![]() His experimentation with the form led to “live animation film,” combining cinematic aspects like electric light sources to create live montages. A similar technique is employed by San Francisco-based ShadowLight Productions, formed in 1972 by one of the few Americans trained in traditional Balinese shadow theatre, Larry Reed. While using traditional-style puppetry, the group draws on overhead projectors as a modern way of creating shadows. The narrative arc of the shadow puppets followed along with the depiction of Nijinsky’s inner conflicts, which was immortalized in the diaries he left behind.Įlsewhere in New York, meanwhile, the Chinese Theatre Works company has been using shadow puppets since 1990 as part of its efforts to adapt traditional Chinese performance practices for American audiences. “There’s a way in which this kind of directness and indirectness of shadow plays with questions I’m so passionately interested in - about how our images are thrown up on the screen of the world and how we manage that,” Myers said in an interview with Hyperallergic. Myers worked in collaboration with master craftspeople in Indonesia to design and create the shadow puppets used in the work, which made its world premiere at the festival this fall. Shadow puppets from Fire in the Hand, made in collaboration with master craftsmen in Indonesiaįor the Crossing the Line Festival, New York-based artist Christopher Myers chose to employ shadow puppets in Fire in the Head, a theatre performance about renowned 20th-century Polish dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky. Indeed, shadow-art traditions are included on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in hopes of safeguarding them and raising awareness about their importance. For countries where shadow puppetry is a living art, the stories told during the course of a performance tend to be folklore, narratives of heritage. Shadow-puppet theatre is a global art form in which figures are illuminated by a light source onto a translucent screen, projecting shadows that are used to enact a narrative. With varied technologies and media dominating contemporary performance, practitioners of puppetry and scholars say this ancient form of theatre is under threat of extinction. A practice commonly believed to have originated in Asia (though its exact provenance is uncertain), the craft of shadow puppetry had historically been passed down, master-apprentice style, through the generations. There are, however, issues with a plot structure very similar to that of Alice in Wonderland.Preserve or adapt, change or disappear? The quandary that most long-practiced arts eventually face is once again brought into focus, this time at the Crossing the Line Festival, where a new performance piece is employing a very old art form: shadow puppetry. The level of detail found in the puppets is admirable. Fans of fairy-tale literature, puppetry or fantastical storytelling will appreciate this production. The transition – from a performer who grasps the balance of arrogance and likability back to one who seems to have forgotten her character’s recent self-fulfilling epiphany – is ultimately disappointing.Īlex in Shadow is a work of fantasy, right at home in Paradise Vaults. ![]() This cannot be said for all performers, as two are weaker than their counterparts. His expressions are of genuine anguish, but when needed his performance can be touching and sweet. Our second Alex is by far the most accomplished. From struggling artist, selfish and repugnant in their stance on life, Alex grows. Mental, emotional and physical metamorphoses play large parts in the tale, from the birth of the dragonfly to Alex’s transformation. What must also be noted is the live music, timed to precision, with the aged feel of a bard telling the story to the audience. The voices, designs and scripting of these beings is what brings them to life. The transitions from sequences are relatively seamless.īorrowing visually from a globe’s worth of creatures, the light play combined with puppetry is breathtaking, particularly Gil and George, a two headed tortoise reminding us that everything we say may one day be used against us. Transfixed by the effects on stage, it’s easy to buy into the organic new land created around the venue. ![]() Narratively, the production harks back to works of Carroll and Barrie. There’s a shaky start as the plot burns slowly before lunging into a pure spectacle. Alex in Shadow, told by live performances and shadow puppetry is a blend of fantasy and familiar literature. This is what happens to Alex in their own personal journey through the Wonderland-esque shadows. ![]() Many seek comfort in the dark to bury these anxieties, but at a cost. Hidden in shadow, our insecurities can be forgotten about.
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