Theater: Oscar Wilde's "The Fisherman And His Soul" Playing Now Through April 25 (Idaho)

The Fisherman and His Soul by Simone Rein

Boise Contemporary Theater are bringing to life an Oscar Wilde fairy tale that used to be much better known when I was a girl. The Fisherman and His Soul was one of those stories teachers interested in the classics, used to use in education, but it's been many, many years since I've seen any reference to it anywhere, apart from the odd art work here and there.

One of the great things about contemporary theater is the ability to try unconventional staging, mix up the media and, be bold in trying new approaches to old stories.

Artist unknown

The pictures you generally see for this fairy tale tend to focus on the man and the mermaid, the romance, and a somewhat sad and dark atmosphere (I've added a variety of atypical illustrations for the post on purpose). Boise Theater's adaptation appears to mix that right up. 

But before I show you their promo video, let me bring you up to speed if you're not familiar with the tale.

I'll start with the press introduction by the troupe, which seems to either expect you to know the story, or to completely surprise you by what's coming:

The Fisherman and His Soul  

Music/Shadows/Magic  (FTNH edit: take note! Shadows! Magic! This should be quite interesting...)

by Michael Baltzell and Michael Hartwell adapted from Oscar Wilde
“Every evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and threw his nets into the water.” So begins the 1891 fairy tale by Oscar Wilde that will come to life on the BCT stage in the spring of 2015. What the fisherman finds in his net will get your imagination whirling: “But no fish at all was in it, nor any monster or thing of horror, but only a little Mermaid lying fast asleep.”

So, very briefly: Fisherman catches mermaid. Fisherman proposes. Mermaid says "No. You have a soul. Get rid of it. Then, I can love you." (Fisherfolk have no souls.) Fisherman learns shadows are really Souls. Fisherman cuts off his shadow. Mermaid says "yes". Soul sent away, into the world. Soul has no heart. Soul scours world; looks for ways to lure Fisherman back out of the sea... 

(You can read the whole fascinating tale HERE. Just be prepared to take a few minutes - it's not a super-quick read.)

Now that the scene is set, take a look at the promo video. It may not be quite what you expect:

To pick up from there I'll switch to a review from BoiseWeekly:

The play is visually marvelous. In the first act, the mermaid is bedecked in LED lights and crashing waves are simulated with a lightweight sheet and a high-powered fan. However, the practical effects are a sorbet for the lighting effects dominating the second act when the fisherman's soul recounts adventures of strong-arming kings, dueling imperial guards and stealing precious treasure in elaborate shadow plays that make his tall tales larger than life. 

Based on a story by Oscar Wilde, Fisherman maintains a firm grasp on weighty ideas. Wilde, who studied Greek and Roman antiquity at Oxford, was familiar with divisions of the soul and hierarchy of desires: Without a heart to guide him, the fisherman's soul appeases its basest appetites with terrible consequences. "Love," the fisherman tells his soul, "is better" than all the wisdom and riches in the world. 

... Fisherman turns a simple story into a visually and audibly vibrant spectacle sure to lure in audiences. 

(You can read the full BoiseWeekly review of the show HERE.)

The Fisherman and His Soul IV by Germano Ovani (part of a narrative series of 4)

And an additional quick summary, to include some insight into the presentation from IdahoStatesman:

"The Fisherman and His Soul" will offer a bounty of Victorian theatrical devices and storytelling motifs, such as shadow puppetry, physical theater, burlesque arts and live musical performance. They based the play on Oscar Wilde's short story about a fisherman who catches a mermaid in his net, then must choose between his love for her and his own soul.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/03/27/3719483/the-fisherman-and-his-soul.html#storylink=cpy

Oh yes! I was extremely happy to find (with a little extra digging) that they were using shadow play inspired by Wayang, traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry. I grew up regularly exposed to Balinese shadow puppetry, which is very similar, and close to my heart, so was very glad to see this! It's the perfect medium for this fairy tale.

If you'd like to go, here are the details:

The Fisherman and His Soul @ Boise Contemporary Theater

• Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m. and Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m. Continues through April 25 $26-$32

Theater: "The King Stag" (A New Production with Puppets from the Creators of "War Horse")

There's a new production of The King Stag being staged by the University Theater of West Michigan (WMU) and this one has been created under the mentoring of some world class puppeteers (rehearsal photos  - as well as those figuring out the puppet designs - are shown throughout the post).

