I designed a pretty cool-looking 40' Smaug for our production of "The Hobbit," but then realized there was not enough room on stage for him to curl up. So we're down to 30'.
And at rehearsal today, I found out that two of our actors have backed out of the production. One came to me to break the news that he has family commitments out of town the weekend of the show. The other didn't show up and hasn't said anything to me or the producer, but he apparently told all of his cast-mates he couldn't do it.
So, back to the drawing board for THAT as well...
Showing posts with label Puppets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puppets. Show all posts
Monday, March 4, 2013
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Colors of Suzy Q
I had to go clothes shopping again today for Suzy Q, and I think I'm getting her style down. She likes pinks, purples and greens; or, to be more exact, hot pink, fuchsia and chartreuse. Very vibrant colors for a very stylish lady.Suzy Q is a puppet I created for our church's children's ministry in "The Village," a local housing project, which we first made contact with when we did a VBS in their Recreation Center last summer. My wife and I were not part of the original team planning to follow up this ministry, but when decisions were made to no longer offer a children's section to the Thursday Night Alpha Classes, we hooked up with this Tuesday night outreach up the hill. Scripts were already planned for a male and female team of puppets, but no one but me had any puppets. And, at that stage, the bulk of my human puppets were store-bought and (consequently) all white-skinned. There are, of course, some whites who live in The Village, but the kids we've had the most interaction with have largely been African-American or bi-racial, so it seemed a good time to create some darker-skinned puppets. I had started working on an African male puppet prior to this decision and assignment, who debuted as Pharaoh's charioteer in a Sunday School play about Moses. "Akil," as he was then called, was smart enough to tell Pharaoh he'd have to drive himself if he wanted to pursue the Israelites into the Red Sea. He took the role of "Sam Wow" in the six-week program we called "Winterfest." But he needed a partner, and so I created a slightly lighter skinned woman with long hair done up with beads, long eyelashes, brilliant pink lips (tinged with purple), dark pink fingernails and zebra-striped glasses. Suzy Q was written as a reporter, and I took that to mean a television reporter, so I went for a strong sense of style. I managed to find a trench coat for her (size 3T--too good to pass up!), but needed a top to go under it and peak through the V-neck. What I found was white, with a plaid pattern including some pink, purple and green. And that was her costume throughout "Winterfest."
When we started up again around Easter with "Springfest" we decided to adapt an existing curriculum, which had our duo traveling around the world exploring God's creation. The first week, they were in Antarctica, for which Suzy got a fur hat (looking like something out of Dr. Zhivago), a white fur trimmed vest and a purple coat. Last week she was back in her trenchcoat, working as an archaeologist in the Egyptian desert, but this week they were in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil. It occurred to me I had NO IDEA what people in Brazil wore when hiking through the rainforest, and several pages worth of Google Image results got me no closer than when I'd begun. But I headed off to the thrift store anyways, and one of the first things I saw was this bright green floppy sunhat. Next I found a scarf with the pink, purple and green kind of plaid pattern similar to her original top. I finished off the ensemble with a green tank top, covered by a blouse/jacket with a similar pattern to the scarf, but with pink being more dominant. I still have no idea what most people would wear on a trip up the Amazon, but I know what Suzy Q would wear.
Now, if I could just apply this new-found fashion sense to what to buy for my wife and daughter...
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Busy, Busy, Busy!
"Busy, busy, busy, busy as a bee/Martha was so busy, she did not have time to breathe."
That's the refrain from Bob Hartman's story of Martha and Mary, which we read at family devotions the other night. It is also very much in my mind as I work to finish sewing a Bee puppet for our !TNT! (Thursday Nights Together) meeting, beginning this week. As with last spring, Beth and I will be teaching the younger children (K-4th grade), and this semester our topic is the Beatitudes. Last Spring, we were doing the Alpha curriculum, which seeks to answer various questions about basic Christianity, and our mascot/recurring character was a young owl named Alphie, who had a lot of questions and wanted to be wise when he grew up ("Who ever heard of a DUMB old owl?"). So, as I thought of the Beatitudes, the pun "Bee-Attitudes" came to mind (though obviously I'm not the only one to think of it, as a casual search on Google will show!). Though, the more I thought of it, the more it seemed to me the stereotypical attitudes associated with bees (always being busy being the chief one), the more I saw that the "Bee-Attitudes" might differ markedly from the Beatitudes that Jesus taught. A "Busy Bee" might even be upset that Jesus "sat down" to teach!
And so, I created Benny as a rather high-strung (not "stung") honey bee. He is eager to help teach the kids, and assumes he knows what the Beatitudes are (because they sound like Bee Attitudes), but in fact he is in need of some gentle correcting from my wife, who works as the main teacher for each series. For the voice, all I had to do was speak rather excitedly and change all my s's to zz's, and stretch out any long e's.
For his first outing, Benny had only four legs, no wings, and no stinger, but I'm hoping to have him finished by next week.
That's the refrain from Bob Hartman's story of Martha and Mary, which we read at family devotions the other night. It is also very much in my mind as I work to finish sewing a Bee puppet for our !TNT! (Thursday Nights Together) meeting, beginning this week. As with last spring, Beth and I will be teaching the younger children (K-4th grade), and this semester our topic is the Beatitudes. Last Spring, we were doing the Alpha curriculum, which seeks to answer various questions about basic Christianity, and our mascot/recurring character was a young owl named Alphie, who had a lot of questions and wanted to be wise when he grew up ("Who ever heard of a DUMB old owl?"). So, as I thought of the Beatitudes, the pun "Bee-Attitudes" came to mind (though obviously I'm not the only one to think of it, as a casual search on Google will show!). Though, the more I thought of it, the more it seemed to me the stereotypical attitudes associated with bees (always being busy being the chief one), the more I saw that the "Bee-Attitudes" might differ markedly from the Beatitudes that Jesus taught. A "Busy Bee" might even be upset that Jesus "sat down" to teach!
And so, I created Benny as a rather high-strung (not "stung") honey bee. He is eager to help teach the kids, and assumes he knows what the Beatitudes are (because they sound like Bee Attitudes), but in fact he is in need of some gentle correcting from my wife, who works as the main teacher for each series. For the voice, all I had to do was speak rather excitedly and change all my s's to zz's, and stretch out any long e's.
For his first outing, Benny had only four legs, no wings, and no stinger, but I'm hoping to have him finished by next week.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Pirates, Saints, and Bees--Oh, My!
After a long stretch of little creative energy, I suddenly find I'm SWIMMING in writing projects! Some are work related, and others are "just for fun" (or profit, if any of them would sell!)
First off, we re-staged our "Pirates in Paradise" VBS program (originally written and performed in 2007) this summer. Because we opted to do the VBS in the evening, and wanted to keep the final night as the presentation to the parents, I had to rewrite it to fit the storyline into four episodes rather than five. Since I was rewriting, and had a couple other actors who wanted to be pirates, I created a few new roles, and I was able to polish parts (and write some parts which had originally been ad-libbed). At any rate, that inspired me to think more about these characters and about the sequel I had proposed writing for last year's VBS (which we pulled the plug on due to insufficient volunteers). The original Pirates VBS deals with teaching the pirates to claim the Royal Pardon, forsake piracy, and store up treasure in heaven; at the conclusion most of the pirates do so, rechristening their ship "The Heavenly Pearl" and setting off to tell others the good news. So, the sequel focuses on the converted pirates' missionary journeys (and the Pirate Captain's attempts to somehow get back his ship). I spent a good part of vacation jotting down notes and working out the plot and I feel like I'm ready to write it now.
Of course, that is far from pressing. On September 23rd, we will be re-launching !TNT! (Thursday Nights Together), a family based program for which my wife and I will be leading the youngest component (K-4th grade) through a study of the Beatitudes. Last Spring we did a child's version of Alpha, and the featured character (puppet) was a young owl named Alphie who had a LOT of questions he wanted answered. This session, since we're doing the Beatitudes, I thought the featured character should be a Bee. Though as I'm thinking about it, the "Bee Attitudes" are probably very different from the Beatitudes. The Bee character that is developing is someone who stays very busy, always working to make more honey, and not too good about sharing it. So he will prove to be more of a foil to my wife, who will have to correct him and teach him to be more humble and relaxed about things.
