[ATTENDED: February 6, 2016] Cashore Marionettes
Sarah and Clark were both out on Saturday night, so I thought it might be fun to take Tabitha out to a marionette show at RVCC.
We had gotten the promotional material for it (there’s lots of puppets this season) and it seemed like a fun thing to do.
We got there early (it was general admission seating, and got in the second row). And it was wonderful. I was only sad for the puppeteer that it wasn’t more crowded (my constant complaint about RVCC shows–why aren’t more people going to them???).
Joseph Cashore is the creator and operator of all of the marionettes. And while most of us think of marionettes as the puppet on the string and that giant T crossbar, Cashore has taken this art to levels that far exceed anything you can imagine. I mean, check out thephoto on the left from the show we saw. Look at that contraption!
The puppets are puppet-sized and Cashore stands behind them–he doesn’t try to hide himself. And he doesn’t need to. The puppets are so life-like (jointed in countless places) that you are totally sucked into their story. Except for the few times when you have to watch his hands and wonder how that all works. What kinds of things is he doing with those handmade (and decidedly NOT T-shaped crossbar) handles–some of which (like the elephant) have 42 strings on them! (more…)
I Just Read About That... 