Into The Storm

I went to the post office today.

 Ordinarily this is exactly the sort of thing I wouldn't bother to write about for the very good reason that it is not interesting. Being the bright and perceptive reader that you are, you have probably already come to the conclusion that there must have been something interesting about this trip to the post office. Right you are! The envelope pictured above is being mailed to this address:

 Aha! See? Now I've piqued your interest haven't I? Want to take a peek inside the envelope? Of course you do!

 This actually gives me the opportunity to officially announce something that I've been sitting on for some time. If all goes as planned, In the Spring semester of 2013 I will be staging a version of Williams Shakespeare's "The Tempest" through Hartwick College here in beautiful Oneonta NY! The envelope contains the Letter of Intent and One page 8 1/2 X 11 visual that are the first step in applying for the 2013  Jim Henson Foundation Grant. (The project will take place with or without their funding, it'll just be really cool if I get it.) To give you some idea of how exciting this really is here is my original sketchpad  where i first started designing and thinking about Tackling "The Tempest". If it looks a little worn, this is because it is twelve years old. I started working on this idea just before I graduated college! I'm going to post the text of my letter of intent because I think it does a good job explaining what I have in mind.

Dear Jim Henson Foundation Selection Committee:

                Shakespeare’s The Tempest  could have been written specifically for puppetry. It has it all: potential for cinematic staging, poetic imagery, magic, wonder and some of the most nuanced characters in literature. When I first read it shortly before graduating college, I instantly wanted to create a full stage production using puppets and puppetry techniques. Now nearly twelve years later, in collaboration with Malissa Kano-White, Hartwick College, and hopefully with the support of a Project Grant from The Jim Henson Foundation, I finally will have the opportunity to bring this show to life before an underserved audience in the Northern Appalachians.

                I envision Prospero’s island to be a mental as well as an external landscape, simultaneously a shelter and wilderness. As such, I plan on drawing inspiration for the set from old weathered books and the craggy coastline of the Pacific Northwest. The set itself should be, in essence, a giant puppet, alive and teeming with spirits and animals. Scenes could change by the flipping of a page, or the sea animated by actors manipulating fabric.

I intend to use the medium of puppetry to poetically explore the psychological depths of the characters, illuminating their growth and issues of autonomy and control in ways that more conventional staging cannot.  Puppetry makes it possible to use dreamlike symbolic imagery. The play’s most magical character, Ariel, can be shown to shape-shift gracefully from one bird form to another without losing her identity. Caliban, a creature of the stone and soil of the island, would be capable to literally emerge from the ground.

                With a combination of traditional shadow puppets and digital projection, the shadow screen will make it possible to show atmospheric effects (i.e. lighting) and act as a living subconscious for the production.  Petroglyph forms and manuscript illuminations moving across the screen will make it possible for the audience to peer in on the dreams and intentions of those onstage.

The production has a projected cast of ten to fifteen performers who will perform multiple roles utilizing various puppetry techniques including modified Bunraku, shadows, mask, and costume work, alongside traditional acting.  Rehearsals would begin in January of 2013 with the performances to be in April or May of that year.  

For me personally telling the story of The Tempest using puppetry techniques on a full stage is the dream of a lifetime. The Jim Henson Foundation’s kind assistance would help to make this dream a reality.

                                                                                                                             Sincerely,

                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                  John A. Ryan

                                                                                                                                                       Puppeteer
                                                                                                                                                       April 2, 2012


Here also is the visual that I included. Due to technical difficulties that I won't bore you with, I only have the "low res." version on my computer right now. what I mailed looks a bit cleaner and nicer.

If you want a closer look at the concept art and the sketchpad page I used, Here they are. I'm not going to repost the Mouse Puppet picture. Anyone who cares to can always revisit him Here.

Thanks to Joe and Hope Von Stengel getting the ball rolling and  for their support, technical and otherwise, also to Malissa Kano-White, my new co-conspirator and creative partner in this.Working with you is going to be fun!  Thanks also to Gennarose Pope for her usual eagle eyed proof reading  Proof reading  credits also go to the amazing Susan Forte and the lovely Jeannette Kjos. I would be very remiss if I didn't give a big shout out to my roommate Joe La Fave  partly for the help with photoshop,  partly for the proofread, but mostly for politely ignoring the fact that he lives with someone who frequently behaves like something out of a Lewis Carroll fever-dream!

We find out in June if I get to continue the application process. I will of course keep everyone posted as events warrant. So stay tuned! Over the course of the next year, you will all get to watch what could very well be my descent into madness!