At the same time, we are revamping our "Church School" to become "Children's Worship," following more closely the pattern of what is going on in the "adult" service upstairs. The storytelling time (serving as the sermon) will be surveying what our Bishop has recommended as the 100 Essential Bible passages, and we are hoping to do so creatively, with Godly-Play style interaction and some puppet shows. I have offered to write a puppet show for the Joseph story. We also hope to have the children present a puppet show for the adults on All Saints Day (observed). Speaking with our rector this morning, he would like us to focus on the heavenly worship as described in Revelation... which I did a couple years ago for the closing semester of KidzLife. So I'll be dusting off (or adapting) some of my "Visions of Patmos" material, and figuring out how to do that with little children as the puppeteers.
What I LEAST need to work on (and am having the most fun with) is actually a writing project of my wife's. She has been kicking around an idea for a "mid-grade mystery series" (think Nancy Drew, or better, Trixie Belden), set in 1976. I started helping her with researching (and remembering) the time period, and I've gotten very into it.
Then there is the adult play dealing with Simon the Pharisee/Leper and the Woman with the Alabaster Flask who anointed Jesus at Simon's feast. I began that last spring, and haven't done much with it lately, but it feels important and like something I really need to do.
The question is, WHEN?
First off, we re-staged our "Pirates in Paradise" VBS program (originally written and performed in 2007) this summer. Because we opted to do the VBS in the evening, and wanted to keep the final night as the presentation to the parents, I had to rewrite it to fit the storyline into four episodes rather than five. Since I was rewriting, and had a couple other actors who wanted to be pirates, I created a few new roles, and I was able to polish parts (and write some parts which had originally been ad-libbed). At any rate, that inspired me to think more about these characters and about the sequel I had proposed writing for last year's VBS (which we pulled the plug on due to insufficient volunteers). The original Pirates VBS deals with teaching the pirates to claim the Royal Pardon, forsake piracy, and store up treasure in heaven; at the conclusion most of the pirates do so, rechristening their ship "The Heavenly Pearl" and setting off to tell others the good news. So, the sequel focuses on the converted pirates' missionary journeys (and the Pirate Captain's attempts to somehow get back his ship). I spent a good part of vacation jotting down notes and working out the plot and I feel like I'm ready to write it now.
Of course, that is far from pressing. On September 23rd, we will be re-launching !TNT! (Thursday Nights Together), a family based program for which my wife and I will be leading the youngest component (K-4th grade) through a study of the Beatitudes. Last Spring we did a child's version of Alpha, and the featured character (puppet) was a young owl named Alphie who had a LOT of questions he wanted answered. This session, since we're doing the Beatitudes, I thought the featured character should be a Bee. Though as I'm thinking about it, the "Bee Attitudes" are probably very different from the Beatitudes. The Bee character that is developing is someone who stays very busy, always working to make more honey, and not too good about sharing it. So he will prove to be more of a foil to my wife, who will have to correct him and teach him to be more humble and relaxed about things.
At the same time, we are revamping our "Church School" to become "Children's Worship," following more closely the pattern of what is going on in the "adult" service upstairs. The storytelling time (serving as the sermon) will be surveying what our Bishop has recommended as the 100 Essential Bible passages, and we are hoping to do so creatively, with Godly-Play style interaction and some puppet shows. I have offered to write a puppet show for the Joseph story. We also hope to have the children present a puppet show for the adults on All Saints Day (observed). Speaking with our rector this morning, he would like us to focus on the heavenly worship as described in Revelation... which I did a couple years ago for the closing semester of KidzLife. So I'll be dusting off (or adapting) some of my "Visions of Patmos" material, and figuring out how to do that with little children as the puppeteers.
What I LEAST need to work on (and am having the most fun with) is actually a writing project of my wife's. She has been kicking around an idea for a "mid-grade mystery series" (think Nancy Drew, or better, Trixie Belden), set in 1976. I started helping her with researching (and remembering) the time period, and I've gotten very into it.
Then there is the adult play dealing with Simon the Pharisee/Leper and the Woman with the Alabaster Flask who anointed Jesus at Simon's feast. I began that last spring, and haven't done much with it lately, but it feels important and like something I really need to do.
The question is, WHEN?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Camels and Pigs
In addition to the Pirate storyline in VBS, we had a "Story time" built into the curriculum. When we did it in 2007, this was one of several stations that the children would rotate through, and I designed it as more of an interactive teaching station. This year, because of space constrictions, we were not able to break into groups and had to do everything as a big group in the same space, which inhibited the "interactive" piece of it. We decided to use a version of "Godly Play" to tell the story three of the nights, and do puppet shows the other two.
The two stories we decided should be done with puppets were The Rich Young Ruler and The Prodigal Son. Trying to think in terms of how best to tell these stories using puppets, I keyed in on the animals in the stories; in the case of the Rich Young Ruler, I decided to tell the story from the perspective of a camel, as if ANYONE knows how impossible it is to get a camel through the eye of the needle, it would be a CAMEL. With the Prodigal, the obvious animal choice was to tell the story from the point of view of the pigs that the Prodigal was hired to feed at his lowest point.
Having neither a camel nor pig puppet, having no budget, and running out of time to make anything from scratch, I ran down to my favorite thrift store (Red White and Blue) in hopes of finding some second-hand stuffed animals I could use. The pigs were easy to find, but, as you might guess, there were no camels to be seen. I ended up piecing together the head and neck of a snake, the mouth of a donkey, and the body of a leopard (all pinned together and covered with a tan cloth) to create the camel.
Driving home from the thrift store, I was given the voice and character of the camel, as well as the name, "Canticle, the Cantankerous Camel." It was a low voice with a southern twang (something in the neighborhood of Foghorn Leghorn, without the constant repetition), and as a beast of burden, he had a lot of complaints about people with "lots of STUFF!" The voice and character came so strong, I ended up writing the piece as a monologue, with Canticle talking about Camels' place in New Testament society and in Jesus' teaching, and then recounting the story of the "this Rich Kid with all this STUFF which BLINDED him to th' fact that he GOD ALMIGHTY was standin' there RIGHT in FRONT'v'HIM! WHADDIDHE DO? He TURNED AROUND and walked AWAY! 'TseNUFF to makye wanna SPIT!!"
I couldn't tell how well the story went over on the other side of the puppet booth--there was a lot of chatter in the room at the time--but individual kids who saw the puppet before and after the performance really seemed to respond well to him.
The pigs' story failed to materialize, but I think that was just as well. I decided that needed to be more interactive, so I used a version of the Prodigal by Bob Hartman, which involved the audience in saying certain rhyming words and making certain gestures throughout the story. We did use puppets to act out the story, but that was more of a backdrop to the Hartman interactive storytelling piece.
The two stories we decided should be done with puppets were The Rich Young Ruler and The Prodigal Son. Trying to think in terms of how best to tell these stories using puppets, I keyed in on the animals in the stories; in the case of the Rich Young Ruler, I decided to tell the story from the perspective of a camel, as if ANYONE knows how impossible it is to get a camel through the eye of the needle, it would be a CAMEL. With the Prodigal, the obvious animal choice was to tell the story from the point of view of the pigs that the Prodigal was hired to feed at his lowest point.
Having neither a camel nor pig puppet, having no budget, and running out of time to make anything from scratch, I ran down to my favorite thrift store (Red White and Blue) in hopes of finding some second-hand stuffed animals I could use. The pigs were easy to find, but, as you might guess, there were no camels to be seen. I ended up piecing together the head and neck of a snake, the mouth of a donkey, and the body of a leopard (all pinned together and covered with a tan cloth) to create the camel.
Driving home from the thrift store, I was given the voice and character of the camel, as well as the name, "Canticle, the Cantankerous Camel." It was a low voice with a southern twang (something in the neighborhood of Foghorn Leghorn, without the constant repetition), and as a beast of burden, he had a lot of complaints about people with "lots of STUFF!" The voice and character came so strong, I ended up writing the piece as a monologue, with Canticle talking about Camels' place in New Testament society and in Jesus' teaching, and then recounting the story of the "this Rich Kid with all this STUFF which BLINDED him to th' fact that he GOD ALMIGHTY was standin' there RIGHT in FRONT'v'HIM! WHADDIDHE DO? He TURNED AROUND and walked AWAY! 'TseNUFF to makye wanna SPIT!!"
