Daniel Wishes Raises Hell with a Big-Top Puppetry CircusI can't decide what I'm most excited about right now: puppets? DEVIL puppets? Devil puppets that SING, FLY, JUGGLE AND DO CIRCUS TRICKS while TELLING AN EPIC LOVE STORY WHAT IS HAPPENING??? I'm so pumped. Daniel Wishes, crazy-creative-puppetry master hails all the way from Edmonton to spectacular-ize a gentle (but NOT gentle) story about a heartbroken tight-rope walker. Actually, the story is quite tragic and dark (re: Devils) but what is most impressive and lovable about Wishes' work is that, despite being dark, it is still very watchable. Turning darkness into light is one of our jobs as theatre creators and it seems that Wishes is quite great at it. He pulls style and story from all kinds of places and the result is a really brilliantly crafted arrangement of the best of the best theatre components out there. The craft that goes into Wishes' show is seamless and rewarding. Hard to notice, sort of, because it's so dazzling, but I think I have him figured out. Though the plot sounds simplistic, it is absolutely not. Creative, dark and very strange, what happens to our hero, Eurydice, after heartbreak is horrifying and gut-wrenching. Wishes has combined a number of romantic-journey plays into one three-million-dimensional story of love and loss. "The piece is based on the Greek legend of Eurydice and Orpheus, the Japanese legend of Izanami and Izagami, Beauty and the Beast and Victorian-era marionette circuses", Wishes breathlessly lists to me. "It's a bit of a mash-up." He realizes. But the result is a really well structured story of tragic love- loss wrapped up in well researched and well practiced stylistic nods use of Unraku puppets and 19th century trick marionettes. It's quite obvious: there will be no other show like it in the Fringe. Furthermore, maybe no other show like it that you'll ever see in your life, probably. Few people can handle tragedy with such whimsical elegance. Absolutely worth watching, worth enjoying and then bragging about afterwards. CHECK IT OUT Devil's Circus has remaining runs on June 14th, 15th and 17th at Scene Mini More ticket and show information here. Check out a preview to the show below!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |