While the lives of
19th Century American poet Walt Whitman and early
20th Century Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca (whose play was the basis for the musical
Bernarda Alba) did not overlap chronologically, their lives and their work did overlap thematically. And in fact, Lorca wrote a poem called
Ode to Walt Whitman, which was the inspiration for a puppetry play of the same name, which Open Eye Theatre has brought to their stage as part of their Guest Artist Series. The 70-minute show feels very much like a poem with puppetry and music, and like all poems, does not follow a straight-forward narrative. Rather it's a series of images and ideas that evoke emotion. This lovely, inventive, thoughtful show
is playing through June 8 only.
The fantastical and anachronistic premise of the show is: what if Whitman and Lorca met on a dating app, and exchanged bits of their writing in the chat. This imagined chat is displayed on a screen, which allows us to read the beautiful, powerful, lyrical words of both men, and does feel like a conversation between them. Interspersed between these chats are short vignettes of wordless puppetry, using puppets that range from tiny heads (of the two men and also a bull, a recurring theme) worn on the puppeteers' hands, to giant heads worn over their own heads. Each scene, from several minutes to a tableau seen for a few seconds, tells a story or conveys an idea, open to the interpretation of each viewer. Themes of nature, relationships, sexuality, and American idealism run through the piece.
 |
| the full body puppets (photo courtesy of the creator) |
Creator/director/performer/puppet designer Bart Buch, who first performed this piece some 20 years ago, is joined by fellow puppeteers Ramon Cordes, Seth Eberle, and Masanari Kawahara, dressed in identical blue button-down shirts and khaki pants. On the tiny Open Eye stage is built an even tinier plywood room in which the puppetry takes place. The full body puppets perform in the center, the small versions perform in a number of windows in the room, with curtains pulled to reveal or hide what's behind. Lighting also helps to conceal or reveal, telling us where to look. Accompanying the piece is an original musical score composed and performed live by Martin Dosh, playing a couple of keyboards and various percussive instruments, utilizing looping techniques for a unique sound. (Set design by Duane Tougas and Bart Buch, lighting design by George Meyer, puppet costume design by Amber Brown.)
 |
| the hand puppets (photo courtesy of the creator) |
While I didn't always understand what was happening in
Ode to Walt Whitman, I found it to be a haunting and hypnotic experience. I'll leave you with a note from the creator in the program, which beautifully details the reason why art is so important right now:
With this puppet poem, we are putting our hearts, minds and hands out there to help fight a war on empathy, connection, relation and imagination. These are the strongest powers we have to balance things. Dance! Sing! Tell your stories! The more we weave these stories and creativity, the more the stories of hate, greed and fear lose power.