I couldn't tell how well the story went over on the other side of the puppet booth--there was a lot of chatter in the room at the time--but individual kids who saw the puppet before and after the performance really seemed to respond well to him.
The pigs' story failed to materialize, but I think that was just as well. I decided that needed to be more interactive, so I used a version of the Prodigal by Bob Hartman, which involved the audience in saying certain rhyming words and making certain gestures throughout the story. We did use puppets to act out the story, but that was more of a backdrop to the Hartman interactive storytelling piece.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Surviving the Apocalypse
Well, we did it! Three nights worth of puppet shows adapting Revelation in a single night. It was incredibly rough, we were short by about four puppeteers (requiring a lot of running around and simply holding up the puppet who was speaking, without having a chance to actually get your hand in and move the mouth; my worst moment was juggling the woman clothed in the sun, her male child, the red dragon, AND one of Michael's angels at the same time), but we made it through. Thanks to all who helped, thanks to all who prayed, and a special thanks to Pam, who managed to find and execute a number of key musical cues (what's heaven without music?)!
I'll have more to write as I reflect on this. For now, I have to try to re-organize all my puppet materials and devote those energies to the puppet class I'm teaching for the Center for Hope over the next few weeks. And puppetry may make an appearance in Arts Camp later this summer. (I don't think we will do much with it in VBS, though we'll probably bring back Paolo the Parrot in some form.)
The most discouraging part of our final program was attendance. We had been drawing fewer and fewer kids as the end of the year neared, but based on other closing programs (when we mail out invitations and encourage the kids to bring their whole family), I was anticipating we would have a fair turn-out. We had only six kids. Clearly we need to take some time off (and with some key team members away or otherwise engaged this fall, it is looking like we will have a half-year hiatus for the ministry) and re-evaluate what we are doing and who we are trying to do it for. Hopefully the neighborhood survey we will be conducting this weekend will help us start to analyze what is going on. We shall see...
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Delay of the Parousia
It probably surprises no one that my attempt three weeks ago of creating heaven for my puppet theater did not come together in sufficient time. I did make some progress two weeks ago, but only enough to cover the letters to the seven churches (with my translucent Jesus made of pop bottles). Last week we were lacking sufficient puppeteers for what little I had planned to move the story forward, so we are NOW planning on doing the entire book of Revelation (or at least chapters 4-21) in a single night, making our grand finale THE grand finale of all time!
I'm envisioning three scenes (which originally would have been over three separate nights), the first covering the opening scene with a door open in heaven up through the seventh seal and silence for a half an hour (seems like a good place to break). The second scene will begin with the "War in Heaven" (from chapter 12), introducing the Dragon, followed by Beast and False Prophet (I'm hoping to pick up a Pirate puppet, as for years--since reading Zechariah 11--I've pictured this character as a one-eyed, hook-handed man). Having established the Unholy Trinity and their earthly rule, we will back up to the 144,000 being sealed and the trumpet judgments, ending with the Two Witnesses of Chapter 11. The third scene will introduce Mystery Babylon, go through the seven bowl judgments ending in Armageddon, and conclude with Christ's reign, the Great White Throne, and the New Heaven and New Earth. Should be quite a night!
I'm envisioning three scenes (which originally would have been over three separate nights), the first covering the opening scene with a door open in heaven up through the seventh seal and silence for a half an hour (seems like a good place to break). The second scene will begin with the "War in Heaven" (from chapter 12), introducing the Dragon, followed by Beast and False Prophet (I'm hoping to pick up a Pirate puppet, as for years--since reading Zechariah 11--I've pictured this character as a one-eyed, hook-handed man). Having established the Unholy Trinity and their earthly rule, we will back up to the 144,000 being sealed and the trumpet judgments, ending with the Two Witnesses of Chapter 11. The third scene will introduce Mystery Babylon, go through the seven bowl judgments ending in Armageddon, and conclude with Christ's reign, the Great White Throne, and the New Heaven and New Earth. Should be quite a night!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
For Tonight's KidzLife Meeting...
Puppets needed:
John the Revelator
Celeste (the eagle)
Benedict
Beatrice
Armond (Roman guard and father to B & B)
Jesus (as described in Rev. 1; still not sure how make him sufficiently bright)
God (either what we used for the Ancient of Days or a really bright light)
Living Creature like a lion
Living Creature like an ox
Living Creature like a man
Living Creature like an eagle
At least 2 of 24 elders (Daniel might work for one)
Azmaveth (angel)
Lamb of God
White Horse and Rider
Red Horse and Rider
Black Horse and Rider
Pale Horse and Riders (Death and Hell)
Martyr
King/Queen
Props & Set Pieces needed:
7 Golden Lampstands & Lamps (got battery operated tealights, but still need holders)
Two-edged sword (coming out of Jesus' mouth ???)
Keys to Hell and Death
Door to Heaven
Thrones for God and Lamb
Rainbow
Thrones for Elders
Crowns, Harps and Bowls for elders
Scroll w/7 Seals
Bow and Crown for White Rider
Sword for Red Rider
Scales for Black Rider
Altar
Sun that turns black
Moon that turns red
Stars that fall
Things wanted for tonight:
Fog machine
Seal puppet (for optional gag line "No, not THAT kind of seal!")
Lighting/Hologram/CGI capability
At least two more weeks to prepare!!!
MOST NEEDED:
Prayer
Sensitivity to the Spirit
Energy & Efficiency
Help with Sewing & Prop-Making
Attentive Children
Coordinated (individually and collectively) Puppeteers
Script
John the Revelator
Celeste (the eagle)
Benedict
Beatrice
Armond (Roman guard and father to B & B)
Jesus (as described in Rev. 1; still not sure how make him sufficiently bright)
God (either what we used for the Ancient of Days or a really bright light)
Living Creature like a lion
Living Creature like an ox
Living Creature like a man
Living Creature like an eagle
At least 2 of 24 elders (Daniel might work for one)
Azmaveth (angel)
Lamb of God
White Horse and Rider
Red Horse and Rider
Black Horse and Rider
Pale Horse and Riders (Death and Hell)
Martyr
King/Queen
Props & Set Pieces needed:
7 Golden Lampstands & Lamps (got battery operated tealights, but still need holders)
Two-edged sword (coming out of Jesus' mouth ???)
Keys to Hell and Death
Door to Heaven
Thrones for God and Lamb
Rainbow
Thrones for Elders
Crowns, Harps and Bowls for elders
Scroll w/7 Seals
Bow and Crown for White Rider
Sword for Red Rider
Scales for Black Rider
Altar
Sun that turns black
Moon that turns red
Stars that fall
Things wanted for tonight:
Fog machine
Seal puppet (for optional gag line "No, not THAT kind of seal!")
Lighting/Hologram/CGI capability
At least two more weeks to prepare!!!
MOST NEEDED:
Prayer
Sensitivity to the Spirit
Energy & Efficiency
Help with Sewing & Prop-Making
Attentive Children
Coordinated (individually and collectively) Puppeteers
Script
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Roman Youth
I didn't actually get into John's visions in the first week, nor did I do much to explore the characters of either John the Revelator or his friend the eagle Celeste. I had thought that would be the central relationship, and ultimately I suppose it will be. But I started with the two Roman kids, Benedict and Beatriz, and as I wrote, their characters really took off. Dialog is the essence of drama, and for me it is often how my characters take on a life of their own, sometimes even taking the plot in directions I had not originally intended. In this case, we have two bored kids, stuck on this island where they don't even have any trees to climb, because their Dad is stationed here and their mother has died. That last fact is an instance of something I hadn't thought through earlier, and it may give me trouble as things progress, as they speculate about pagan Mom in the afterlife. In fact, the whole piece took on a layer of apologetics I hadn't intended, with John being the only true believer in a cast of pagans. We'll see where that goes. At any rate, since I'll be out of town the next week, and most likely unable to blog further, I decided to post the entire script for your reading pleasure. Comments are most welcome!
