Forest of Bad Memories

The Garden of Bad Memories grows out of control and becomes a threatening weed-infested Forest.

Nicole is sculpting this spooky tree for the Forest scene. Next she will add branches and thorns. When the sculpture is complete, it will be cast in neoprene, and topped with light-up rose buds.

Latex-Acrylic House Paint?

We need a lot of paint in very strange and specific colors for our project, so we wondered if it would be possible to use flat latex/acrylic house paint for most things. House paint comes in large quantities, and in so many colors that can be replicated perfectly. So convenient!

 
However, I was worried about how the latex/acrylic paint would work with the technique I plan to use to paint the foamies - too much latex makes the surface of the puppets sticky, even when they are completely dry. So, I tested the normal mixture of latex and acrylic on top of some pre-latexed foam bits, and discovered that the house paint cracks terribly, both with and without added latex. 

UGH And so, we will use the house paint for the wooden set pieces, and will go with some nice acrylics from Jerry's and try our best to match batches of color to each other. A little variety might be nice?

ARM CONTROLS

We did some tests of arm rods on mock-up Lars. The rods are meant to be held in one hand and operated in a way that is similar to the Wu Da rod puppet style. We have been testing out a few different rod angles and where to hold the handles. At this point, it seems that holding the handles below the puppet is working the best. Originally, we started by trying to replicate the arm controls of this puppet here by Compagnie Haute Les Mains.

AUDITIONS!

                                  
              NOTE: Due to snow, auditions rescheduled for February 4th @ 7pm!

Puppet YAK Auditions!
“The Keeper of Clark Street,” an MFA Puppet Arts Production
by Sarah Hall and Nicole LeDuc

January 28 @ 7:00-9:00 in the movement room at the Puppet Arts Complex

Show Description:
“The Keeper of Clark Street” is a show about memories and community, and is inspired by the North End neighborhood of Hartford. It has been developed over the course of a year through historical research, and alongside creative engagement with the 2nd grade class at Clark Elementary. The show's focus is the importance of memory in understanding oneself, as well as collective memory's role in creating community. “The Keeper” is supported by the Marks Family Endowment,and the ArtsCorps Award.

Who We Need:
* 4 character puppeteers to perform with the rod marionettes and large wearable foam puppets
* 3 animateurs to personify and manipulate the environment
The show relies on storytelling, ensemble work, movement, and the principles of toy theatre, and will be presented through manipulation of small-scale table-top rod marionettes, objects, and masks, with
scenery created largely by the performers' bodies.

Audition Expectations:
The auditions will be lighthearted and focus on the performers’ creativity and capacity in working alongside other performers in an ensemble relationship.
* Auditions will be comprised of 3 sections: group movement exercises, scene work with the rod marionettes, and solo storytelling in which performers will read from a story that will be provided at the auditions.

Performance Details:
* Friday April 19th @ 9, 10 & 11 in the morning (transportation is provided)
* At Clark Elementary in Hartford for individual 2nd grade classes
* One performance will be presented at UConn Drama Arts on April 21st

Rehearsal Schedule:
* Monday - Friday 7-11
* Monday March 11th – Wednesday April 17th
* It is possible that not everyone will be called every day.
* Load-in and tech during the morning of Thursday April 18th
* We will not meet for rehearsal over spring break March 18-22.

Contact Details:
Sarah e. Hall - edmoniahall@gmail.com
Nicole LeDuc - nicole.leduc@uconn.edu

READY TO PAINT

      

         Finally, the sculptures are sealed with latex. They are now durable and ready for paint!

In the end, we decided that adding the fur to Rose's head was not the best idea! The structural integrity of the foam was super compromised by the weight of the fur, and the sculpture underneath almost completely disappeared. SO we decided to take the fur off (except for a few accent patches) and paint the head like the rest of the foamie parts!

Much better!

FOAMIE ROSE

            Sculpting a bear out of foam!

FOAMIE LARS

  
              Sculpting a turtle out of foam!

THE WORLD'S LONGEST CRANKIE

In our script "The Keepers of Clark Street," the characters that the heroine meets share their memories. We chose to represent these memory stories in the cinematic puppetry format of the Crankie. 

BUT NOT JUST ANY CRANKIE.... 

We are building the longest crankie known to man: The frame for the crankie is a pre-hung door, and the stories together will form a continuous length of crankable fabric 50 yards long! 

1 DOOR. 50 YARDS OF MUSLIN.

36" WIDE. OMG.

However... When you shine a light on muslin, it is a little see-through. So first, we have to treat the muslin with a glue mixture to make it more opaque (which is nice for painting on) and a little stiffer (which is nice for cranking). 







50 yards is a lot of fabric - so we occupied the Movement Room at the Puppet Arts Compex over winter break to pin our fabric up to dry.

                                 

We're using push pins to tack the wet fabric tight to a wall of styrofoam sheets. 

By the time we're done, we will have dunked the whole 50 yards in the glue bath twice. 







How will a crankie be built into a door!? Here is a preliminary mock-up design for how that could happen: