Left: Assistant Director Shoshanna
Utchenik co-designed the sets and
masks that will be seen in "Hunchback."
The work is directly connected
to her interests in visual arts,
literature and theater.
Dec. 6 - Dec.31, 2000
Performances
Wed. 2 p. m. & 7:30 p.m„
Thur. - 7:30 p.m.Sat. 8.p.m.,
Sun. 7:30 p.m.
-
•In. The Aaron peRoy_Theatre. ,
Opposite page, bottom:
"There's something a little eerie about
puppets," says Utchenik, who targets
adults, not children, in her work.
set featuring animated objects.
"There's something a little eerie
about puppets," says Utchenik, 22,
who targets adults, not children, in
her use of puppets. "The fine line
between things and people is really
fine to a child, and so it can be con-
fusing and scary. That line really fasci-
nates me now as [I watch] people
respond to puppets in a way they can't
respond to actors.
"Part of that is because puppets are
only the characters they're playing,
while actors, in a sense, are lying. We
borrow and adapt from all different
traditions of puppetry and combine all
[elements] to speak in metaphor."
The Redmoon performance comple-
ments a DIA puppet exhibition,
"Punch's Progress: A Century of
American Puppetry," running through
the end of the month. Taking its title
from a puppet popular before the
Revolutionary War, "Punch's Progress"
traces American puppetry from 1850-
1950 with rod puppets, marionettes,
hand puppets and shadow puppets.
The exhibition illustrates how pup-
pets historically have been used for
many purposes and have been drafted
for adult entertainment ranging from
serious theatrical works to night club
or cabaret performances.
Utchenik, daughter of Dan and
Helen Utchenik, graduated from
Berkley High School and had her bat
mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El. She
credits her mom, who studied chil-
dren's drama and theater, for encour-
aging a love for drawing and crafts.
Although the artist thought she would
become an illustrator of children's
books after completing the School of
the Art Institute of Chicago, she
found the stage much more exciting.
"The work Redmoon was doing was
directly connected to my interests in
visual arts, literature and theater," says
Utchenik. "We call it object-based the-
ater because sometimes our definition of
puppet expands to include any object
that is integral to the performance.
"In Hunchback, we have steel towers
with wheels and ladders that spin, and
without those, there's not much action to
the play, so they become puppets for us."
Utchenik has been involved with
every Redmoon production in the
three years she's been there, and she
even has done some acting. This past
summer, she co-created, co-directed
and did some designing for an out-
door spectacle, "Deciphering Moon
Shadows," presented for the Chicago
Historical Society.
"Directing a piece at Redmoon gen-
erally involves a degree of authorship
that I think is unique to the kind of
work we're doing," Utchenik says. "A
lot of times, we're telling a story visually
rather than with words and text so the
director, assembling images, becomes a
designer. In a sense, the designer also is
writing the story because of the way the
images are assembled."
Utchenik's main goal is challenging
herself, and she said she feels that
Redmoon allows her to do that. One
upcoming project she finds exciting is
theIickoff of a puppetry festival in
Chicago. Redmoon will present a
giant shadow show at the Museum of
Contemporary Art. Using the entire
window-covered facade of the build-
ing, the troupe will create a four-story
shadow puppet show facing the audi-
ence in the street.
"Combining people and puppets
provides a dimension to theater that is
very satisfying for audiences because
performers have insights into move-
ment and behavior that designers
sometimes don't and designers often
have insight into composition that per-
formers don't have," Utchenik says. ❑
Hunchback will be performed at
7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday,
Dec. 29 and 30, at the Detroit
Institute of Arts. $181$15 mem-
bers. (313) 833-4005.
(Wed. Dec. 27 matineee . on10 :_•
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knew you -
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birth to
a gay child;
what would
you do?
Laugh and
cry with the
Golds and
the choice
they will
make.
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For ticket information call
I I I.
ilia II, I:I
248-788-2900
fax: 248-788-5160
est Maple Road • West Bloomfield
Direct from New York
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ENTERTAINM
WEEKLY
Benefitting local organizations working to end violence against women.
Haven, First Step, My Sister's Place / Women's Justice Center and Turning Point.
Charity preview JANUARY 23, 2001
JANUARY 24 - FEBRUARY 11
ILL, SeCCUO,
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THEATRE
.
R 0 I T
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