VISIONS OF PATMOS
Week 8
[BENEDICT and BEATRIZ enter with bows and arrows.]
ARMOND [offstage]: Benedict! Beatriz! Don’t go too far down the beach!
BENEDICT: We WON’T!
ARMOND [offstage]: And stay where I can see you!
BEATRIZ: We WILL! [to BENE] What a WORRIER!
BENE: I KNOW! We’re stuck on an ISLAND! It’s not like we could WANDER OFF far or get LOST!
BEAT: Or be attacked by WILD ANNIMALS!
BENE: Or get CAPTURED by Vandals or Goths!
BEAT: Maybe PIRATES?
BENE: We’re ROMAN CITIZENS! What pirate has the NERVE to attack us?
BEAT: Probably he’s worried about the prisoners.
BENE: Are you KIDDING? We work these guys to DEATH in the mines! You think any of them has the ENERGY to attack us?
BEAT: Well, Papa’s always saying we should stay away from them and not talk to them.
BENE: That’s because they’re BENEATH us! We shouldn’t STOOP so low as to consider them!
BEAT: What EVER! Let’s shoot! What should we use as a target?
BENE: How about that pile of driftwood down there?
BEAT: WAY down there?
BENE: Yeah! What’s the matter? Can’t you shoot that far?
BEAT: I can shoot farther than YOU!
BENE: No you can’t!
BEAT: Yes I CAN!
BENE: Prove it! Shoot the farthest you can!
BEAT: You shoot first and I’ll shoot farther!
BENE: Ok! [shoots] THERE! Beat THAT!
BEAT: Just watch me! [shoots. BENE is stunned.] THERE! How’s THAT!
BENE: That was AMAZING!
BEAT: Just call me Diana the HUNTRESS!
BENE: You better watch your language!
BEAT: Why? Who’s to say that our mother wasn’t a GODDESS?
BENE: Dad never said that. He just said she was LIKE a goddess.
BEAT: And now she’s gone, maybe she IS one!
BENE: You think normal people get to be gods and goddesses?
BEAT: They do in SOME of the stories!
BENE: Only if they’re VERY SPECIAL people.
BEAT: Our mother WAS very special.
BENE: I don’t remember. I was too young when she died.
BEAT: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad.
BENE: I’m not sad! Let’s get back to our game.
BEAT: What game?
BENE: Who’s the better archer!
BEAT: I thought I’d already WON that!
BENE: You can shoot FARTHER, but can you shoot HIGHER?
BEAT: Well, HOW are we going to measure THAT?
BENE: We’ll just shoot at the same time, and see who’s arrow goes higher!
BEAT: Well they’re not going to stay UP there! What do we do when they turn around and fall to earth?
BENE: RUN! Ready? Aim… RELEASE! [both shoot arrows in the air] Look at THAT! See how HIGH mine went?
BEAT: Annnnnd HERE THEY COME!!!
[BENE and BEAT run offstage. An arrow and the eagle CELESTE fall from the sky. BENE and BEAT creep back over to the bird.]
BEAT: Oh Benny! What did you DO?
BENE: I didn’t do anything!
BEAT: You shot a bird!
BENE: How do you know it was ME?
BEAT: MY arrow didn’t go that high! YOU won THAT round! And it’s an EAGLE! You killed an EAGLE!
CELESTE: OHHHHHWWW!
BENE: I didn’t KILL it! SEE?
BEAT: STILL! You shot it down! You INJURED it! THAT can’t be good…
BENE: Why can’t that be good?
BEAT: It’s an EAGLE, you blockhead! The symbol of the ROMAN EMPIRE! Jupiter’s favorite bird! This is a VERY BAD thing you’ve done!
BENE: You think Papa will be upset?
BEAT: I think the ROMAN ARMY will be upset! I think the GODS will be upset!
BENE: OK! OK! What do we DO?
CELESTE: What happened?
BEAT [whispering]: It’s TALKING!
BENE: So TALK to it!
BEAT: PEOPLE can’t talk to EAGLES!
BENE: They can in SOME of the stories!
CELESTE: Where am I?
BENE: You’re on the Island of Patmos.
CELESTE: How did I get here?
BEAT: My brother shot you down!
BENE: It was an ACCIDENT! HONEST! I didn’t see you flying there!
CELESTE: What were you shooting at, Boy?
BENE: Nothing! I just shot an arrow in the air, to see how high it would go.
CELESTE: Foolish, foolish child!
BENE: I’m sorry!
CELESTE: Well , don’t just stand there.
BEAT: What, what should we do?
CELESTE: Get it OUT of me!
BENE: Beatty?
BEAT: I—I’ve never done anything like that!
CELESTE: If you children are going to PLAY with things that can HURT others, then by JUPITER you’d better learn how to HEAL those you hurt!
BENE: OK, well we’ll enroll in the next class we can, but WHAT do we do NOW?
BEAT: I don’t KNOW!
BENE: YOU’RE the BIG SISTER! You always act like you know EVERYTHING!
BEAT: I do NOT!
BENE: SURE you do! You’re ALWAYS telling me what to do. Now I NEED you to tell me what to do, because I DON’T KNOW!
CELESTE: Children! FOCUS! OOOOOH!
BEAT: Well if YOU hadn’t shot in the air!
BENE: YOU shot too!
BEAT: But you shot HIGHER!
JOHN [entering from cave]: What’s all this fuss about?
BENE [moving to hide CELESTE]: Fuss?
BEAT [joining BENE in trying to cover up]: What fuss?
JOHN: I don’t know. Sounds like SOMEONE shot SOMETHING too high… Do you want to tell me about it?
BEAT: We’re not supposed to talk to you.
JOHN: Oh, I’m sorry. I guess that’s because I’m a prisoner, and you’re the children of one of my guards. Is that it?
[BEAT nods.]
JOHN: Well, I’m sorry to disturb you. It just seemed like maybe you needed some help, but I guess I was mistaken… [Turns to go.]
BENE: Um… Sir?
JOHN: Yes?
BENE: You wouldn’t happen to know how to heal an arrow wound, would you?
JOHN: Who is wounded?
BENE: Um, well, it’s not so much a WHO as a WHAT [steps aside and shows JOHN CELESTE]
JOHN: I see.
CELESTE: SOMEBODY help me!
BENE: Can you heal her?
JOHN: I know someone who can?
BEAT: Who?
JOHN: My Lord.
BEAT: Are you a worshipper of Apollo? Or Aesclepius?
JOHN: No, my Lord is Jesus Christ.
BEAT & BENE [together]: WHO?
JOHN: Jesus Christ.
BEAT: Is that some new god?
JOHN: No, he’s the eternal Word. He was with the Father in the beginning, before anything was made. Here, help me get her into my cave.
BENE: Is this JESUS in your CAVE?
JOHN: He’s EVERYWHERE. But last week I saw him in my cave, yes.
BEAT: You did?
JOHN: Yes. Help me lift her.
CELESTE: AAAAAUGHH! CAREFUL!
JOHN: Just bring her over here into the shade. Son—what’s your name?
BENE: Benedict.
JOHN: Benedict. I have some herbs on a table, just inside the cave there. And a knife. Could you get them for me?
BENE: Sure! [goes to cave].
JOHN: And daughter—
BEAT: Beatriz.
JOHN: Beatriz. I will need some salt water. There’s a small pitcher in my cave, just run down to the sea and get some. [BEAT goest to cave and exits down the beach]. And what is YOUR name?
CELESTE: Celeste.
JOHN: Celeste. “Heavenly.” And my name is John.
CELESTE: And this new god of yours—
JOHN: There’s only one true God. You and I know that.
CELESTE: I’ve never heard of this “Jesus”
JOHN: He is God’s Son. You fly through the heavens and look down on all of creation. Certainly you know HIM!
CELESTE: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
JOHN: Well God has brought you here for a very special purpose.
CELESTE: I don’t like the sound of THAT!
JOHN: He has given me a message which I must get to the seven churches of Asia minor.
CELESTE: The seven WHAT?
JOHN: Churches. Gatherings of Believers, in Ephesus, Smyrna, Peragmum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. And since I’m stuck on this island, and prisoners aren’t allowed to use the mail service, I need you to take it to them.
