Each day at the festival, The Critical Exchange brings together performers and scholars for presentations and discussions on topics of critical interest to contemporary puppetry. Join us for thoughtful contemplation and enhanced engagement with the art of puppetry. Participants include scholars and puppeteers from around the globe.
Monday, August 10: Necessary Bedfellows I: Scholarship and Practice
Explore the relationship between practicing an art and engaging in critical discussion of it. Discover how critical discussion enhances the world of the arts, both in appreciation and practice. Learn how theory can inform practice, and practice can inform theory.
Moderator: Colette Searls (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Participants:
- Michael J. Meindl (Montclair State University/Iona College/Ramapo College of New Jersey): Cognitive Science Research and Puppetry Performance
- Annie Katsura Rollins (Concordia University): Integrating Research Practitioners in a Doctoral Program
- Kate Brehm (imnotlost): Creating New Work with Theory
Tuesday, August 11: Crossing Boundaries I
Explore the expanding and mixing of materials and forms in puppetry. Delve into how the idea of “puppetry” has evolved in the last twenty years, examining what has been lost and gained in this new model.
Moderator: Heather Denyer (The Graduate Center at CUNY)
Presenters:
- Kate Brehm (imnotlost): Affective Performing Scenery
- Colette Searls (University of Maryland, Baltimore County): The iPad Puppet; Video Game as Art?
- Christopher Swift (New York City College of Technology, CUNY): Celestial Machines of Early Modern Spain
- Ellen Rixford (Ellen Rixford Studio): Figures in the Fourth Dimension
- Kevin Marinelli (University of Connecticut): Wireless Computer Control of Marionettes
Wednesday, August 12: Gender Issues in Puppetry
Explore how gender and identity issues inform puppetry performance. Discover how critical models in gender theory offer ways of understanding puppetry. Reflect on the history of puppetry and its inclusion or exclusion of marginalized groups.
Moderator: Alissa Mello (Inkfish)
Participants:
- Teresa Bayer (Independent Artist/Scholar): Coffee and Biscuit and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
- Tim Cusack (Independent Artist/Scholar): Playing Dummy/Playing Daddy: Enacting Queer Patriarchy in Charles Ludlam’s The Ventriloquist’s Wife
- Michael J. Meindl (Montclair State University/Iona College/Ramapo College): Pride and Puppetry: Documenting the Relationship Between the LGBTQ Community and Puppetry
Thursday, August 13: Child’s Play
Explore how puppetry addresses children and the possibilities that exist for children’s puppetry. Discover the ways in which puppetry can engage and impact young audiences.
Moderator: Lynn Jeffries (Independent Artist)
Presenters:
- Jacek Zuzanski (Dream Tale Puppets)
- Paul Zaloom (Independent Artist)
- Manuel Moran (Teatro SEA)
Friday, August 14: Tradition and Innovation I: International Perspectives
Explore the tensions between convention, technique, tradition, and predictability versus experimentation, innovation, aliveness, and surprise in puppetry. Discover how puppetry has blossomed in recent years, engaging older traditions while inventing new ones.
Moderator: John Bell (University of Connecticut)
Presenters:
- Mayumi Ilari (University of São Paulo): A Puppet from Acre, Brazil: Jabuti-Bumbá Meets Mapinguari in the Amazon Forest
- Poupak Azimpour Tabrizi (Tehran University): Mobarak as a Symbol of Critical Thinking in Iranian Popular Theater
- Heather Denyer (The Graduate Center at CUNY): Puppetry in West Africa: Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo
- Claudia Orenstein (Hunter College, CUNY): New Paths in Indian Puppetry
Join us at The Critical Exchange and expand your understanding of contemporary puppetry through engaging discussions and insightful presentations.