INCUBATOR TUES: "The Egyptian Oracle" by Public VR

THIS WEEK AT PST
Incubator!
TUES | April 19 | 7pm to 9pm

About Incubator: Every other Tuesday, PST hosts a "drop-in" session where emerging artists, veteran puppeteers, teachers, and puppet enthusiasts gather to discuss and develop creative ideas in a casual, informal environment.

Here artists of all media and genres, experienced or not, can experiment with new puppetry ideas, materials and styles. It's a place where knowledge is shared, constructive critique is the norm, and collaborations are born. This event is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $5.

What's happening this week:
Preview of "The Egyptian Oracle", by Public VR- an immersive educational experience that recreates ... an important religious event from the Ptolemaic Period. By projecting a Virtual Egyptian Temple onto a wall real space merges with virtual space, creating a shared continuum for audience and actors. The star is a virtual High Priest, controlled by a human puppeteer (PST Artist in Residence Brad Shur) interacting with a live actor (PST staff member Brenda Huggins) and the audience, who role-play as the Egyptian populace. The high priest queries the spirit of the temple god which is embodied in a ceremonial boat carried by eight assistants. Fortunes will be told, judgments made, and blessings given.

We will film the event, ask audience members what they learned, and have a general discussion afterward. This experimental work was made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the performance venues in Boston and Pittsburgh.

About PublicVR: PublicVR is a Non-Profit (501c3) organization dedicated to free software and methods for using Virtual Reality in education and research. They are particularly interested in interactive learning games based on virtual worlds, and on projection-based displays which visually immerse the student in the learning space. The use of Virtual Reality is no longer the stuff of science fiction. PublicVR projects are in use for education, skills training, and even for the medical therapeutic treatment of balance disorders.

More information at http://publicvr.org

EGYPTIAN ORACLE | PERFORMANCE AT PST
Friday | May 20 | 7:00pm
BUY TICKETS!

Upcoming Incubators:

May 3, 17, 31 June 14, 28

July 12, 26 August 9, 23

Click here for more info, call 617.731.6400, or email us at artistic@puppetshowplace.org with "incubator" in the subject.

Check us out on Facebook!

Incubator at PST, Tuesday. Where Great Ideas Are Hatched!

THIS WEEK AT PST
Incubator!
TUES | April 5 | 7pm to 9pm

About Incubator: Every other Tuesday, PST hosts a "drop-in" session where emerging artists, veteran puppeteers, teachers, and puppet enthusiasts gather to discuss and develop creative ideas in a casual, informal environment.

Here artists of all media and genres, experienced or not, can experiment with new puppetry ideas, materials and styles. It's a place where knowledge is shared, constructive critique is the norm, and collaborations are born. This event is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $5.

What's happening this week:
Quick and dirty puppets-Starting a new puppet project? Before you pour your heart and soul into crafting perfect puppets, you need to make sure everything works. In this session, we will learn several techniques for creating quick, simple practice puppets using inexpensive materials (paper, tape etc).

A Coat for Poverty- Brad Shur, Artist in Residence at the Puppet Showplace, will share a new part of a larger piece titled, "Magic Soup and Other Tales," based on Yiddish Folktales.

We will also be getting ready for the National Day of Puppetry, which is April 23rd.
Upcoming Incubators in 2011:

April 5, 19 May 3, 17, 31 June 14, 28

July 12, 26 August 9, 23

Click here for more info, call 617.731.6400, or email us at artistic@puppetshowplace.org with "incubator" in the subject.

Check us out on Facebook!

Puppet Showplace Theatre heads to Basil Twist's Petrushka

Puppet fans!

We at Puppet Showplace Theatre are excited that Basil Twist's Petrushka is in town, presented at the newly renovated Paramount Theater by ArtsEmerson. PST fans can receive $5 tickets to this performance by using the discount code PETR5 when ordering. On Tuesday November 16th PST's Puppet Incubator will go on the road to see Petrushka and to meet-and-greet the cast after the show. Join us!

Learn more about Twist in the Boston Globe's feature article. It's great to see this level of puppet coverage by the media in Boston. Let's keep it up!

PuppetSLAM is coming... Saturday May 22nd at 8pm!

Our 4th and final PuppetSLAM of the 2009/2010 season is coming this Saturday night at 8pm! And what a show we have planned for you: Jon Little is set to host, plus there will be at least 22 performers making up nine performance troupes, including...

- Brodrick Jones of Virginia, with his "Piece of Dirt"

- Little's Creatures

- Lesley Smith, the talented ventriloquist behind Sammy Snail and the Theater of Life Puppets

- Evan O'Television and his televised self

- Puppetmaster Jake

- Michelle Finston making her debut performance!