CELESTE: You expect ME to be your CARRIER PIGEON?! I’m an EAGLE! I’m the symbol of the ROMAN EMPIRE. I’m the favorite of JUPITER!
JOHN: There IS no Jupiter, and you KNOW it. These Romans have put a lot of crazy notions in your head, and made you think more highly of yourself than you ought to think.
CELESTE: Leave me be! I don’t want anyone who disregards Jupiter to try to heal me.
JOHN: I worship the ONE TRUE GOD. And you are the greatest of his winged creatures, but you are STILL a creature, and you must do what HE commands. And I think he has brought you here to carry his word to his people.
CELESTE: I don’t believe you.
JOHN: Search your heart, and you will find it is true. And whether or not you want it, I AM going to tend your wound, because if I don’t, it will fester and you will die.
BENE [returning from cave] Here you go!
BEAT [returning from sea]: And here’s your water.
JOHN: Thank you Benedict. Thank you Beatriz. Celeste, this is going to hurt a bit. [stands over her and pulls the arrow out]
CELESTE: AAAAAAAAUGH!
JOHN: There it is! [holds up arrow]
CELESTE: OHHH! Is that an EAGLE feather on the shaft?
BEAT: Yes it is.
CELESTE: ALAS! See how I have given my enemy the means of my own destruction!
BENE: But I’m not your enemy!
JOHN: And you won’t be destroyed by it. Now just let me clean out the wound…
ARMOND [offstage]: Benedict! Beatriz! Where have those two gone to?
BEAT: Here we are, Papa!
ARMOND [entering]: What are you doing here? Haven’t I told you before not to go near the prisoners’ quarters!
BEAT: It’s alright, Father.
JOHN: My name is John.
ARMOND: And what are you doing with my children?
JOHN: Your son shot down an eagle, which I am tending.
ARMOND: You shot down a WHAT?
BENE: An eagle. It was an ACCIDENT! She just flew into my path!
ARMOND: Son! Do you have any idea how SERIOUS this is?
BEAT: Yes Papa, we know.
JOHN: That’s why they thought it best to keep it a secret from your fellow Romans, and brought the bird to me.
ARMOND: Are you sure you can heal it?
JOHN: With God’s help, I can.
ARMOND: Very well then, I thank you. And children, lets be on our way.
BEAT: Yes, Papa.
BENE: But can we come back tomorrow and check on the bird’s health?
BENE & BEAT [together]: PLEEEASE!
ARMOND: All right. But come on, now!
BENE: Goodbye John.
BEAT: We’ll pray for your success.
[ARMOND, BEAT & BENE exit.]
JOHN: And so will I, child, so will I!
CELESTE: And so will I!
JOHN: Just be sure you pray to the TRUE GOD!
[CURTAIN]
VISIONS OF PATMOS
Week 8
[BENEDICT and BEATRIZ enter with bows and arrows.]
ARMOND [offstage]: Benedict! Beatriz! Don’t go too far down the beach!
BENEDICT: We WON’T!
ARMOND [offstage]: And stay where I can see you!
BEATRIZ: We WILL! [to BENE] What a WORRIER!
BENE: I KNOW! We’re stuck on an ISLAND! It’s not like we could WANDER OFF far or get LOST!
BEAT: Or be attacked by WILD ANNIMALS!
BENE: Or get CAPTURED by Vandals or Goths!
BEAT: Maybe PIRATES?
BENE: We’re ROMAN CITIZENS! What pirate has the NERVE to attack us?
BEAT: Probably he’s worried about the prisoners.
BENE: Are you KIDDING? We work these guys to DEATH in the mines! You think any of them has the ENERGY to attack us?
BEAT: Well, Papa’s always saying we should stay away from them and not talk to them.
BENE: That’s because they’re BENEATH us! We shouldn’t STOOP so low as to consider them!
BEAT: What EVER! Let’s shoot! What should we use as a target?
BENE: How about that pile of driftwood down there?
BEAT: WAY down there?
BENE: Yeah! What’s the matter? Can’t you shoot that far?
BEAT: I can shoot farther than YOU!
BENE: No you can’t!
BEAT: Yes I CAN!
BENE: Prove it! Shoot the farthest you can!
BEAT: You shoot first and I’ll shoot farther!
BENE: Ok! [shoots] THERE! Beat THAT!
BEAT: Just watch me! [shoots. BENE is stunned.] THERE! How’s THAT!
BENE: That was AMAZING!
BEAT: Just call me Diana the HUNTRESS!
BENE: You better watch your language!
BEAT: Why? Who’s to say that our mother wasn’t a GODDESS?
BENE: Dad never said that. He just said she was LIKE a goddess.
BEAT: And now she’s gone, maybe she IS one!
BENE: You think normal people get to be gods and goddesses?
BEAT: They do in SOME of the stories!
BENE: Only if they’re VERY SPECIAL people.
BEAT: Our mother WAS very special.
BENE: I don’t remember. I was too young when she died.
BEAT: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad.
BENE: I’m not sad! Let’s get back to our game.
BEAT: What game?
BENE: Who’s the better archer!
BEAT: I thought I’d already WON that!
BENE: You can shoot FARTHER, but can you shoot HIGHER?
BEAT: Well, HOW are we going to measure THAT?
BENE: We’ll just shoot at the same time, and see who’s arrow goes higher!
BEAT: Well they’re not going to stay UP there! What do we do when they turn around and fall to earth?
BENE: RUN! Ready? Aim… RELEASE! [both shoot arrows in the air] Look at THAT! See how HIGH mine went?
BEAT: Annnnnd HERE THEY COME!!!
[BENE and BEAT run offstage. An arrow and the eagle CELESTE fall from the sky. BENE and BEAT creep back over to the bird.]
BEAT: Oh Benny! What did you DO?
BENE: I didn’t do anything!
BEAT: You shot a bird!
BENE: How do you know it was ME?
BEAT: MY arrow didn’t go that high! YOU won THAT round! And it’s an EAGLE! You killed an EAGLE!
CELESTE: OHHHHHWWW!
BENE: I didn’t KILL it! SEE?
BEAT: STILL! You shot it down! You INJURED it! THAT can’t be good…
BENE: Why can’t that be good?
BEAT: It’s an EAGLE, you blockhead! The symbol of the ROMAN EMPIRE! Jupiter’s favorite bird! This is a VERY BAD thing you’ve done!
BENE: You think Papa will be upset?
BEAT: I think the ROMAN ARMY will be upset! I think the GODS will be upset!
BENE: OK! OK! What do we DO?
CELESTE: What happened?
BEAT [whispering]: It’s TALKING!
BENE: So TALK to it!
BEAT: PEOPLE can’t talk to EAGLES!
BENE: They can in SOME of the stories!
CELESTE: Where am I?
BENE: You’re on the Island of Patmos.
CELESTE: How did I get here?
BEAT: My brother shot you down!
BENE: It was an ACCIDENT! HONEST! I didn’t see you flying there!
CELESTE: What were you shooting at, Boy?
BENE: Nothing! I just shot an arrow in the air, to see how high it would go.
CELESTE: Foolish, foolish child!
BENE: I’m sorry!
CELESTE: Well , don’t just stand there.
BEAT: What, what should we do?
CELESTE: Get it OUT of me!
BENE: Beatty?
BEAT: I—I’ve never done anything like that!
CELESTE: If you children are going to PLAY with things that can HURT others, then by JUPITER you’d better learn how to HEAL those you hurt!
BENE: OK, well we’ll enroll in the next class we can, but WHAT do we do NOW?
BEAT: I don’t KNOW!
BENE: YOU’RE the BIG SISTER! You always act like you know EVERYTHING!
BEAT: I do NOT!
BENE: SURE you do! You’re ALWAYS telling me what to do. Now I NEED you to tell me what to do, because I DON’T KNOW!
CELESTE: Children! FOCUS! OOOOOH!
BEAT: Well if YOU hadn’t shot in the air!
BENE: YOU shot too!
BEAT: But you shot HIGHER!
JOHN [entering from cave]: What’s all this fuss about?
BENE [moving to hide CELESTE]: Fuss?
