"Disfarmer" is a puppet theater piece by Dan Hurlin. It is the story of a real life portrait photographer from Arkansas, Mike Myer, who claimed to have been born from a tornado. The tornado, he said, took him from his home in Missouri and dropped him off in front of the Myer house in Arkansas. Myer, he said, means farmer and since he is not a farmer, he changed his name to Disfarmer. His protography was apparently of some merit and there have been exhibitions of it of late. He was also, if you haven't already figured it out, quite an eccentric. This piece illustrates some of the pieces of his peculiar life.
I love puppet theater. For me, the fact that it never tries to be "realistic," in the way that plays might, and still manages to make you forget from time to time that you're watchng a production is astounding. When three or five puppeteers are manipulating the puppet and yet they all manage to be ignored, I think it's a minor miracle.
"Disfarmer" embraces that component of puppet theater. He lines up all of the components of the set and the instruments needed for sound effects across the front of the stage. The puppeteers place them on various carts that they roll around on stage, constantly moving things on and off the carts to constantly re-set the stage. The simplest of these movements can be quite lovely. When the piece opens, there are standing pictures of trees, houses, and buildings across three of the carts. While a live band of four musicians plays along the back of the stage, the puppeteers come on the stage and remove each photograph one at a time to expose a minitature tree, house, or building behind them. Then, drawings on plastic panels are brought out and laid out in front of or behind the carts to show the arrival and progress of a tornado. The entire scene is serendipitous and delightful. The puppets of Mike Disfarmer are wonderfully expressive and are dexterously manipulated by the puppeteers.
The best part of the production were the technical pieces: the puppets, the sets, the manipulation of the puppets, and the music. The least successful part was the story itself. While Mike Disfarmer's life is conveyed as an eccentric life of some seclusion, it doesn't all add up to much in the performance. I found my mind wandering many times because the story wasn't terribly engaging. The puppeteering, however, is riveting. It is reason enough to attend this performance. It's mezmerizing.
No comments:
Post a Comment