“Coffee.” I heard a thin voice from poor Devil’s bedstead. I was so happy to hear his voice that I immediately ran to the kitchen to prepare him one, thinking it would be nice to choose the monkey cup.
“Not that idiot” he said, when he saw me coming. I wasn’t quite sure who he referred to, me or the monkey, and pulled away, but Devil grabbed my sleeve. “Ah well, I don’t have to look at his pancake face when I drink from the cup.” You better go back to sleep, I thought.
I hope you all know that the film was not real! Of course the Dedes wouldn’t be that vicious in real life. They wouldn’t try to decapitate the poor Devil, though in every story there is a bit of truth. Some parts of the film are recounted correctly: Devil got the sack last week and after having talked to a few puppets, that seems to be final. There is no way for him to get back his position. They have already appointed a new spokesperson. Devil knows that and now he is not getting out of the sack in the mornings. Of course we all know that there will be brighter times again, but right now he is inconsolable. Mouse says she has been there a few times herself and she can sympathise how difficult it must be for him to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had nightmares too, but no words of consolation would help at this stage. He has to go through this in his own time.
Nobody has seen the old fellow since he took part in the film on Saturday. I had a little peek in the corner of the stage. He obviously just rolled over after the filming had finished and pulled the blanket back over his head. Mouse begged me to leave him alone for a while. He has to grieve and come to terms with the injustice he thinks he has received.
We have another Dede workshop this afternoon. It is usually the job of the spokesperson and the administrator to select the actors who will take part. I was surprised to see Devil, who has just learned he lost his spokesperson job, at the stage door with Mouse who is the administrator. Devil’s dark glasses told their own story and he really looked like he didn’t want to be there. I commend Mouse for keeping her patience, as he wasn’t holding back with snipey and derogatory comments today. Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the Dede world was right today. Truly, I wasn’t aware how vicious he could be when he is deeply hurt, which I think he is.
I asked Mouse afterwards what the story was. I thought maybe Devil got his job back. But she told me she had begged the Dede puppet committee to let Devil at least finish this one job, as pretty much everything was prepared for this afternoon and they only had to select the actors. It is no secret that Mouse loves to work with Devil. Honestly, these two guys are such a formidable team (Remember when these two organised the Super Dede Competition a year ago?). The outcome of the vote took Mouse as much by surprise as Devil himself, though she told me that Devil had an inkling that something was brewing for quite a while. It was her who always consoled him, saying he was just imagining things. Long ago she figured out that he has the tendency to believe everybody is out to get him. But boy, was he right this time!
Anyway, after having selected the actors for today she sat down with a big sigh and said, “Maybe it is for the best, if he’d always behaved like today I couldn’t cope with him for long!”
You might wonder what happened to the Dedes. I didn’t even realise how much we had drifted apart while normal life took over. Admittedly, I am not the best in-touch-keeper. And when it comes to the Dedes I didn’t need to be, as Devil at least (who is the spokesperson for the Dedes) seemed to drop in on a regular basis and kept me posted. But he too was very quiet lately. To be honest, I only realised this yesterday, when I heard through the grapevine that the Dedes had called for a special meeting (Dedes only). I try to keep out of their politics as much as possible, but I found it very strange that neither Devil (whose job it would be) nor Mouse (who is a well-known gossip) told me the reasons for the meeting. If I would have asked Mouse outright, she might have told me, but I didn’t want to put her in an awkard predicament. Anyway, last night they had the meeting and not long into it I heard the door slam and Devil galloping down the corridor. I ran after him to find out what happened. Typically, I thought the meeting was all about me and they were having a good rant about our flawed relationship. Devil would tell me all about if I asked him. I do consider him a friend. Surprisingly, I found him crying in the corner of the spare room.
“Hey, what’s up?”, I asked very startled. I was unaware that devils could cry.
“Leave me alone” he barked.
“C’mon, it can’t be that bad” I said and sat down next to him.
“They decided I am not a good spokesperson and they voted for someone else to take over my job”
“Oh,” I said for lack of other words. Since Devil didn’t volunteer any more information, I added after a pause: “I didn’t see this coming!”
He was shaken by another burst of tears. “Go away, pleeeeease, leave me alone!”
I know my Devil and decided it was the best to leave the room and close the door on my way out. But I promise, I will keep you up to date with the developments as soon as I know more.
I know, I have been pretty slack lately with writing on my blog. Last year around this time the Dedes were extremely busy having their Super Dede competition. This year they are moping about in their dark cupboard. Due to dramatic changes in my work life I am currently preoccupied with research. I have to re-invent myself yet again. The more research I do, the more I am convinced that I want to stay with puppetry in the future. The other day, I had to laugh when I read in a book by Kenneth Gross called “Puppets” what puppeteer Michael Vogel said. He said that once, while working on a piece based on Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen, he felt many old, unused puppets in his studio asking for a chance for new work. Always, he said, even when he could not use them, “I try to be polite, so they are not annoyed or frustrated.” (p 76). I had to read this out loud to the Dedes. They shouldn’t get too precious, other puppets have problems too!