BEAT [joining BENE in trying to cover up]: What fuss?
JOHN: I don’t know. Sounds like SOMEONE shot SOMETHING too high… Do you want to tell me about it?
BEAT: We’re not supposed to talk to you.
JOHN: Oh, I’m sorry. I guess that’s because I’m a prisoner, and you’re the children of one of my guards. Is that it?
[BEAT nods.]
JOHN: Well, I’m sorry to disturb you. It just seemed like maybe you needed some help, but I guess I was mistaken… [Turns to go.]
BENE: Um… Sir?
JOHN: Yes?
BENE: You wouldn’t happen to know how to heal an arrow wound, would you?
JOHN: Who is wounded?
BENE: Um, well, it’s not so much a WHO as a WHAT [steps aside and shows JOHN CELESTE]
JOHN: I see.
CELESTE: SOMEBODY help me!
BENE: Can you heal her?
JOHN: I know someone who can?
BEAT: Who?
JOHN: My Lord.
BEAT: Are you a worshipper of Apollo? Or Aesclepius?
JOHN: No, my Lord is Jesus Christ.
BEAT & BENE [together]: WHO?
JOHN: Jesus Christ.
BEAT: Is that some new god?
JOHN: No, he’s the eternal Word. He was with the Father in the beginning, before anything was made. Here, help me get her into my cave.
BENE: Is this JESUS in your CAVE?
JOHN: He’s EVERYWHERE. But last week I saw him in my cave, yes.
BEAT: You did?
JOHN: Yes. Help me lift her.
CELESTE: AAAAAUGHH! CAREFUL!
JOHN: Just bring her over here into the shade. Son—what’s your name?
BENE: Benedict.
JOHN: Benedict. I have some herbs on a table, just inside the cave there. And a knife. Could you get them for me?
BENE: Sure! [goes to cave].
JOHN: And daughter—
BEAT: Beatriz.
JOHN: Beatriz. I will need some salt water. There’s a small pitcher in my cave, just run down to the sea and get some. [BEAT goest to cave and exits down the beach]. And what is YOUR name?
CELESTE: Celeste.
JOHN: Celeste. “Heavenly.” And my name is John.
CELESTE: And this new god of yours—
JOHN: There’s only one true God. You and I know that.
CELESTE: I’ve never heard of this “Jesus”
JOHN: He is God’s Son. You fly through the heavens and look down on all of creation. Certainly you know HIM!
CELESTE: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
JOHN: Well God has brought you here for a very special purpose.
CELESTE: I don’t like the sound of THAT!
JOHN: He has given me a message which I must get to the seven churches of Asia minor.
CELESTE: The seven WHAT?
JOHN: Churches. Gatherings of Believers, in Ephesus, Smyrna, Peragmum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. And since I’m stuck on this island, and prisoners aren’t allowed to use the mail service, I need you to take it to them.
CELESTE: You expect ME to be your CARRIER PIGEON?! I’m an EAGLE! I’m the symbol of the ROMAN EMPIRE. I’m the favorite of JUPITER!
JOHN: There IS no Jupiter, and you KNOW it. These Romans have put a lot of crazy notions in your head, and made you think more highly of yourself than you ought to think.
CELESTE: Leave me be! I don’t want anyone who disregards Jupiter to try to heal me.
JOHN: I worship the ONE TRUE GOD. And you are the greatest of his winged creatures, but you are STILL a creature, and you must do what HE commands. And I think he has brought you here to carry his word to his people.
CELESTE: I don’t believe you.
JOHN: Search your heart, and you will find it is true. And whether or not you want it, I AM going to tend your wound, because if I don’t, it will fester and you will die.
BENE [returning from cave] Here you go!
BEAT [returning from sea]: And here’s your water.
JOHN: Thank you Benedict. Thank you Beatriz. Celeste, this is going to hurt a bit. [stands over her and pulls the arrow out]
CELESTE: AAAAAAAAUGH!
JOHN: There it is! [holds up arrow]
CELESTE: OHHH! Is that an EAGLE feather on the shaft?
BEAT: Yes it is.
CELESTE: ALAS! See how I have given my enemy the means of my own destruction!
BENE: But I’m not your enemy!
JOHN: And you won’t be destroyed by it. Now just let me clean out the wound…
ARMOND [offstage]: Benedict! Beatriz! Where have those two gone to?
BEAT: Here we are, Papa!
ARMOND [entering]: What are you doing here? Haven’t I told you before not to go near the prisoners’ quarters!
BEAT: It’s alright, Father.
JOHN: My name is John.
ARMOND: And what are you doing with my children?
JOHN: Your son shot down an eagle, which I am tending.
ARMOND: You shot down a WHAT?
BENE: An eagle. It was an ACCIDENT! She just flew into my path!
ARMOND: Son! Do you have any idea how SERIOUS this is?
BEAT: Yes Papa, we know.
JOHN: That’s why they thought it best to keep it a secret from your fellow Romans, and brought the bird to me.
ARMOND: Are you sure you can heal it?
JOHN: With God’s help, I can.
ARMOND: Very well then, I thank you. And children, lets be on our way.
BEAT: Yes, Papa.
BENE: But can we come back tomorrow and check on the bird’s health?
BENE & BEAT [together]: PLEEEASE!
ARMOND: All right. But come on, now!
BENE: Goodbye John.
BEAT: We’ll pray for your success.
[ARMOND, BEAT & BENE exit.]
JOHN: And so will I, child, so will I!
CELESTE: And so will I!
JOHN: Just be sure you pray to the TRUE GOD!
[CURTAIN]
Saturday, April 18, 2009
"I Shot an Arrow in the Air..."
So, I ask myself, why would an eagle sit and listen to St. John go on and on about his vision, if he didn't particularly like the man or the task he was being asked to carry out (deliver John's scroll to the seven churches)? Perhaps because it was injured and couldn't fly away from the island for awhile.
And how would it become injured? Archery seems the most likely way of injuring an eagle in the first century and forcing it to land (unless, of course, it was attacked by another eagle, but that would put all the drama in the clouds when I need my audience focused on the ground--and I can't think of a good motivation for one eagle to attack another). On the other hand, if two children were having a contest to see who could shoot the furthest (or highest), it is possible one of them could strike the eagle by accident.
If there are children on the isle of Patmos, then they would most likely be the children of one of the Roman guards. I cannot find any evidence, but it would seem that, with the eagle being a symbol of the Roman Empire (and the army in particular), shooting an eagle would be a crime and an incredibly unlucky thing to do. It could be ruled treasonous and/or sacrilegious (as the eagle was Jupiter's particular bird).
The father of said children would not want them associating with the prisoners on the island in general. But, if one of them had injured an eagle, and one of the prisoners thought he could nurse said eagle back to health, and Dad wanted to keep his child's crime covered up, I think we have the formula to give a good dramatic setting to the next several weeks' puppet shows for KidzLife.
And how would it become injured? Archery seems the most likely way of injuring an eagle in the first century and forcing it to land (unless, of course, it was attacked by another eagle, but that would put all the drama in the clouds when I need my audience focused on the ground--and I can't think of a good motivation for one eagle to attack another). On the other hand, if two children were having a contest to see who could shoot the furthest (or highest), it is possible one of them could strike the eagle by accident.
If there are children on the isle of Patmos, then they would most likely be the children of one of the Roman guards. I cannot find any evidence, but it would seem that, with the eagle being a symbol of the Roman Empire (and the army in particular), shooting an eagle would be a crime and an incredibly unlucky thing to do. It could be ruled treasonous and/or sacrilegious (as the eagle was Jupiter's particular bird).
The father of said children would not want them associating with the prisoners on the island in general. But, if one of them had injured an eagle, and one of the prisoners thought he could nurse said eagle back to health, and Dad wanted to keep his child's crime covered up, I think we have the formula to give a good dramatic setting to the next several weeks' puppet shows for KidzLife.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
"Gotta Get a Message to You"
I was listening to an oldies station the other day and ever since then off and on I've had the Bee Gees song "Gotta Get a Message to You" in my head. It's not a song I remember hearing before, and I'm NOT a huge Bee Gees fan, but in thinking about my next dramatic endeavor, it has helped me to hone the central character's motivation...
