The human body is seventy percent water. The planet earth is two-thirds water. This January, Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre realizes how wet we all are. Bobbindoctrin’s newest original puppet theatre performance is an exploration of the interstitial spaces between history and nostalgia, present and representation, shore and sea. Using the metaphor of the eternal wash of the ocean, creators/directors/performers Yelena Zhelezov and Jenny Campbell journey into the questions: What is loss? Why do the children rust?

Descending into the depths of the metamythic seas, Campbell and Zhelezov have crafted a challenging and intricate meditation on memory and sequential disintegration. They follow the wailings of the widows of the wreck of the Dismal Pun, the cries of the haunted prostate, and the demands of a life consumed by tragic soup-eating. In a departure from traditional techniques of puppet theatre, this piece dances seamlessly between two and three dimensions, expressing itself using widely varying representational strategies. Projection art, shadow puppets, rod puppets, hand puppets, objects, and live actors present a realm where time is the greatest enemy.

This is Zhelezov and Campbell’s third new work with Bobbindoctrin. Their first was The Travels of the Dung Beetle, which they performed in a tree house for the children of the Pink Ribbon Benefit 2003. Their most recent performance, The Edge of Space! Living Room and The Perils of Ambition, a toy theatre production for grown ups about Laika the first dog cosmonaut, infinite splendor and death, was performed at the most recent Bobbindoctrin Benefit and two other engagements. This traveling show was well received in its more than fifty performances around Houston.

Campbell and Zhelezov are exploring beyond the linearity of traditional narrative theatre and are submerging themselves in the possibilities of a syncretic appropriative text filtered through the lens of a theatre of objects. Minimal violence and sexual situations and more female puppets and mythical beasts on stage than Houston has or will ever see. Campbell and Zhelezov also teach workshops on puppetry at area schools.

THE CREATORS

FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS JANUARY 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, & 24
8 PM and 9:30 PM ALL NIGHTS
AT HELIOS, 411 Westheimer Rd, Houston Texas

Extended shows:
MONDAY JANUARY 26 and THURSDAY JANUARY 29, 8 PM