Puppet Perspectives

Is it time for the non-human voice to be heard?

Puppet Perspectives: Puppeteers animate inanimate objects. We create them, give them characters, find their voices, assist them to come ‘alive’ on stage and ignite the audience in a collective imagining.

We had a fascinating online conversation on Nov 7, 2022 with panelists Paulette Richards, Clem Martini, Larry Kaputska and Matt Smith hosted by Wendy Passmore-Godfrey.

Puppet Perspectives Panelists

CLICK HERE FOR THE WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT

It’s all just a bit of fun.
But is it really? 

As Eileen Blumenthal, writes “Puppets bridge the uncrossable chasm between what’s alive and what’s not, what’s sentient and what’s not.”

In a twenty-first century age of trans-humanism and post-humanism, Trees that Talk, self driving cars, autonomous weapon systems, uncanny valleys, organizations securing rights for non-human animals, #FreeHappy, rivers gaining personhood, The Great Ape Project, Object-Oriented Ontology, Speculative Realism, Green Rights and Indigenous Points of View… ***

Sentience is in question.
Personhood is at issue.
Anthropocentrism is challenged.

Festival of IdeasWP Puppet Theatre’s Festival of Ideas explores the power of puppetry, as applied in areas of social justice, community issues and cultural anthropology. Sometimes it is crystal clear that puppetry can be a tool for teaching literacy, grab attention in a parade for social action or build community through sharing cultural traditions.

In this case of non-human perspectives or different points of view are puppets are relevant? And if so how? Are puppets really inanimate? Are they ‘just a metaphor’?

Festival of Ideas - Caws and Effect Mind of A SnailThese ideas are propelled by our evening performance of Caws and Effect, an award-winning production by Vancouver’s Mind of A Snail. They describe it as “large-scale shadow theatre from a bird’s eye view. Crows are re-dreaming the world. Is the future all it’s cracked up to be?”
What can we learn from the puppet crows – metaphors for the ‘Einstein’s of the Avian World’?

***References in order of listing: (all retrieved 2022–10-17)

Puppet Perspectives – Join the conversation!

2 thoughts on “Puppet Perspectives”

  1. Check it out…
    Literary Manager and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) 2023 conference will return to Canada and take place June 22-25 in Banff, Alberta. The conference theme is ‘Dramaturgical Landscapes’, exploring land / sky / water through dramaturgical practices. Located on the shoulder of Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain, in the territory of the Stoney Nakoda, Blackfoot and Tsuut’ina Nations, Metis Nation of Alberta Region 3, the Banff Centre sits on a 40 acre campus on the edge of the town of Banff, and at the heart of Canada’s first National Park. The conference will take place on – and be inspired by – this magnificent and inspiring landscape.

    https://lmda.org/news/02aug2022-0

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