The puppet play for tonight's KidzLife was a transition piece. Having gotten Daniel out of the lion's den last week, we arrived at Daniel 7, the point at which Daniel's dreams and visions of the future take precedence over his life history. The book actually goes for five more chapters in this vein, but it all gets a bit complicated and needs to be read in context with other similar passages. Hence the idea of moving on to Revelation. So tonight we had the angel Azmaveth help Daniel understand his dream, and then get called away to help John understand his vision on Patmos. Beginning next week, John will be our focus.
Daniel, of course, is alway pictured with lions, and John is often pictured with an eagle. To my knowledge there is no actual legend of John encountering an eagle, but ancient iconography made the identification as a way of saying how his Gospel (especially in its opening) "soared" above the others, and focuses on the Divinity of Christ. I had thought for some time that as I had Daniel talking with his lion companions, I would have John talk with his friend the eagle. But I had no idea what they would say to each other.
Then it occurred to me: John has just written down his revelation, with divine instructions to send it to the seven churches of Asia minor. John is a prisoner stuck on an island. He's "gotta get a message" to some people, but it seems doubtful that as a prisoner and non-citizen he could rely on the Roman postal system. So, if he encountered a creature that could fly, why not try to persuade it to deliver your letter?
The eagle, of course, would be offended by such a suggestion. Serving as a "common carrier pidgeon" would be beneath a bird of such regal elegance. So John will have to convince the bird that the message of his letter is lofty enough to require an eagle to carry it (hence giving us a reason for him to recount his vision to the eagle). To fill out this cast, I think I will write a part for a Roman Guard whose suspicions are aroused by the prisoner's time spent with the bird.
The puppet play for tonight's KidzLife was a transition piece. Having gotten Daniel out of the lion's den last week, we arrived at Daniel 7, the point at which Daniel's dreams and visions of the future take precedence over his life history. The book actually goes for five more chapters in this vein, but it all gets a bit complicated and needs to be read in context with other similar passages. Hence the idea of moving on to Revelation. So tonight we had the angel Azmaveth help Daniel understand his dream, and then get called away to help John understand his vision on Patmos. Beginning next week, John will be our focus.
Daniel, of course, is alway pictured with lions, and John is often pictured with an eagle. To my knowledge there is no actual legend of John encountering an eagle, but ancient iconography made the identification as a way of saying how his Gospel (especially in its opening) "soared" above the others, and focuses on the Divinity of Christ. I had thought for some time that as I had Daniel talking with his lion companions, I would have John talk with his friend the eagle. But I had no idea what they would say to each other.
Then it occurred to me: John has just written down his revelation, with divine instructions to send it to the seven churches of Asia minor. John is a prisoner stuck on an island. He's "gotta get a message" to some people, but it seems doubtful that as a prisoner and non-citizen he could rely on the Roman postal system. So, if he encountered a creature that could fly, why not try to persuade it to deliver your letter?
The eagle, of course, would be offended by such a suggestion. Serving as a "common carrier pidgeon" would be beneath a bird of such regal elegance. So John will have to convince the bird that the message of his letter is lofty enough to require an eagle to carry it (hence giving us a reason for him to recount his vision to the eagle). To fill out this cast, I think I will write a part for a Roman Guard whose suspicions are aroused by the prisoner's time spent with the bird.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Flashbacks to Babylon
Our third week in the Lion's Den was a bit chaotic... My wife, who seemed to be getting over the flu on Monday had a major relapse on Tuesday, and I had to step up to the plate and handle the homeschooling for the day. Consequently, I didn't get my planned day off to prepare for that night, and around 3:00 decided to go with a "music video" approach to telling the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I had sort of hoped to do something musically (probably the title song from *Cool in the Furnace*), but what was at hand was a song on a Beginner's Bible CD Pam loaned me. It was fun, involving sound effects of a fire chief and dispatcher's radio communication, had a female vocalist and a bit of a rap. It required purchasing four additional puppets to play those roles (the fireman actually was designed to be a fireman, but the dispatcher was a queen I redressed in a discarded policeman's uniform, the rapper was a knight that I converted to an angel (left the shiny suit on and just replaced the helmet with a starry halo and added wings) and the lead singer was a cowgirl (no reason she should be, but no reason she shouldn't, so I left her as she was, for lack of a better idea). We ad-libbed a short intro with Daniel and the Lions, in which Daniel explained he was away on a diplomatic mission when this happened, and so he had to read the story from official transcripts (he rolled out a scroll which was the cue for the music). Interestingly enough, the Bible doesn't tell us WHERE Daniel was when his three friends were thrown into the furnace, but the rabbis came up with some VERY interesting possibilities in the Talmud (one of my favorites was that he was in the Valley of Dry Bones with Ezekiel, helping to raise the dead).
I of course couldn't see how any of this went down (the fire department and space for the singers were in front of the kitchen window we use for the Den, out of my view), but I'm told the kids were into it, and the puppets danced appropriately. The only major problem was my puppeteer for the angel Azmaveth, Daniel's guardian, went AWOL, and the fearless prophet of God had to run away in order to end the scene.
Also out of my view was the doorway we filled with red, orange and yellow streamers to serve as the fiery furnace. Four child volunteers and one of my adult leaders acted out the story as the puppets narrated in song. This followed a pattern established the week before, involving live actors (including some of the kids) in the flashback scenes. That week we had combined the leftover part of the first script (involving Daniel's refusal to eat the king's food) from chapter 1 with the story of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter 2 for an extended flashback to his early days at court. Surprisingly I did not do much with the character of Nebuchadnezzar, but the young actress who took the role really played it up, turning him into a childish egocentric (giving me a good idea for how to develop the character for next week!). The standout in that week's script was Ashpenaz (who actually was a composite of the chief eunuch in chapter 1--I didn't bother explaining that--and Arioch the chief guard in chapter 2). I wrote him as annoying and annoyed, fearful and sarcastic, all at once. He couldn't understand why his young charges refused the finest food in the empire for the sake of a God who, if he cared anything for them, would not have allowed them to be conquered in the first place. He tried mocking them, reasoning with them, and eventually begging them, fearful that if they didn't do as they were told HE would lose his head. When they ended up being the most impressive new students, rewarded with high positions in the king's court, he had to admit maybe they knew what they were doing, and there "might be something to this God of yours after all!" As I tried to imagine this character, what came to me was a voice from one of the "Fractured Fairytales" in an old *Rocky and Bullwinkle* episode, the one in which Prince Charming is a crooked schemer who, instead of kissing Sleeping Beauty and waking her up, decides she's more interesting asleep, and turns her into a tourist attraction, building "Sleeping Beauty Land", charging admission, and making a fortune off of merchandise tie-ins. I don't know who the voice talent was, but he was very familiar and I'm sure had a lot of the work back in the day.
The challenge for the coming week is to write the script for King Nebuchadnezzar's "Beastly Time" (when he is humbled and eats grass like an ox), and to get the lions' mouths moving.
I of course couldn't see how any of this went down (the fire department and space for the singers were in front of the kitchen window we use for the Den, out of my view), but I'm told the kids were into it, and the puppets danced appropriately. The only major problem was my puppeteer for the angel Azmaveth, Daniel's guardian, went AWOL, and the fearless prophet of God had to run away in order to end the scene.
Also out of my view was the doorway we filled with red, orange and yellow streamers to serve as the fiery furnace. Four child volunteers and one of my adult leaders acted out the story as the puppets narrated in song. This followed a pattern established the week before, involving live actors (including some of the kids) in the flashback scenes. That week we had combined the leftover part of the first script (involving Daniel's refusal to eat the king's food) from chapter 1 with the story of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter 2 for an extended flashback to his early days at court. Surprisingly I did not do much with the character of Nebuchadnezzar, but the young actress who took the role really played it up, turning him into a childish egocentric (giving me a good idea for how to develop the character for next week!). The standout in that week's script was Ashpenaz (who actually was a composite of the chief eunuch in chapter 1--I didn't bother explaining that--and Arioch the chief guard in chapter 2). I wrote him as annoying and annoyed, fearful and sarcastic, all at once. He couldn't understand why his young charges refused the finest food in the empire for the sake of a God who, if he cared anything for them, would not have allowed them to be conquered in the first place. He tried mocking them, reasoning with them, and eventually begging them, fearful that if they didn't do as they were told HE would lose his head. When they ended up being the most impressive new students, rewarded with high positions in the king's court, he had to admit maybe they knew what they were doing, and there "might be something to this God of yours after all!" As I tried to imagine this character, what came to me was a voice from one of the "Fractured Fairytales" in an old *Rocky and Bullwinkle* episode, the one in which Prince Charming is a crooked schemer who, instead of kissing Sleeping Beauty and waking her up, decides she's more interesting asleep, and turns her into a tourist attraction, building "Sleeping Beauty Land", charging admission, and making a fortune off of merchandise tie-ins. I don't know who the voice talent was, but he was very familiar and I'm sure had a lot of the work back in the day.