This is an 18th century Italian Shakespearean-esque fairy tale of love and sorcery being retold with very playful sense of humor in a Commedia dell-Arte** play (albeit with some key differences due to the large scale, multiple-performer controlled puppets). It has "entrapped wizards, talking birds, enchanted busts and magical spells that cause the souls of the characters to switch bodies"*- all while the audience watches with comedic delight.

The classic comedy by Carlo Gozzi is having a revival, of sorts, in theatrical circles in the past few years (very possibly being helped along by the rise in popularity of deer people - and people enchanted as deer - tales from the Celtic to the Native American) and usually, the young man, enchanted in the form of a stag, among the other animal-like characters of the court, is played by humans.  This production is handling the story a little differently:

King Stag is a magically funny fable in which men transform into creatures and creatures transform into men. Through a sophisticated blend of live actors and puppets created and directed by guest artists from the Puppet Kitchen in NYC and Handspring (creators of War Horse) in South Africa,King Stag will challenge the boundaries of imagination and contemporary creativity. Lose yourself in a world of powerful magicians, heart-sick lovers, whimsical servants, and a giant bear—all in pursuit of true love.

The play is intended for people of all ages (barring the very young - the suggested age is 10 and above), and promises to be a lot of fun, especially with the likes of Handspring involved!

Here are one of the University's promotional videos, showing behind-the-scenes of the puppet-building and their performance challenges as a result.

Here's a blurb about the play by Carlo Gozzi from an earlier production. The University Theater production follows the same story, of course. They just tell it a bit differently.

Carlo Gozzi's magical tale brings to life King Deramo, the faithful Angela who loves him, his treacherous prime minister Tartaglia, several hare-brained members of his court, a magician, a parrot, magical stags, and a giant bear.It's a fairy tale for all ages, a story of love and betrayal, intrigue and mirth, magic spells and pageantry.It is a fantastical and at times satirical look at the destructive vices of ambition, jealousy, and lust, and the power of true love to transform and transcend them all.And like all good fairy tales, "The King Stag" is not only about enchantment. It's also enchanting.

If you love Commedia Dell-Arte, this is one play you will want to keep your eye out for. Every production I've seen mentioned dives deeply into the Italian street theater tradition and really, just looks like a lot of fun. You can see some performance photos by The Curtain Theater in California HERE. They have one stag puppet and make wonderful use of masks and stage their play as if it were being performed in an Italian street.

There's also a completely different and modern take on The King Stag, though still using Commedia Dell'Arte, by the Shanghai Academy HERE, and it should be mentioned that Julie Taymor also designed a production of The King Stag early in her theater career as well. You can see some photos from that HERE.

The performance premiered yesterday on April 3rd (Thursday) and will run through the 13th. You can find more details on times and about tickets HERE.

*Quote about the play elements from a different production HERE.

** Commedia Dell’Arte is a Rennaisance Italian Street Theater Form which is known for broad comic situations featuring stock characters (many of which are recognizable today), physical comedy, improvisation and clowning.

Other Theatrical Snow Queen Productions (Pt 6) :Triad Stage's Appalachian "Snow Queen" (I Heart This So Very Much!)

Snow Queen poster for Triad Stage by Tom Woods of Bluezoom Advertising, Design, Chemistry

The final production in this varied theatrical round-up is my favorite find of them all (which is why I've given it it's own post - apart from it being long anyway, due to all the amazing images).

Taking a moment here to appreciate the poster: I haven't seen anyone approach the Snow Queen character (or story) quite this way in illustration! It emphasizes the natural aspect of the Snow Queen as well as how far her reach is. Somehow it's both comforting and foreboding. And notice Gerda's footsteps? (In this production it's Gertie.) They cross the crack the Snow Queen has made in the landscape - that's powerful imagery. Brilliant!

Not only is it a new production that debuted in December 2013 but it's an Appalachian take on The Snow Queen, which I just love. Triad Stage's Snow Queen was created as part of the company's mission to promote the local regional voice and flavor of telling stories in their productions, and that includes not only the design style, but the storytelling style and the musical aspect as well.

