. Box 157 Station A Toronto, Ontario Canada M5W 1B2 416 712 2716 http://www.wegway.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "{ brad brace }" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 8:34 PM Subject: FLUXLIST: PUPPET UPRISING Bread & Puppet Theatre REALAUDIO (fwd) > http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/ideas > > Monday, December 9 -Tuesday, December 10 > PUPPET UPRISING > Peter Schumann's Bread & Puppet Theatre > > Puppet theatre, Peter Schumann says, > is "anarchic and untameable by nature." > Its materials are cheap - paper, rags, and wood scraps. Its > history is subversive. Its stage is the street. Schumann has > created a prophetic, political and religious theatre for our > time. David Cayley relates the history of the Bread and > Puppet Theatre and the ideas on which it is based. Parts > Three and Four of this four-part series continue December 16 > and 17. > > http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/ideas/bread_puppet/ > > Puppet theatre, Peter Schumann, says is "anarchic and > untameable by nature." Its materials are cheap - paper, > rags, and wood scraps. Its history is subversive. Its stage > is the street. Schumann has created a prophetic, political > and religious theatre for our time. David Cayley relates the > history of the Bread and Puppet Theatre and the ideas on > which it is based. > > In New York City, in the early 1960's a new theatre was born > - the Bread and Puppet Theatre - named for the coarse, > flavourful sourdough bread that was given out at its > performances, and for the grave, evocative puppet figures > that were the theatre's main performers. The theatre was > created by Peter Schumann, a German born dancer, musician, > and sculptor who found in puppet theatre a way of blending > all these arts into a form uniquely his own. Schumann's art > is deeply political, but he has also won artistic acclaim > for the sculptural genius of his puppets and for the solemn > theatrical ceremonies he has created with them. His style is > often called Expressionist for its rough, vigorous, > suggestive qualities. In France in 1968 his work was so much > � la mode that students pounded on the doors of sold-out > theatres until they were allowed in. But, despite this > glowing artistic reputation, Schumann has always stayed > close to puppetry's popular roots. He has kept his theatre > poor, anarchic and non-commercial and poured his talents > into the restoration of popular forms like pageants, parades > and passion plays. > > During the 60's in New York, Bread and Puppet took their > theatre to the streets, creating outdoor shows, giving > expression to neighborhood issues and taking part in peace > parades. But the company also performed in indoor settings, > and, in 1966, created a sensation with a show called Fire, a > slow, prayerful, dreamlike choreography for masked > performers which honoured three Americans who had immolated > themselves in protest against the Vietnam War. When French > theatre promoter Christian Dupavillon saw Fire, he invited > the company to the World Theatre Festival in the French city > of Nancy in 1968. The newspaper, Le Monde, called Bread and > Puppet's performance "a revelation," and, during the next > few years, the company experienced a period of rock star > celebrity in Western Europe. The experience was somewhat > disorienting for a poor, anarchist theatre used to > performing in a loft above a gypsy club under the > Williamsburg Bridge, but it led to a number of successful > European tours during which the company made friends and > converts to their style of puppetry. Notable shows of this > period included The Cry of the People for Meat and That > Simple Light May Come From Complicated Darkness. > > In 1970 Peter Schumann and his family left New York to > become the theatre in residence at Goddard College in > Plainfield, Vermont. This led to the creation of our > Domestic Resurrection Circus, an annual event that would > eventually become one of the most extraordinary cultural > happenings of our time. Schumann envisioned a rebirth of the > tradition of popular carnivals and festivals that, with the > exception of a few commercialized relics, has died out in > the modern world. The circus was a puppet pageant, set in > the magnificent landscape of northern Vermont, which adapted > the Paradise/Fall/Resurrection structure of old religious > plays to a contemporary political setting. People were > enthralled and the circus eventually attracted 30,000-40,000 > people each summer. These numbers eventually proved > overwhelming, and when someone was accidentally killed in