Personally, I am busy with heaps of stuff, but I am terribly superstitious. I don’t want to talk about half-baked things. I strongly believe if I talk prematurely, they don’t work out. But I can tell you, I will be really happy when 2013 is finally over. It was such a crap year, it can only get better next year :). My puppetry workshop has finally been announced in the Term 1 programme of Artstation. So if you are living in Auckland and want to know more about puppets: Do enrol! (grrrrrr, I hate blatant self-promotion). However, I need to get enough enrolments for the course to take place. I am definitely looking forward to it. Unfortunately puppetry is not very big in New Zealand.
The puppet in the picture is another project I can now start talking about. It is the prototype for the main character in a short film (a very short film, but longer than the flash dramas the Dedes usually do). The film is a collaboration between a therapist in Australia, a playwright in England and myself. An interesting way to work, it all happens by email and it’s working very well. We have submitted the film to a conference that will take place in April. So there is a definite deadline and it is a lovely project to escape the Christmas blues.
Admittedly, communication between the Dedes and me hasn’t been so hot lately and I sensed there is a lot of uncertainty about what is going to happen; what I have lined up for them. I have a history of doing new things and just presenting them with what they have to do next. But I strongly believe somebody has to make the decisions around here. Personally, I am not a big fan of decisions by committee: when you try to please everybody you always end up with something boringly average. The majority of the Dedes, on the other hand, are a comfortable lot and are not very keen on change. So to debunk their fears I thought I would invite them to a full Dede puppet meeting and explain what I am up to, even though it only marginally affects them.
Would you believe it? A mere five puppets showed up. Out of how many? 63, 64. Isn’t it pathetic? Behind closed cupboard doors they whisper and complain. You would think they are planning a mutiny. But when they could come out and have their say, hardly anybody showed up.
They had their chance, and not showing up is not my fault. I still went ahead and told them what I have planned for next year and why all these strangely constructed actors have shown up. These are samples for a puppet workshop I am holding at a community artschool in Auckland in the beginning of next year. The course follows my own path into puppetry from the visual arts perspective, rather than from a theatrical point. I am keen to convey the self explorational properties of puppet making and it’s magical uses as a problem-solving tool. In one session I will use the Dedes, but ultimately I want the students to unleash their own creative thinking when it comes to puppet making. And by the end of the course we will have made a stop motion film. I am quite excited about this project.
But wait, there is more. I was invited by the manager of Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa (just north of Auckland) to co-curate a puppet month in July next year. We envisage a festival of puppet making, story telling and performance, and not just for children. This week I put an EOI note on Big Idea. It would be amazing to bring a bunch of puppeteers together and further object theatre in New Zealand. Needless to say I am equally excited about this project.
So, fingers crossed, I can find enough students for the course to run and enough puppeteers to make puppet month happen…
The Dedes didn’t say much. They just wandered off when they realised my plans really didn’t involve them. I guess they didn’t know what to think about all this and have to confer with the other lot that stayed in the cupboard.
The Dedes are terribly upset with me again. They are still elated about our film making. We even have set the date for the next Dede Workshop. It will be on the 3oth of November. So we were on the road to happiness together and then this little man came along.
This is Office Man. The Dedes say he looks like an Alien. He is different and they don’t like him. End of story! They believe he will need too much attention and is far too difficult to work with. And then Devil demanded I explain why I spent time making him, when the Dedes were waiting for me to do things with them. I had to remind Devil, and all the others, that our relationship was never meant to be exclusive. I am so disappointed about the Dedes, as I had invited Office Man to announce some great news to them. But as he waived his friendly hello, the Dedes just took one look at him and scuttled back into their cupboard and left him standing there. No wonder Office Man is sad.
I went after them and said they won’t hear the news until they remember their manners and are a bit more welcoming towards the new arrival! I guess there will be a long period of silence again, unless their curiosity gets the better of them.
Halloween is coming up and Devil is practising his tricks. He mustered a few ghosts from around the house and was keen to try them out on whoever walked past next. It was poor Mouse who came along the bookshelf, minding her own business, when all of a sudden a pair of giant eyes popped up on the wall. Devil was hiding behind the filing cabinet as he wanted to see if Mouse would get a big fright. But she is such a welcoming little thing. She only stopped for a second and gave a friendly wave to the newcomer. Guess who got the fright?
Even Lou, the young puppy has a plan in mind. His plan doesn’t involve the rest of the Dedes though, only the one he is obsessed with.
He is still chasing the object of his desire, Skeleton Edeltraut. He won’t give up, not in a million years I guess. No matter how much the others try to convince him that he doesn’t have a chance. Everybody understands Edeltraut’s fears. What would happen to the pile of bones if the young puppy gets his mittens on her? We don’t want to find out. So, Edeltraut continues to run for her life whenever she sees him.
Pig and Professor don’t have a plan, they only have a solution. Thinking about it, it is not even a solution. They made themselves comfortable in the liquor cabinet and asked me to fetch them when something finally happens in the Dede world.
dedepuppets 