- Elephant Tango Ensemble, an eight-member troupe consisting of puppeteers, actors, musicians, designers and dancers

- a short stop-animation film from Brittanie Marques

- The Puppet Showplace Incubator Hatchlings, a group of individual performers including Jim Sedgwick, Gary Pappas, Michelle Finston, and John Lechner, plus Puppet Showplace Theatre Artistic Director Roxie Myhrum, Artist in Residence Brad Shur, and Artist in Residence Emeritus Paul Vincent Davis

Tickets are still available but going fast. Get yours before we sell out! BUY TICKETS

Check out video of a piece from our previous PuppetSLAM in March 2010...
"The Conductor" by Little's Creatures

Puppets in Development...

In addition to being a fabulous place to see puppet theater, Puppet Showplace is a great resource for artists developing new works. Every other week, we host our puppet incubator where artists of all persuasions meet to discuss and develop their works-in-progress. I love getting feedback from artists who work in different mediums or puppetry styles, and I always leave incubator fired up to build or write or rehearse.

Our puppet slams are also great ways for artists to try out pieces of a larger work in front of an audience. At our last slam, Diane Kordas of Romper Rhythm & Puppets performed part of her "Pirates and Tales of the Sea" show, which she will perform as a full piece at PST in September. Also, Bonnie Duncan of They Gotta Be Secret Agents performed an excerpt of her show Poste Restante, which I saw in its complete form (twice! once with my Mom! it was that good!) over the weekend at the Charlestown Working Theater. We're also waiting with great anticipation for the day when our friends and regular slam performers Z. Briggs and Chad Williams of Wonderspark Puppets will present a full-length show at PST. (Z. recently informed me that she did her first solo performance as a puppeteer at PST. We're so proud!).

For artists who are not working on a full length show but who still want to advance their puppetry skills, PST is a great educational resource. This weekend we are hosting a workshop with master puppeteer Dan Hurlin of Mapp International Productions while he is in Boston performing at the Institute of Contemporary Art as part of the Emerging America Festival. Then on Sunday, the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry (BAGOP) will present (PST board member!) Eric Bornstein of Behind the Mask as part of their Guild Meeting at PST. New members are welcome!

Still not sure how to take advantage of the artist resources that PST has to offer? Email me or drop by the theater and we'll talk! We had two puppeteers (Allison Daniel of Chicago and Agus Nur Amal of Indonesia) serendipitously drop in last week and wow us with their work. Our doors are open to you too!

Next Puppet Incubator: Tuesday March 30th

Next Puppet Incubator: Tuesday March 30th

Part jam session, part master class, part puppeteer clubhouse, the next incubator session is this coming Tuesday from 7-9pm!

If you're interested in building, performing with or just talking about puppets, you are invited to join us. The incubator is a great place to share puppet projects in progress, or to learn from others with a range of experience from fans to professionals.

In addition, we're working on an Incubator group project, a short puppet performance to debut at the next puppet slam on May 22. It's not too late to join in! The group project is a wonderful way to get your feet wet. We'll be covering all aspects of putting a short puppet show together, from writing through design, building and rehearsal.

The Incubator is free to the public, but donations are always appreciated.

-Brad Shur
Artist in Residence
Puppet Showplace Theatre

10/13 Incubator Cancelled

NOTICE - 10/13 Incubator Cancelled

Tonight’s Incubator has been cancelled. Please join us on Tuesday, October 27th for the next Incubator Session. About the Puppet Showplace Incubators:

Incubator (in ku ba´ ter) n : A place or situation that permits or encourages the formation and development, as of new ideas.

Every other Tuesday from 7 - 9 pm (go to schedule) PST hosts a "drop-in" session where emerging artists, veteran puppeteers, teachers, and puppet enthusiasts gather to discuss and develop creative ideas in a casual, informal environment.

Here artists of all media and genres, experienced or not, can experiment with new puppetry ideas, materials and styles. It's a place where knowledge is shared, constructive critique is the norm, and collaborations are born.

No matter where your interests lie, from traditional theatre to the avant garde, you're welcome at these sessions.

Similar workshops have developed and flourished in places like Atlanta and New York, adding breadth and richness to the puppetry of those cities, and now the same thing is happening here!

Join us in this exciting project!

A $5 donation is suggested to cover costs, but no one is turned away. For more information, call 617.731.6400, or email us at artistic@puppetshowplace.org with "incubator" in the subject. To see the full schedule visit www.puppetshowplace.org/incubator.html