Rust by Green Ginger

Celebrating 25 years of touring its brand of lunatic fringe theatre throughout the world in over thirteen languages, Green Ginger released its newest puppet show in 2005 titled "Rust". After selling out many shows around the globe including: Paris, Madrid, Brussels, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Lisbon, the company brought the performance back to the Tobacco Factory in the UK. Rust is directed by Flick Ferdinando and has an original soundtrack by Simon Preston. Flick recently toured with Peepolykus in "Rhinoceros". The story is about two pirate radio stations anchored in the same murky coastal waters. One transmits from a lightship, while its arch-rival broadcasts from a submarine lurking just beneath the oil-slicked surface. Rust is a fast-moving story of truth and treachery, piracy and passion, sex, death and great music; all trademarks of Green Ginger. The company is also known for its grotesque puppets, animated and elaborate sets, and absurd dark humor. If this show ever came to the Twin Cities, I would have the first ticket!

Movie Response

I thought that Michael Curry's puppets for his parades were a lot like the chinese dragon puppets that we are so familiar with in movies. His puppets snake through the streets in parades in the same way. Another example in the film were the puppets for the Halloween parade. I felt like the puppets for this festival seemed a lot like an Italian Carnivale. It's possible that these puppets were derived from italian culture. This same kind of festival is present in many Spanish cultures as well.

Timon Puppet from The Lion King

Question #2

What are some early examples of "experimental puppetry" and what is the relationship of puppetry to realism in artistic movements?

My Love of Puppets

Ever since I can remember I have had a love for puppets. I remember when I was young my parents would have to stop me several times at dinner from acting out scenarios with my silverware. To me, everything I touched was a puppet. Spoons, knives, forks, bottles, paper, pipe cleaners, my toys, you name it! Because I was home schooled for a few years of elementary school, my days were spent at home playing with my toys. I was not allowed to watch t.v. besides on the weekend, and I didn't really have many friends to play with during the day because they would still be in school by the time I was finished. I played with Lego's, G.I. Joe's, other action figures, and many stuffed animals. I would act out stories and make the toys come alive. I felt like my toys had feelings and emotions and I would bring them to life. Before I had a dog in the house my stuffed wolf, Max, was my pet dog. I made him come alive and we would play and wrestle all of the time. I truly believed that Max was real and making him act like a pet dog made me not even really need a real dog.

I've held on to those memories of my toys and I still love making random objects that you wouldn't normally think could have a pulse move, jump, and play. When I was in high school a friend of mine and I put on a magic show for our annual talent show. A certain trick I wanted to do called for an animal of some sort to be placed in a box, disappear, and reappear in another box across the stage. I, having no small game license, resorted to using one of my stuffed animals; a squirrel. I pulled him out of a cage and had him squirming out of my hands, running all over my body, and attempting to jump out of my hands, only to be caught just before landing in the audience.

I have seen many performances of different styles of puppetry like ventriloquism and marionette. But my favorite performance has got to be The Muppets. The Muppets was one of my favorite shows to watch when I was younger and I still love the show. The humor is even funnier now that I get the jokes. Back then it diddn't matter what the puppet was saying, it was amazing simply because there were puppets! It's these memories that have made me so in love with puppets today. I want to know everything there is to know about this amazing species and learn to breath life into them so that other people can love them as much as me. I hope this blog inspires you and helps you grow as much of an interest in puppetry as myself. Enjoy!

Puppet Up by Jim Henson Productions - Improve Comedy with Puppets!!