Part of the mission of Triad Stage, the ambitious American resident theatre headquartered in Greensboro, NC, is to promote a regional voice — reviving or creating stage literature that reflects the color and heritage of the Carolinas and the South.

Promotional image for Triad Stage's Snow Queen

Promotional image for Triad Stage's Snow Queen

The result makes for a very folkloric approach (a folkloric approach to a fairy tale seems obvious but it's actually more unique that you'd think - and very cool). First of all, just look at the empty stage:

Maybe it's my theater roots but I'm transported into a wonder world just with this (please transport me there immediately!). But it gets better.

While the promotional images are nice I think the production photographs are simply spectacular! Just one or two of these would have sent me running to get a ticket. I'd dearly love to see this show taken on tour. 

There's so much wonderful work here and I you don't need to be "one of the local folk" to appreciate how special this is.I'm not going to bother putting them "in order" as it's really not necessary to enjoy them and besides, I realized seeing them this way makes you think of the aspects of HCA's story in a different way again.

As a bonus, here are some pre-production drawings, showing some of the thinking behind the style.

Congratulations Triad Stage! This is breathtaking.

There's a great article HERE on the music created for the show, including links to a couple of the songs to give you an auditory taste.

In the meantime. if you'd like to see this show tour as well, drop by the Triad Stage webpage, or their Facebook page, and leave a comment to that effect. 

I think people everywhere would find this beautiful, fascinating and, as a result, it could run for a long, long time.

Improbable Theatre's "Beauty and the Beast" - A Taboo-Busting Love Story of a Natural Born Freak & An American Beauty Queen (& A Very Unique Fairy Tale Retelling)

Someone should applaud what this theater company are doing - and I don't just mean the audience, who clearly have no trouble doing that. Improbable Theatre decided to explore the dark side of the heart of the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, and to look at the naked truth of love and what it means to be human, metaphorically but also literally. I think it's an interpretation Angela Carter - and Greta Garbo - would applaud as well. (There is a wonderful image that is a perfect representation of the production at the end of the post... but I'll get to that in a bit.)

This is the true love story of a natural born freak and an American beauty queen who got married. 

Internationally acclaimed and award-winning duo Mat Fraser, British disabled actor/writer and Julie Atlas Muz, American burlesque star/Miss Coney Island, bring you an adult fairytale like no other. 

Created with Phelim McDermott, artistic director of Improbable, Beauty and the Beast explores the naked truths and half-truths told in the name of love. (from the official blurb)

Improbable Theater's lead and Beast for the show, is Mat Fraser, a well renowned disabled performing artist who was born with phocomelia as a result of his mother taking Thalidomide while pregnant to counter morning sickness. His Beauty, and real life wife, is Julie Atlas Muz, aka the queen of neo-Burlesque, former Miss Coney Island and Miss Exotic World. Together they conceived the show, the themes being very close to their hearts, and brought the fairy tale to the stage to ask hard questions about love, marriage and sex, especially with regard to disabled peoples - with a good dollop of humor and honesty, both!

He has foreshortened arms and no thumbs; later in the show, Fraser will point out that it is the human thumb, some say, that separates us from the beast. (The Guardian) 

Disability arts remain something of a ghettoised scene in Britain. When they breach the mainstream, such works are often celebratory, concerned with understanding, even making disability palatable. (“Heart of gold charity orgies,” Fraser calls them.) When, for example, theatre company Told By An Idiot staged the same fairytale in 2007, Beauty was played by Lisa Hammond, an actor of restricted growth. 

Fraser and Muz take the opposite approach, confronting the perceived “beastliness” of disability and sex head-on. It’s the combination that pushes taboos. As Improbable Theatre director Phelim McDermott asks: “Sex and disability is a big issue. Can you show it on stage? Can you even talk about it?” 

