Under the Poppy at the Detroit Institute of Arts: “Puppets & Passion.”

Weeks of work, of rehearsal in the chilly confines of the Russell, of patient professional struggle; gestures, vignettes, what it means to be a puppet, who the MC is, or might be. The contemplation of memory. The physical cost of desire.

For isn’t love the great performance, always with a hero – or two – and an untouched maiden, a dastardly villain, and a chorus of pretty voices in the darkness . . . Oh, and a puppet. More than one, in fact.  Do you like puppets, ladies and gentlemen?  Be assured that they like you.

Larry Baranski, director of public programs and puppet curator, and colleague Carrie Morris invited and made us welcome; the support AV staff was spot-on. And what a beautiful playing space, the Danto Lecture Hall: gold leaf, lights to sink or glow, its doors faced by the cases holding some of the canny citizens of the Paul McPharlin collection; our patron saints. Surrounding us, as we construct our own, art made throughout the years and centuries.

Yet the human heart’s a fugitive[.]

The smell of hairspray in the dressing room. Two actors, waltzing and laughing on the empty stage. The precarious poles, meant to hold a most peculiar shadow show, a splash of unreal blood. Video projections as charged and passionate as memory; music eerie, comic, tender; masks, many masks, one passed from hand to hand, soft and red and gleaming. A plague mask. A long black cloak.

A puppet’s as wily and indestructible as the heart itself: knock it down, tear it to pieces, hurl it at idiots – and back it comes, refreshed and ready for more abuse.

Ebullient harp music in Rivera Court, and floozies on the marble stairs, inviting one and all down to the brothel. Standing room only; we had to turn away, alas, even more floozy fanciers.

“Loved it! I saw so much wonderfully Victorian-flavored, but innovative staging.”

“Brava and thanks for creating such a visually and conceptually rich piece of theatre for us to enjoy. We were blown away.”

“More please!”

Graphic designer Jackie Zimmerman conjured our delightful playbill, highlighting the cast: Brooklyn Dimitrie, Vanessa Ellen Hentschel, Mona Lucius, Steven O’Brien, Justino Solis, Annabelle Young; the puppet player and creator, Megan Harris; maestro Joe Stacey; filmmaker Diane Cheklich; stage manager and co-producer Julanne Jacobs; and me. We are very pleased to have pleased you, and will work to do so again, in Detroit and elsewhere.

All the world loves a lover.  And the hot  magic of make-believe. We shall hope to see you Under the Poppy sometime very soon!

[All photos courtesy Rick Lieder. Quotes in bold italics from the script "Puppets of Passion" by Kathe Koja.]