HowlRound Theatre Commons: I’m the artistic director of Glass Half Full Theatre in Austin, Texas. Our company creates new works of theatre using the precise physical language of both humans and puppets—through clowning and object puppetry, in which existing objects are manipulated as characters—to confront global issues of environmental and social justice and explore imaginative solutions. In 2018, we presented an original stage production called Polly Mermaid, Apocalypse Wow!, based on a “walk about” persona that Indigo Rael, a company member, had created. Polly, whose purpose is to help people rethink their interactions with “disposable” plastic, has been an in-demand persona at live events such as Earth Day ATX and the San Marcos Mermaid Festival, and even has a short film detailing her origin story.
8 comments:
I’m astounded by this company and what they’re currently doing to engage and motivate people in the discussion of the environmental future of the planet. I think this company is working on a lot of different levels in terms of the engagement their receiving from the audience. They’ve created a variety of different ways to have the audience engage with the piece, whether it be fantastic story telling, humanization of everyday objects or engaging in a different form of entertainment like WWE to infuse the audience with energy for the cause. When talking about their work about Polly the mermaid who was created after humans had ceased to be on the planet and goes through a complete story of a Styrofoam cup’s purpose through puppetry which has so many different layers to it, but I believe that is what makes their work compelling and interesting. They use humor as a way to engage people and have them buy in to the story while presenting information in a way to inspire action instead of just presenting depressing statistics which can make people feel hopeless and want to separate themselves from the cause. I really look forward to seeing what else this company comes up with in the future because their work is really innovative and I think can really make a difference in influencing people to participate in environmental consciousness.
I have done very limited work with puppetry, however, I have always enjoyed with puppetry is used in live theatrical performances beyond the stereotypical “sock puppet”. I think the best part of this particular puppetry piece is that it is doing exactly what the curator intended, which is to respond to the current times. One thing that stands out to me, is the philosophy that the show is meant to energize the audience and spark inspiration within them, rather than make the audience feel depressed or as if there is nothing they can do regarding the issue. The goals that the theatre company has reflected this mindset. I think that it is really incredible that they are also trying to set a zero - dollars goal in which all materials are reused and repurposed. I also love that through the bright colors and elaborate costumes, this show is accessible to young audiences in a way that educates them while they are also enjoying the spectacle in front of them.
This article is interesting to me because it is written by the person that created the piece being discussed. Obviously this particular article is going to give only positive reviews of Polly Mermaid Apocalypse Wow! because the co-author and artistic director of the production wrote this article. I would be interested in reading a critic’s review or hearing a primary source audience’s response to seeing this show because while I agree that object puppetry is an effective performance method when it comes to the topic of climate change because of the sheer amount of physical object waste generated, but it almost seems too on the nose and hitting the audience over the head. I am impressed that this community theatre company is attempting to spend nothing on materials for the productions in their upcoming season, and I would be interested in hearing about how their overall process is affected and the results turn out.
Climate change is one of the many problems facing our society today and I think the puppet show using would-be trash materials is an excellent way to go about addressing it. The article stated that it’s easier to hit people hard when they’re laughing and I think that’s definitely true. The JPPs were an excellent example of making people laugh and cry in quick succession. Having the character “cup” is also fascinating because it makes you think about the life of a disposable item and how silly it all seems when put into perspective. Throwing away everything after using it is a big problem, especially on this campus because every meal I eat comes with disposable utensils and plates. Audiences also really like puppets just for what they are and people are very impressed by puppeteers abilities to make an inanimate object come to life. Overall, I think this show is a great idea.
I like this. I think the personification of Cup is a particularly effective idea. The general approach feels like it might be parallel to that of animal rights activists (i.e. PETA), but told in the context of puppetry and clowning, the effect is less likely to make people feel attacked. Rather, from what this article is saying, the artists are successful in their attempt to get audiences to connect empathetically with the issue at hand. I think that we have a very casual attachment to the majority of our physical possessions. In fact, I would say that unless we acquire something with the intent to keep it for our lifetimes, I am unsure we could consider it a possession at all. If we can take ownership of casual single-use items, things that we hardly notice as they pass through our lives (all types of packaging, for example), we may begin to make some traction on the waste issue
I love the new and interesting uses of puppets in theatre and the Cup is defiantly one I’ve never seen but would love to see. The ways in which puppet can influence and move a piece is absolutely amazing. When a puppet is created to interact and move with a piece and its audience it can truly transform an experience. The way they are able to use the personification of a Cup to tell a story and engage with an audience is awesome. The idea of taking a puppet and not just simply using it to portray a person or another animal in which we already see life in is so interesting. We rarely see puppets of inanimate objects partially because we see issue in that having little personal association and seeing ourselves in them is hard. That being said we do have some strong associations to personal objects in which we have life long feelings for, just like we are baby’s with blankets and toys we have had them for all our lives and we cherish them so.
Using theatre to voice political issues is important, and the usage of object puppetry to make a statement is even more evocative. It is imaginative and important to use real objects to tell a story and use the same real objects that are causing the problem. Similar to what Katie mentioned, it is interesting to see a review of a show that is directed and under the immediate supervision of the person who is writing it, and I think it would be even more interesting to get a critic’s review of the show. I enjoyed reading this article, but it definitely highlighted all the positive of the show rather than presenting an unbiased perspective, which could be more effective to see how it is truly received and how the performance style is actually responded to. With that being said, the work that is happening at Glass Half Full Theatre sounds like it is an evocative way of presentation through using physicality and puppets on stage.
“Audiences leave the experience pumped up, looking for action and accountability, rather than depressed by the statistics that occasionally make even the staunchest environmentalist want to curl into a ball and sob.” Man, I want to get this turned into some kind of art and sent to literally every single playwright, director, creator of theater that is currently existing. Sure. Point out humanity’s flaws. Tell us what needs to be fixed. But also, our world is kind of trash right now. You turn on the TV, your phone, your computer, and it’s bad news, bad politics, anger, doom and gloom. And it’s hard to sort out what you can actually do to fix that doom and gloom when all you hear is “everything is terrible!” all day. You start to become desensitized and think there’s literally nothing that can be done, and even if there was, what’s the point? We’ll all die of small pox anyway because someone didn’t vaccinate their kid. That’s not to say there isn’t a time and a place for theater to make people feel “Bad” (whether you define that as angry, sad, morose, or whatever is up to you), but if your intent is get people to make a change to the environment they live in to create a better world or fix climate change, then you need to actually pay attention to what will energize, inspire, and motivate. Crying in a theater for two hours about the world ending will not energize me. It will make me go get ice cream and throw out a plastic spoon afterwards. Seeing something like this might still result in ice cream, but perhaps a cone. Or perhaps I’ll go the grocery store and get ice cream in a cardboard container and split it with my friend and put it in the freezer to eat with real spoons next time someone else depresses me. And you know what I won’t forget when I walk in that grocery store? My reusable fabric bag.
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