Last night, some friends and I went to the Rotary Arts Centre to see a show titled, "Famous Puppet Death Scenes". I have heard about the show, on CBC, and was intrigued by the possibility that imagination has to roam on such a topic. Puppetry has a long history, globally. There are some accounts that the art form predates actors and goes back as far as 3,000 years! Here is a link to Wikipedia (not the most reliable, but a good place to start) about puppetry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppet
The performance lasted an hour and was hosted by a puppet named, Nathanial Tweak. I found Nathanial to be the most compelling character of the show, primarily because of his poised words surrounding the concept of death and our (humans) ultimate fear of death. There was a certainty that through Puppet Theatre there would be a cure for the fear of death. Personally, I am not afraid of death...that is not me saying I want to die, I just have finally reconciled that death happens, there is no predicting it, planning for it or denying it, so why not get to the business of living and let death be what it is. I've digressed. Nathanial touched me in a couple of places, one that we all do die and that there is a distinct possibility that our lives could come to an end by the end of the play. The other place that Nathanial went is to the place of Love and the impulse some of us have to state our love for one another, immediately. He was good at positioning this sentiment as not so much a need to love or be loved, but a recognition that our time living is, in fact, short and that length in of itself can't be measured or predicted. I know, for myself, I espouse a continual vocal reinforcement of how important others are in your life, that in the event I do die, none of my friends (or family) will doubt how I feel about them. And he asked to be loved for he was lonely behind the stage. Nathanials quick note of lonlieness intrigued me, because death and being close to death is a lonely place, and isolating space. Perhaps I read too much into his narration and hosting duties, but I found his articulation of death to be superb and to speak to the places where I've experienced death of a loved one and am keenly aware of how suddenly life extinguishes.
The play was certainly entertaining and required a suspension from reality...mostly because you could see the puppeteers and well you're watching puppets die! "...dying for us so we would no longer be afraid of death". For me some scenes were a struggle to understand, either because of a language barrier or complete confusion as to what the scene is trying to impart. Overall though, I understood the stories, enjoyed the creativity and marvelled at the strength of the artform of puppetry. I found myself imagining this ancient art and all the various forms it has taken throughout the centuries and in different countries and cultures. The power of storytelling has always held me captive and the use of art and imagination only furthers the captivation!
There is a website for the company that has created this play: http://theoldtrouts.org/index.html
I recommend reading the "history" component as you will find another reason to be proud of Canada and the increasingly creative population we have in this country. Also check out where they are performing next, hopefully close to you, because the performance is certainly worth the money!
Thankyou to The Old Trouts for imagining, creating and performing!
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