COYOTE'S WAY: A Texas Puppetscape
August, 2006. Lake Worth, TX
Conceived, designed, and directed by ERIN ORR, ALEX KAHN, and SOPHIA MICHAHELLES with the COMMUNITY of LAKE WORTH.
Music by RIMA FAND
In summer 2006 we were invited by Hip Pocket Theatre to collaborate with puppeteer and performance artist Erin Orr to create a community pageant just outside of Fort Worth, Texas. Guidued by local events, we became interested in the recent increase in coyote encounters with residents around Lake Worth, and by the ensuing attempts by local environmental groups to propose strategies for better co-existence with the creatures. Coyote's Way merged vivid first-hand account of local residents' coyote experiences with ribald Native American Trickster-myths. What evolved was our first "Puppetscape", a series of looping vignettes and tableaus installed (or sometimes wandering) in the local landscape, a former shooting range, interestingly enough. We provided three shaman guides to lead small groups into Coyote's world, and perhaps help make sense (or nonsense) of what they found there. The project took on its own local flavor as local community members got involved, first simply to help build elements for the pageant, and eventually to take on roles as performers (many for the first time). |
Community Pageants and Workshops Page . . .