a > fight in one of the campgrounds, the circus was > discontinued, a victim of its own success. > > The Bread and Puppet Theatre has toured all over the world, > often on a shoestring, and, wherever they have gone, they > have seeded a vision of puppetry as the theatre for our > time: cheap, accessible, de-professionalized and able to > give voice to all that has been hurt and forgotten in the > on-rush of civilization. They have performed in settings as > diverse as Nicaraguan villages and Polish opera houses. When > Sarajevo was under siege, Peter Schumann went there and > performed. In 2002 the company continues to tour and produce > new work. The number of shows Schumann has created number in > the hundreds and include work in many different styles, from > simple ten-minute performances that can be put on by two > people in the street to full length theatre pieces that > require casts of twenty or more. One of Schumann's > specialties is adapting Christian liturgies to contemporary > political circumstances: this has produced insurrection > masses, passion plays with today's political victims > substituted for Jesus, funeral marches for rotten ideas, > cardboard oratorios, and fiddle sermons. These last are > jeremiads during which Schumann accompanies his prophecy > with furious bowing on his scratch fiddle. > > During the forty years of Bread and Puppet's existence, > hundreds of puppeteers have worked with Peter Schumann. The > theatre has always lived on the margins, accepting no > subsidy and often performing for free; but people who have > embraced its vision have always been willing to come and > work for a pittance in order to share in the vibrancy of > Peter Schumann's artistic and political vision. A number of > these puppeteers have gone on to start their own companies. > Bread and Puppet has also been one of the sources of the > current efflorescence of political puppetry. During recent > demonstrations against the World Bank, the World Trade > Organization, and the Republican National Convention that > nominated George Bush, puppeteers have been arrested and > abused by the police and had their puppets confiscated and > destroyed. Many of these puppeteers got their training and > their inspiration from Bread and Puppet. One young activist > calls Bread and Puppet "the mother-ship." > > The Bread and Puppet Theatre is one of a kind, a product of > a unique artistic genius, and it is unlikely that its shows > will ever be remounted or performed by anybody else. But > there is a record of the beauty and the brilliance of > Schumann's painterly and sculptural talents: the Bread and > Puppet Museum. It's an old barn on the farm in northeastern > Vermont where Peter Schumann, his wife Elka and his current > company of puppeteers live. In the museum are displayed the > puppets that have been used in shows going back to the 60s. > The effect is overwhelming and has been compared to being in > a paper mach� cathedral. Puppetry, in the age of television, > has often been thought of as a cute, tame, and somewhat > childish art, full of winsome Kermits, Cookie Monsters, and > Howdy Doodies. Peter Schumann has taken this ancient art in > a different direction, creating work that is artistically > adventurous while always remaining politically engaged. "The > pictures and sculptures which are the meat of puppetry," he > says, "are ordered by a strange ambition: to provide the > world with an unfragmented and uncontrollably large picture > of itself, a picture which only puppetry can draw, a picture > which praises and attacks at the same time, a theatrum > mundi, which includes the desire of the world to be what it > can be." > > > To see more work by Ron Simon visit the Bread and Puppet > Theatre web site. > > http://www.fineprintphoto.com/bread/ > > > > The 12hr-ISBN-JPEG Project >>>> since 1994 <<<< > > + + + serial ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/u/b/bbrace > + + + eccentric ftp://ftp.idiom.com/users/bbrace > + + + continuous hotline://artlyin.ftr.va.com.au > + + + hypermodern ftp://ftp.rdrop.com/pub/users/bbrace > + + + imagery ftp://ftp.pacifier.com/pub/users/bbrace > > News: alt.binaries.pictures.12hr alt.binaries.pictures.misc > alt.binaries.pictures.fine-art.misc alt.12hr > > . 12hr email > subscriptions => http://bbrace.laughingsquid.net/buy-into.html > > > . Other | Mirror: http://www.eskimo.com/~bbrace/bbrace.html > Projects | Reverse Solidus: http://bbrace.laughingsquid.net/ > | http://bbrace.net > > > { brad brace } <<<<< [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>> ~finger for pgp > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
