Slog - Comments on Puppetry of the Accidental Martyr http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/03/puppetry_of_the Last night I went to the first performance of the new Rachel Corrie play at ConWorks. It's not that Rachel Corrie play, not the one that was recently cancelled in New York, causing all kinds of recriminations over alleged censorship. It's a different Rachel Corrie play, a puppet play, put on by the Vermont-based Bread and Puppet Theater. I was sent to this performance not because I'm some connoiseur of puppetry, or theater, but because I have something of a history with Rachel Corrie representations. I wrote one of the first long pieces about her death in 2003, when The... Copyright 2007 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 08:18:40 -0800 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:21:00 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Gurldoggie I saw the Bread and Puppet show last night too and I was sorely disappointed.

Last Saturday I saw 'Drunk Puppet Night' at Columbia City Theater and I was blown away by the range and expressiveness of those puppets. In about 2 hours we saw dozens of different puppets ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. I was expecting something similar from Bread and Puppet. Instead, it was a heavy-handed display of political orthodoxy. Some of the images were beautiful to be sure, but I felt like I was in the choir being preached to. There was nothing to challenge my pre-formed ideas of the Palestinian conflict. Where was the outrage? The drama? The violence or condemnation-thereof? Maybe it's apples and oranges, but I vastly preferred the short, sharp irreverant puppet shows of Drunk Puppet Nite.

Is anyone else struck by how many puppet events are going on the city? Is this some kind of puppet rennaisance or just a coincidence?

]]> Gurldoggie http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/03/puppetry_of_the#c032672 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/03/puppetry_of_the#c032672 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 10:51:36 -0800 Comment by fnarf I blame John Cusack.

I assume none of the puppets sat around their living room and chatted gaily about the gloriousness of suicide bombing, like these sweet little 11-year-olds:
http://www.standwithus.com/shahada.asp?style=blue

]]> fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/03/puppetry_of_the#c032693 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/03/puppetry_of_the#c032693 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:21:00 -0800