There is a special place in heaven for adults who devote themselves to bringing children into the world of theater and puppets. My first experience of live theater was a local production in Kirkwood, MO of Rumpelstiltskin, complete with straw spinning into gold, the maiden locked in the mill, and the despicable imp. Everlasting memories for an eight-year-old.
Rootstock Puppet Co. is devoted to bringing that magic to young and old alike. Based in Chicago, and trained worldwide, Mark Blashford creates the stories, carves the puppets, designs the sets, and with the help of his musician brother and other puppeteers, presents the shows.
Timber is the story of the rape of the forest by an unscrupulous lumberjack and the salvation of the forest by the caring cowboy who is a painter. OK, it’s a fable. It’s a combination of small bunraku-style puppets, manipulated from the rear by small handles, usually with two puppeteers, and marionettes of the same characters in larger scale. The set is cleverly designed on two levels to accommodate the two types and sizes of puppets.
The theater was packed – they even added an extra show that Sunday. The children totally got the story, clapping, booing, and cheering. The adults joined right in. A wonderful way to bring the final curtain to the 2022 Fest.
Thinking Timber over later, I wanted to pick apart the simplicity of the story. What about the destruction of the forest by drought, the instigation of fire by arson, corporate neglect, and misguided lack of trimming and natural burns. What about careful harvesting, replanting, and stewardship of the forest? When will the children, and the adults, learn these parts of the story?
In reflection, Rootstock is wise to steer clear of becoming too didactic. Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Der Struwwelpeter taught us as children simple morals of right and wrong, good and bad. Mostly, we’ve managed to adapt those lessons into our adult moral code.
Here’s a video of the cowboy painter starring in another show. He is the hero of “Timber”. Note that the marionette is actually painting. Watch all the way to the end to glimpse how the puppeteer works the marionette.
The Timber set - top is used with the small puppets, the curtain with the stump raises to show the marionettes. Photo credit: Rootstock Puppet Co.
Puppets in development. Photo credit: Rootstock Puppet Co.