The enthusiasm that greeted the first 麻豆传媒映画International Puppet Festival proved that interest in the art form wasn鈥檛 dead 鈥� it was simply dormant.
Festivals typically take time to build before they can boast of near sell-out crowds and not carry over bank receipts showing the minus sign. However, this wasn鈥檛 the case for the VIPF. Its arrival this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Granville Island Revue Stage was heavily supported both by financial backers and volunteers.
It鈥檚 an impressive start as the local puppet scene, while strong, is small in numbers. Yet the answer was obvious to local puppeteers when the Granville Island Cultural Society floated the idea of a festival with the promise of donating the space a year ago.
鈥淲e said, 鈥榊es!鈥欌�� enthused Dusty Hager眉d, one of the four VIPF founders. 鈥淲e are always together scheming and planning so we鈥檙e all so used to getting things done lickety-split and, behold, this has probably been the easiest festival I鈥檝e ever worked in my entire life. It鈥檚 been fantastic.鈥�
In addition to Hager眉d, making up the fantastic four are Morris Chapdelaine, Tara Travis and Jeny Cassady. The passion and competence is evidenced by their puppetry accomplishments, which range from feature films and shorts to theatre productions and television shows.
Hager眉d not only brings the puppets to life, but is also a puppet maker with his company Color Sound Lab where he designs and builds puppets of all kinds for all sorts of productions. It鈥檚 been a full-time gig for the last three years, which has included building the 鈥渕ost weirdest puppets鈥� he鈥檚 ever made for local electronic-pop duo Humans and their music videos for the songs 鈥淏ike Home鈥� and 鈥淓nnio.鈥�
Describing the puppets used in 鈥淓nnio鈥� brought out the puppeteer and performer in Hager眉d who jumped from his seat in the lobby of the Revue Stage, where he was being interviewed by the Courier.
鈥淔our humongous puppets,鈥� he said, raising a long arm as far as he could reach and then bringing it down with the other to create a chomping motion. 鈥淭hey were kind of a combination of Pac-Man and a ghost, but all in black.
And then we had to make some elongated skeletons. A Herman Munster-sized skeleton dressed as a Ramone.鈥�
While Hager眉d has come a long way in the craft since borrowing gear from his high school video production class in the mid-1990s to do his own puppet take on the TV show 鈥淏everly Hills 90210,鈥� the excitement has evidently not worn off.
The festival included shows, workshops and a walking tour featuring some well-known puppets, including the jester from 2009 horror movie 鈥淭he Hole.鈥�
While it鈥檚 touted as Vancouver鈥檚 first international puppet festival, the art form isn鈥檛 new to this part of the world.
The now-defunct 麻豆传媒映画Guild of Puppetry formed in 1961 after Alfred Wallace, the past-president of the Puppeteers of America and who was known for his work making political statements through puppetry, was the guest instructor for a local puppetry workshop. As the story goes, Wallace encouraged participants to start their own guild, and four years later in 1965, the 麻豆传媒映画Guild of Puppetry opened the Puppet Centre. It was short-lived, but still sparked an interest in puppetry that saw shows and festivals at the 麻豆传媒映画Planetarium and UBC. The guild disbanded from lack of interest during the early 2000s, said Hager眉d who added he came across one of its newsletters called 鈥淧uppet Potpourri鈥� when he moved to 麻豆传媒映画around the same time after living in Calgary and Montreal.
The two recent Muppet movies are only part of the reason for the craft鈥檚 popularity.
鈥淚 think the reprise in puppetry is also due to the fact that people are tired of looking at computer-generated images,鈥� said Hager眉d. 鈥淭he fact that a puppet is tactile and you can actually hug it makes so much more of an impact on a person.鈥�
As for being a puppeteer, well, that takes many skills.
鈥淲e need the ability to keep our arm up in the air for a very long time. And the ability to be crammed into the most uncomfortable, horrible spaces for long periods of time and not complain about it,鈥� said Hager眉d. 鈥淭here鈥檚 flexibility鈥� and the ability to be able to coordinate your hand with your mouth and bring life into an inanimate object no matter what it could be.鈥� Hager眉d grabbed an empty Lee鈥檚 Donuts box sitting on the table and opened the lid. 鈥淟ike this box could be made to be alive.鈥�
He added, 鈥淎nd never growing up. Because, really, we鈥檙e just wiggling dollies.鈥�
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