"Trash" Design Sketches #1

Here are some sketches from the visual brainstorming process for our upcoming show. :-)

Spring "Green"

During the process of researching the world of garbage for our upcoming show, "Trash", I've learned a lot about waste and what it means to be green. Over the past 3 months, the show has metamorphosed into a puppet play with something to say about the future of our own world. Austin at large is also thinking about the global issue of waste and a lot of great minds are looking to find a green future. For instance, did you know in the push towards "zero waste" the highest percentage of our garbage is FOOD? I've also met a lot of great people who are also thinking about "green" -- including Brandi Clark of Austin EcoNetwork. Here is a link to her newsletter. http://www.austineconetwork.com/

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Spring is bringing many renewing changes to the PIP. The Puppet Improv Project is stepping into the arena of scripted theater with "Trash", a musical. In our show, a neighborhood compost heap feeds off city's thoughtless waste and morphs into a monster trash heap. Only when city learns "Don't Feed The Heap" do they regain control of their city and can rescue its citizens. The show marks a milestone in the company's development as it will be the first show we have produced using improv to create a scripted story. The use of a script opens up a whole new world of puppet technology. Using a script gives us the skeleton we need to design and build the custom puppets needed to create a world where objects have life beyond what we give them.

Looking Ahead to Puppet Mechs

As 2013 approaches, I'm looking ahead to a year of research into puppet mechanisms for our show "Fae". Here are some of the things I've been thinking about. StanWinston School -- "Your ability to problem solve and experiment is the only limiting factor in what you can do and get away with... I really don't think that there is any tool that you'd find in a professional special effects shop that is better than a well developed ability to solve problems. And that's the most fun anyway." ~Peter Weir Clarke Peter Weir Clarke is a maker of cool things. He is a congenital tinkerer and boot-strap engineer and is the builder and destroyer of his own home. He is an avid shaper and rider of his own experimental surfboards. He has made it his life's goal to be able to build just about anything and his creations are often accompanied by burns, shocks, flames, black smoke, bad smells, scabs, scars, bloody knuckles, fearful screams, enthusiastic shouts, maniacal laughter and fits of frustrated profanity. His work has been featured in blockbusters, b-movies, art galleries, museums and international expositions. He works as an animatronics and mechanical effects designer/fabricator and teaches drawing and sculpture at the Art Institute of California -- Hollywood.

"Off The Reef" Surges Into Life

Our 2012 spectacular "Off the Reef" has had a great opening weekend. We are full-steam ahead for our second weekend and final two performances this Friday and Saturday night. We've had some friends come and capture the show on film, and I wanted to share a bit of that with you. Check out the "Off The Reef" album on Steve Roger's Photography on Faecbook to see some cool images of our show. -- Steve Rogers Photography -- It' is incredibly challenging to shoot in ultraviolet light, and these images turned out really well! Come see the show LIVE for the ultimate experience. Ticket sales are going on now at the link below. -- http://offthereef.eventbrite.com

Seeing Into The Future

The new PIP model is to produce 1 show a year that is a spectacular production. We can do this because we work on that one show show for a year. TRASH is our 2013 show, so this year we are exploring the technology, developing characters and experimenting with the type of show we'd like it to grow into. We did this with "Off The Reef" last year, experimenting with black light puppetry, building a black light puppet arsenal set in the ocean, and then rehearsing it for 3 months. "Trash" is in the early stages of development, but we are about to see the result of a years worth of work this November in "Off The Reef". It has made an extraordinary difference to focus our energy like this. I hope everyone will get to come see this show. Our 2014 show (working title "Fae") will be in the High Fantasy genre, and using lots of new (to us) mechanical rigs. I'm working on funding for that research this year with the hope of actually doing the R&D next year, so that we can produce another AMAZING show in 2014.

Catch And Release the Press Release!

Our show, "Off The Reef," is just one month away, and the marketing machine is picking up speed.  Today I sent out the Press Release for our upcoming show, Off The Reef. Here is a link to a copy of it on our site.

We've also got our printed posters in and they look great! They should be going up around Austin soon. Here is a sneak peek.

Rehearsals are going strong. We have one more month of rehearsals. The show is starting to take shape. We are super excited about the role our puppet techs play in the show. It is looking pretty sweet! We're filming next weeks rehearsal to give the cast a chance to SEE what they are creating. I'll post some images when we get them. In the meantime, we have a few puppets that didn't get built for the LAST version of this show that are coming together for this show. But I'll save that for the next blog post. :-)