Puppet Odyssey Productions
Biomechanics exercise
Photo: Richard Termine
Our approach to puppetry is centered on the essential nature of the puppet as a physical and visual object. We believe that puppets are most effective in works that capitalize on that physical nature by evoking imagery, creating meaning, and conveying story through the design of the puppet and its movement onstage. Puppet design offers an opportunity to build layers of meaning into the piece by using shape, materials, and movement metaphorically. Furthermore, the very relationship between puppet and puppeteer is rife with potential for creating meaning. In our work we aim to make the fullest use of puppetry by considering all of these possibilities.
Photo: Richard Termine
Scene from Meyerhold's Magnanimous Cuckold
To capitalize on this innate physicality of the puppet, our approach to training and performance is a physical one. Drawing on Meyerhold’s biomechanics we have devised a rigorous physical training method which seeks to maximize the puppet’s potential for life, meaning, and communication to convey emotion and story. Because our work relies heavily on ensemble performance, we strive to build group breath and impulse through our application of biomechanics as a training method.
This highly concrete, physically-based approach lends itself particularly well to the nonverbal, image-based work we seek to create. By distilling story and emotion down to their essence, we hope to create work with broad appeal, in which each audience member can find their own meaning.