The challenge for the coming week is to write the script for King Nebuchadnezzar's "Beastly Time" (when he is humbled and eats grass like an ox), and to get the lions' mouths moving.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Denizens
Well, due to a 4-day mens' retreat (among other things) I was unable to get the puppets really ready for their debut, as I'd hoped; but we had a script, we had actors, and we had SOMETHING to help visualize the characters as we launched ourselves into the Lion's Den at KidzLife last Tuesday night...
Mr. Smith is not pretty. He's actually quite large and scary looking. He started out based on a caricature of Harrison Ford, but as I sewed him he got more and more wrinkled (of course, seeing the fourth installment of Indiana Jones, I'm not TOO far off the mark). He now has something of a Yoda-esque quality to him. But even as I created him (primarily to be "Pennsylvania Smith"), I had thought of letting him play a large archangel Michael in "The Legend of Slappy Hooper." So when I needed an angel to guard Daniel from the lions, it seemed a logical role for this puppet to play. I've given him the name of Azmaveth for this role, and explained his age and look by saying he's a Warrior angel who has been fighting evil for 3,000 years. He's all about action, and not terribly verbal, which fits in with the Indiana Jones/Pennyslvania Smith type of charater.
No one is quite sure who "Darius the Mede" was, but it seems that his reign in Babylon coincided with Cyrus I's reign over the Medo-Persian empire. That puts Daniel's time in the lion's den AFTER 70 years of him being in exile, which means he HAS to be 80 or older at this time. Thinking of likeable elderly people whose voices I could do, I ended up with a personality and style of speaking similar to Jimmy Stewart (dead now and forever young in many films, but I can recall him in several live appearances in the 60s and 70s, mostly on talk shows, at which point he was quite old). Originally I'd hoped to make both an old Daniel and younger Daniel (another reason for picking Stewart, in that I had a good idea of what he looked like at both ages), but I had to settle for buying a puppet, stripping him of his garb (in this case, a fireman's hat and coat), recostuming him in a simple tunic and putting white hair and beard on over his brown hair and moustache he came with. My wife informed me that his hair fell off shortly after the performance began last week, but I've had time this week to sew it in place, so FROM NOW ON, not a hair from his head shall be harmed...
At first, I thought we could get by with one lion, and I naturally pictured something large and ferocious, roaring with a wide-opened mouth (and from several classic cartoons of yesteryear, I pictured the angel slapping him with an "Ahhhhh, SHADDUP!"; at which point the big fierce cat becomes humorously meek). As I thought more about it, I realized that if I wanted a female character anywhere in this piece, it would have to be one of the lions. So I began to imagine a tough lioness named Leonora, as the primary "take charge" character in the den. Of course, the lion is the "king of beasts" and I didn't want to let go of my initial image, so Lexus Rex emerged as the big scary beast, who makes all the others do the work while he sits back and looks regal. I thought he could stand in for all the puffed-up self-important kings Daniel has to deal with in his flashbacks (as the most famous story about Daniel happened near the end of his life, I thought this would be the ideal setting from which to tell all of the earlier stories). Then Lenny appeared in my imagination as a comic foil, inspired partly by one of Scat Cat's band (in *The Aristocats*) and partly be Cheech Marin's voice work for Disney, as a hep cat beatnik/hippy who likes to take life easy and doesn't really go in for all this "king of the beasts" bit. He kind of likes Daniel, and is not so hip on Lex or other authority figures, and he acts in very undignified and unlionlike ways, partly in protest agains the pomposity and pretense of royalty which the other lions expect him to conform to. As Lenny and Leonora started dialoging, I began to see that their bickering, Lenny's attitude towards Lex and the Lion Code, and the fact that gets away with so much could best be explained if Lenny was Leonora's younger brother. This comes out clearest in the fact that, while everyone else refers to her as Leonora or "Nora", Lenny consistently calls here "Lena."
Though the lions' characters were well developed in the script, I didn't have time to do anything with their bodies before last Tuesday. I found a lion-headed rug which was the proper size for Lex, and picked up at a second-hand store a large stuffed Simba (the best I could do for a lioness) and another stuffed lion for Lenny (which I simply added orange sunglasses to, to help convey his character). I need to work in the coming weeks to turn these into actual puppets, hollowing them out, making them more flexible, and giving them movable mouths. It should be an interesting challeng, working from the outside in, rather than the inside out...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Milestone 7
Last night was the Christmas party and closing program for KidzLife, the elementary-aged children's outreach program I am in charge of at our church. This was the seventh semester we had run the program (and our fourth Christmas party), and things went incredibly smoothly, from the opening meal through the distribution of gift bags as the end. Praise be to God!
I was asked yesterday morning what lesson God had been teaching me in 2008, and without giving the question much thought I said, "Something to do with the fact that I'm not infinite; dealing with limits and allowing others to do what God has called them to do." Last night was a confirmation of that. I actually had little to do last night, other than act as M.C. and introduce various people who offered prayers, led the singing, reviewed the lessons and memory verses, and so forth. The biggest blessing to me, and I think to everyone there, was a presentation of the Christmas story using Godly Play, done by a young girl who is part of our leadership team. While some of the kids were acting up and some of the adults were talking during other parts of the night, she had the room's undivided attention as she introduced cut-out characters and placed them on the road to Bethlehem, and led us to "wonder" what it was like to be there the night that Christ was born.
On the down side, when we lined up the children to receive their gifts at the end, it was abundantly clear that our male attendance has dropped dramatically in this academic year. I know that we are now in competition with a Boy Scout troop that meets the same night, but I'm not sure what to do about that.
We start again on Shrove Tuesday, which is the last Tuesday in February this year. On the one hand, I don't like having that big of a gap between semesters, but on the other hand, we don't seem to be able to keep interest in the program beyond 15 weeks at a stretch, and I think we may need all of that time to prepare for the next session. I am feeling led to explore Daniel and Revelation with the kids (in very broad strokes), and to do the weekly dramas with puppets (which all need to be created from scratch!).
I was asked yesterday morning what lesson God had been teaching me in 2008, and without giving the question much thought I said, "Something to do with the fact that I'm not infinite; dealing with limits and allowing others to do what God has called them to do." Last night was a confirmation of that. I actually had little to do last night, other than act as M.C. and introduce various people who offered prayers, led the singing, reviewed the lessons and memory verses, and so forth. The biggest blessing to me, and I think to everyone there, was a presentation of the Christmas story using Godly Play, done by a young girl who is part of our leadership team. While some of the kids were acting up and some of the adults were talking during other parts of the night, she had the room's undivided attention as she introduced cut-out characters and placed them on the road to Bethlehem, and led us to "wonder" what it was like to be there the night that Christ was born.
On the down side, when we lined up the children to receive their gifts at the end, it was abundantly clear that our male attendance has dropped dramatically in this academic year. I know that we are now in competition with a Boy Scout troop that meets the same night, but I'm not sure what to do about that.
We start again on Shrove Tuesday, which is the last Tuesday in February this year. On the one hand, I don't like having that big of a gap between semesters, but on the other hand, we don't seem to be able to keep interest in the program beyond 15 weeks at a stretch, and I think we may need all of that time to prepare for the next session. I am feeling led to explore Daniel and Revelation with the kids (in very broad strokes), and to do the weekly dramas with puppets (which all need to be created from scratch!).
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