Stage

Puppet state

by Will Coviello

IT’S BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE THE LAST INSTALLMENT of the New Orleans Giant puppet Festival, but there was a preview of this year’s event during Carnival when giant puppets mingled with costumed crowds in Bywater and Marigny. london-based puppeteer Andrew Kim held a workshop, and on Mardi Gras morning, some of the participants paraded with their creations, such as a massive pink spoonbill, with its wings and head manipulated by different puppeteers. local muralist and puppet-maker Henry lipkis makes giant puppets, and he and his Krewe of Monsters also paraded during Carnival.

Some of those puppets will be part of a puppet parade during the Giant puppet Festival. It gathers at the Mudlark public Theatre and departs at 11 p.m. Saturday, April 9, for the Art Space venue at 2120 port St., where there will be performances and a puppet slam — puppetry’s version of an open mic.

The festival features local and visiting puppeteers in shows at venues including the Mudlark, Art Space, AllWays lounge & Theatre and Happyland Theater from Thursday, April 7, through Monday, April 11. There also are workshops, a panel discussion and puppet slams. Some shows are child friendly, and some shows are for adults. rasputin’s Marionettes from los Angeles presents one of the shows not for kids. “Sugarbitch Goulash” has bits of noir and vaudeville in a fictional take on what led up to the Black Widow Murders. Helen Golay and Olga rutterschmidt met at a fitness center in los Angeles in the 1980s. They struck up a friendship and eventually the seemingly sweet older women tried to execute a perfect crime. “Sugarbitch Goulash” runs at Happyland Theater all five days. puerto rico’s poncili Creacion features wild-colored, large-scale puppets in nonverbal shows. A couple of its members are co-creators of a puppet-like art car dubbed “reality Breaker” which roams New Orleans’ streets. The Toyota minivan is painted in a bright color burst and covered with giant eyes, a mouth, chicken puppets and more. poncili Creacion presents “The life and Death of Everything,” which combines dance and experimental music, at the Art Space Thursday through Monday.

Festival founder pandora Gastelum leads her Mudlark puppeteers in a new show stemming from her interest in fables and folklore. “The Story of St. Dymphna, A passion play” is based on an Irish folktale about Dymphna. When her mother died, her father was devastated and eventually fell in love with his 14-year-old daughter because of her resemblance to his wife. Dymphna fled into the forest and learned to survive on her own. The show runs all five days at Happyland Theater. returning to the festival are portland, Oregon’s Night Shade, which will use shadow in a cinematic approach in a puppet variety show at Art Space. Asheville, North Carolina’s whimsical ToyBox Theatre presents two kidfriendly shows, “The Miraculously Inventive Machine of Charlie Mean,” about dealing with bullies, and “Toybox, America’s Favorite Cartoon Witch.” performers Enormous Face and Cookie Tongue are visiting from New York. local puppeteers include Harry Mayronne and his marionettes and Flutterbug and Scribbles. poose the puppet was created by Ben Martin, who recently moved to New Orleans. He works with hand puppets and his shows are interactive, free-spirited and absurd. Now based in New Orleans, H. Gene Thompson’s work is based on wearable fabric sculptures. Thompson presents “The Body is a puppet Show” at the Twilight room at AllWays lounge.

The festival presents many traditional types of puppetry and contemporary approaches to puppet theater. There’s a panel discussion at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 10, titled “What isn’t a puppet?” and it will explore the boundaries, or lack of boundaries, to the artform. For information and tickets, visit neworleansgiantpuppetfest.wordpress.com.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY NEW ORLEANS GIANT PUPPET FESTIVAL Rasputin’s Marionettes presents ‘Sugarbitch Goulash.’