Robin & The Timeless Forest (2016 & 2018)
This production was created through a program called “Marionette Magic”, in which a group of young artists were mentored in all aspects of string puppet theatre.
We start off in a walled village, where life is orderly and predictable; for as long as can be remembered every moment has been governed by a clock in a distant tower. Every action of every villager - to eat, to sleep, to work - is dictated by the tick, tick, ticking of the clock. Beyond the village wall is a deep forest, and nobody has ever dared to venture beyond the closed gate. One day, the clock stops; Robin, a curious and brave young person, ventures through the gate and into the forest to wind up the clock …
A dystopian story about free will and agency, and about our relationship with trees, contained both humour and wisdom. It unfolded inside its own small theatre, complete with a theatrical curtain, elaborate scene changes, lighting and magical effects. The musical score of Tree Chorus was sung in captivating harmonies by the four puppeteers.
After the show, the puppeteers brought out the marionettes, showed how they are manipulated, and explained the special effects, all made from everyday materials - demonstrating what can be accomplished with collaboration, ingenuity and enthusiasm, and with help from the viewers’ own imaginations!
The marionette extravaganza “Robin and the Timeless Forest” was enthusiastically received by audiences of all ages, in over 20 communities in the summer of 2016. In 2018, it toured to schools in the Shuswap and the Central Interior of British Columbia, and to New Westminster.
Written and Created by Harper Friedman, Leif Saba, Rosa Saba, Forrest Eliot Shuster, and Aidan Sparks, with Artistic Director Cathy Stubington
Director: Nikki Shaffeulah (remount: Cathy Stubington)
Puppeteers: Harper Friedman, Leif Saba, Forrest Eliot Shuster, Aidan Sparks and Anna Fin (remount); Lolu Oyedele (understudy)
Stage Manager: Sasha Tate-Howarth
Mentors: Stephan Bircher (lighting), Zompopo Flores (puppet building), Molly March (set design and scenic painting, Cathy Stubington (writing, puppet design)
Poster Design by: Molly March
Artistic Process
Robin & The Timeless Forest was created in 2016 through a mentorship program Marionette Magic in which a small group of young people worked with the guidance of professional theatre artists to create a touring marionette show, and a larger scale event animation for the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival.
A proscenium theatre in miniature, so many essential learnings of theatre are incorporated in the creation of a marionette show. We began with a group process finding a story on which to base a script, suitable for the possibilities and restrictions of string puppet theatre. Content was gathered through a series of prompts (which uncovered common themes) and then arranged into a story order. One of the puppeteers took on the main part of getting a script on paper.
The settings of marionette theatre are key, as its specific magic allows that they can be changed radically. This becomes a foundation for the story creation and shape. Molly March worked with the team to make small models of these, keeping in mind details like where entrances and exits could take place, leaving room for puppets’ movement, which set elements might move or transform, and what could be accomplished with four puppeteers. This in turn furnished the story with more details. For example, there is a scene in which Robin goes deeper and deeper into the forest, and experiences things coming to life around her. The whole forest floor moved while she remained stationary, and at each tree she appeared to pass (as each tree passed her) an element surprised her: a clump of puffball mushrooms bouncing up into the air, a bright flower opening and clamping shut, and a mossy rock she sat on springing into movement tossing her to the ground. This kind of stage effect would be hard to do lifesize without a million-dollar budget!
As we found out more about the characters in the story and what would be required of them, Cathy led the process of sculpting the heads. They were passed from hand to hand so that they’d have a unity of style, then we made a plaster mold of each from which the papier mache heads were made. Zompopo got everyone started on cutting and assembling body parts and later assembling and stringing them.
Everyone worked on everything, focusing more on the area they found most interesting.
Molly shared tips on painting and the use of colour in the storytelling. Stephan gave an overview of the simple electrics that would be required for wiring the lights that lined the theatre and one of the puppeteers worked with him to make the lighting system.
The stage we used was adapted from one used for previous marionette shows and which was based on a design by Bruce Taylor for Picardi Marionette Theatre in Montreal. (The name Marionette Magic was borrowed from a book by Bruce Taylor, based on Picardi Marionette Theatre in Montreal in the 1980’s (where Cathy’s experience originated).)
We were fortunate that with support through a youth mentorship partnership with Jumblies Theatre in Toronto, Nikki Shaffeulah and Sasha Tate-Howarth were able to come and direct and stage-manage for a two-week rehearsal process.
