Benjamin Stuber has created all the puppets for the world premier of Phantasmagoria; or, Let Us Seek Death! coming to The Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa on October 20 - November 6, 2016. Benjamin took time out from rehearsals to answer our 6 Questions.
1. How did you come to create puppets for Phantasmagoria; or, Let Us Seek Death!?
Randy Rand [director of Phantasmagoria] and I have worked together in several capacities over the
years in developing new work; he even directed my one-man show. Back
around 2012 he pitched me his vision of an authentic take on
Frankenstein told from Mary Shelley's perspective, utilizing puppets to
bring the Creature to life. I believe Randy saw puppets I had made for Chocolate Dances at St. Mark's, Kevin Kuhlke's production of The Trojan Women, and a gargantuan mashup of Prometheus Bound and Percy Shelley's Prometheus Unbound; he thought
my artistry appropriate for this new project. I met the playwright,
Chana [Porter], shortly after that, so the three of us have been kicking around
ideas for several years before development began in earnest.
2. How does the content of the show influence the look or style of your puppets?
I'd
like to think that both have informed one another. Chana began early
drafts and scenes around the time I started sketching, and the script
began to take shape around the time I started construction on the
puppets in the early summer of 2015. So progress on the puppets and the
script have mutually informed each other. Over that time I arrived at a
few basic assumptions about the Creature. Firstly, like the most
terrifying monsters in literature and film, it would be multiform - not
adhering to one set shape or rigid definition (like Carpenter's The Thing or Grendal in Beowulf).
Second, I wanted to utilize only materials that would have been
available in 1816 (wood, metal, rope - no plastics, no 3d printing), so
that my best attempts to make a perfect man come to life would be
thwarted by my mistakes, my limited skills, and the unknown unknowns
inherent in making art. I wanted to use materials I knew would be
temperamental, time-consuming, and imperfect - knowing they'd fight back
against me - much like Dr. Frankenstein's relationship to his creation.
Lastly, I wanted to capture the admixture of beauty and horror evoked
by Lynd Ward's famous illustrations of the Frankenstein story from 1934:
a Creature part angel, part Devil, and somehow wholly human.
3. What was the the biggest challenge you faced in designing puppets for this show?
I
estimate I've clocked in about 1500 hours on constructing these
puppets. Hand carving a comprehensive wood skeleton, managing the
physics of moving a four foot long articulative finger, and burning out
crosshatching with a heat knife is challenging enough - but the real
difficulty in this project has been space. I'm unable to afford the
exorbitant price of a decent workshop, so I've made all the puppets for
Phantasmagoria in my basement. I've tried my best to be careful and
compassionate about roommates' space, noise sensitivity, safety, and
patience - but it's very hard to make large-scale art in such confines
and not drive yourself (and those around you) bananas.
4. Who has inspired you?
I'm
not really plugged into any puppetry communities, so sadly I don't have
many direct puppetry inspirations: I'm more inspired by concepts,
dreams and questions. Specifically, Lynd Ward's sumptuous illustrations
have been a huge motivating force for this project. I've also followed
my extensive training and experience in anatomy, kinesiology, and
biomechanics in inform the look and structure of these puppets. I've
taught movement and Pilates for many years, and so I have insight into
how bodies move and how they break down. This may be a condemnation of
both talents, but I think everything I know about puppets comes from
Pilates, and everything I know about Pilates comes from puppets!
Therefore I've tried to make most of these puppets from a sound
physiological foundation, so although the Creature looks and moves in
eerily human ways the fact that wood and rope stand in for bone and
muscle makes it simultaneously quite alien. I've also become very
enamored of the materials I'm using - pine, rope, steel, and translucent
fabrics - and have let their physical possibilities influence the
aesthetics of the puppets.
5. What was the last good book you read?
Right now I'm halfway through Slavoj Žižek's Absolute Recoil, but before that I reread John Crowley's Lord Byron's Novel -
a great imagining of how a lost Byron epic, preserved by his daughter
Ada Lovelace (yes, that Ada Lovelace) would be literally deciphered and
carried into the present day. It's a great read!
6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?
Ever
since college I dreamt of making art at LaMama - its reputation shone
out a as a beacon of quality experimental theatre. In 2012 I costume
designed and performed in a show at LaMama: Sheila Callaghan's Port Out, Starboard Home.
We were shipping the set and half the actors in from the world premiere
in San Francisco and about to begin rehearsals when superstorm Sandy
hit and the entire East Village found itself dark and under water I was
amazed by the skillful competence and grace under pressure the staff and
leadership at LaMama showed during this unprecedented time, and they
got our production up and running as if nothing inclement had ever
happened. I'm hugely excited to work with LaMama again, this time in
much better circumstances!
_____
La MaMa presentsPhantasmagoria; or, Let Us Seek Death!Conceived and Directed By Randolph Curtis RandWritten by Chana PorterPuppetry by Benjamin StuberAn Eric Borlaug Production
October 20 - November 06, 2016Thursday to Saturday at 7PM; Sunday at 4PM
Tickets: $30 Adults; $25 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available for every performance as part of La MaMa 10@$10 ticketing initiative.
For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE
