06 GOOD OAK CRANKIE
DOC 234—34/2
Using an old storytelling art form called a crankie, members of Bodywave, a Boston-based collective of artists and performers, cut scenery onto a hand-cranked scroll, and developed over 30 shadow puppets to cast dynamic silhouettes while moving through the social and environmental history of one ancient tree. Inspired by Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, Good Oak also incorporates live music and foley techniques.
Good Oak was co-produced by Kate Sokol and Lindsey Wagner and was developed as part of the “Shadow Puppetry Production Lab” at Puppet Showplace Theater in Spring 2017. The production has toured locally in New England, including at Bardo, UConn’s Ballard Institute and Museum, and Puppet Showplace Theater.
To create the work, we first had to adapt the original text for brevity and clarity, and storyboard the key moments we wanted to represent as painted landscape or articulated shadow puppets. Then, we had to consider the pace and cadence of the language against the rate the crankie could move, which was about five seconds per frame. We created paper prototypes (and moveable ones, pictured above) to make sure our moments and movements were all in sync, and that each new scene carried elements from the last to create a sense of continuity.
Good Oak was co-produced by Kate Sokol and Lindsey Wagner and was developed as part of the “Shadow Puppetry Production Lab” at Puppet Showplace Theater in Spring 2017. The production has toured locally in New England, including at Bardo, UConn’s Ballard Institute and Museum, and Puppet Showplace Theater.
To create the work, we first had to adapt the original text for brevity and clarity, and storyboard the key moments we wanted to represent as painted landscape or articulated shadow puppets. Then, we had to consider the pace and cadence of the language against the rate the crankie could move, which was about five seconds per frame. We created paper prototypes (and moveable ones, pictured above) to make sure our moments and movements were all in sync, and that each new scene carried elements from the last to create a sense of continuity.