McDermott has also pushed the couple to entwine personal material with the enacted fairytale. Sometimes, he says, you can’t differentiate between Beauty, Beast, Muz and Fraser. “What’s beast and what’s beauty?” he asks. “They’re all parts of ourselves. There’s a part of me that’s beautiful – somewhere. There’s a part of me that’s beastly.” That gives added weight to Fraser and Muz’s determination to change the fairytale’s ending. The original ends with a transformation, which Fraser likens to sanitised Victorian versions of King Lear. “I feel we’ve all been peddled this fake happy ending and what we’re doing is finding the original: she falls in love with the beast, dammit.” (excerpted for length from Financial Times)

I highly recommend reading the whole Financial Times article on Beauty and the Beast and disabilities in The Arts HERE. Seriously, it's an excellent article and gives you a good perspective on how non-inclusive we still are in this age of "equal rights", and how good we are at avoiding our most basic drives: the need for love and sex.

Here's a trailer in which the creators and cast take you behind-the-scenes of the show and discuss their approach (don't worry, no nudity or suggestive scenes included):

Yes - the show does carry an X-rating but from all reviews and reports*, it's for good reason (that is, it's not due to shock-value nudity and explicit scenes). Unlike a previous attempt to tell this (and their) story, in which the results came across as freakish and the nudity gratuitous, this production has been meticulously re-written and designed to put the spotlight where it should be: looking at our preconceived ideas of love. humanness and wholeness.

And here's a special fairy tale folk piece of trivia I think you'll like as much as I do: apparently, in order to do this (get the right balance in the tale and production), they needed to get back to the fairy tale-ness of the story. Without the fairy tale bones, the true meaning got lost and the nakedness of the actors on stage, rather than exposing the truth and themes as they originally intended, instead covered up the real meaning. (Ironic, yes?) Putting the fairy tale core back in, however, it made it clear what the focus is and why this is an important story to tell. (This is why fairy tales are so special and this production is a good example of why we need them.)

There's an interview with Julie Atlas Muz HERE which explains the initial concepts and production attempts in more detail, as well as how the show eventually got to where it is now. (Bettelheim's Uses of Enchantment was apparently a key influence.) Along with the Financial Times article, it also gives additional background on Muz and Fraser's relationship, which directly impacted the show concept in the first place.

As far as the production goes, of which you can see some lovely pics here (I omitted the adult shots, of course, but you can see some more in the gallery HERE - no gratuitous nudity included, though there is one shot in which one of the characters has been body-painted and you can see painted breasts - nothing your art classics haven't already shown you in more detail)...

There are nods to Jean Cocteau and Disney in Phelim McDermott's production, which cleverly entwines appealing, homemade animation and puppetry (fine work from Jess Mabel Jones and Jonny Dixon) to create a show that both celebrates great gothic romance and also strips away all the artifice to reveal the workings underneath. The show lures you in with dreaminess and then gets all beady-eyed and goaty. 

The moment of transformation here is not when the Beast is suddenly revealed as a prince, but on a New York street in broad daylight when Fraser and Muz realise they simply can't wait to get into bed with each other. Even so, it's not plain sailing for the former Beauty Queen (Miss Coney Island) and the man who realises the career-advancing possibilities of prosthetic arms: Fraser uses them to perform an erotic strip. Muz's mother enquires of her daughter: "Are you sure you want to marry a cripple?" The answer is a resounding yes in a show that takes disability out of the theatrical ghetto and presents it full frontal. (excerpt from a review in The Guardian)

This "adult fairy tale" not only contains full female and male nudity, it has some explicit scenes as well. The actors themselves will remind you that despite it's name and how fairy tale the production is, it's not a family show and is recommended for audiences 18+ only. Beauty and the Beast will be playing at the Young Vic in London until December 21st. You can find more information and tickets HERE.

PS Now that you've read what the show is about, how great a pic is this? Though I'm in no hurry to see people naked together this image blatantly says so much about both the fairy tale and the show's themes. It's actually perfect for the production and, as I wrote above, I wanted to use it at the head of the post but was concerned it would turn people off reading about it. Even if you don't opt to see the show, should it play locally to you, I think this is an important production to be aware of - and not just for fairy tale folk either. If anyone sees a play transcript floating about, I'd love to read it!

*Note: just because the nudity and explicit scenes aren't your average adult show titillations, doesn't mean it's for every adult either. It should just be clear that these aspects are used for a specific reason in this show, and that, in this case, it works.