Supplemental Article: “Little Shop of Horrors”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2011
CONTACT: Melissa Woodrow, (831) 998-0751
E-MAIL: Click to email Melissa Woodrow.
AUTHOR: Written by Daniel Tarker, TWS Writer
How to Bring an Extraterrestrial Plant to Life on Stage
June 1, 2011 – Salinas, California
The first question any theatre company must ask when producing a show like “Little Shop of Horrors” is, “How do we make a giant, carnivorous plant with aspirations for world domination come to life on stage?” The company may build or rent a giant puppet, but the actors still have the daunting task of making it move and speak as if it were really alive — no small matter when you’re talking about a six-foot tall plant.
Luckily, The Western Stage (TWS) has Susanne Burns on hand as co-director to help. Fresh from a trip to Bali with the International Commedia dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre, Burns is drawing on her study of Balinese dance, mask-making and puppetry to coach the actors on the art of storytelling by giving life to inanimate objects.
Although the production doesn’t contain any visible Balinese cultural elements, the cast, which features some of the finest voices on the Central Coast, will have certainly benefitted from some of the techniques Burns learned when the show opens on June 10 in the Hartnell College Performing Arts Building.
A send-up of 1950s science fiction movies, the play tells the story of Seymour, an awkward and shy floral shop clerk, who discovers a strange looking plant after a solar eclipse and uses the Venus flytrap-like creature to turn his waning fortunes around. Naming the plant Audrey II after a co-worker he has a profound crush on, he begins to nurture the plant with the only thing it will eat – his own blood. When the plant’s appetite grows to the point of needing human flesh to survive, Seymour must make some stark choices. Does he give into the plant’s carnivorous desires or stand up to the insatiable extraterrestrial and save the world?
So how does one make a giant, man eating plant with a penchant for belting out Motown-flavored show tunes come to life? It comes down to the core principles of puppetry.
“You have to basically see inanimate objects and create a life for them,” said Burns. Like an actor, the puppeteer must infuse the object – whether it is a ballpoint pen or an elaborate puppet – with the intention of the character. It’s a hard skill to learn. After a month of training, Burns had graduated to telling stories with six puppets. A master Balinese puppeteer, can tell a story with over 20 distinct puppets, each with their own unique personality.
While “Little Shop of Horrors” requires only four puppets – one for each stage of the plant’s life – several actors in this production were employed to make these puppets lifelike.
When Audrey II is a mere seedling, Christopher Marcos, who plays Seymour in the production, has the challenge of operating the puppet himself, which requires him to juggle playing two roles at the same time. “I actually had him write a monologue for the puppet to help him get into character for that role,” said Burns.
The larger, adult version of Audrey II, requires several people to operate it. Max Huston, son of Central Coast musical theatre fixture Reg Huston, will be controlling the body of Audrey II, while longtime TWS actor Pete Russell will be providing the deep, seductive, blood thirsty voice of the plant.
In contrast to Marcos, who must play two roles at the same time, Russell and Huston have the challenge of learning how to play one role together. During productions, Russell will be watching Huston manipulate the puppet on stage via a monitor and sync his voice with his partner’s movements. For this to work, Huston must still learn the songs and dialogue for the part.
“Luckily, Max is a wonderful singer and musician in his own right,” says Burns. “He understands the rhythms of the music. I believe it is really important to have an actor/musician inside the puppet.”
In addition to Balinese puppetry, Burns also developed a strong appreciation for Balinese culture during her travels.
“It’s a culture that still believes in the arts,” she says. “It made me sad that we don’t value that in our culture anymore.”
She said she enjoyed visiting the temples around the island where people would gather in the evening to play music and perform for one another. “They don’t just work all day and go to their pods,” she says. “They get together and dance and sing.”
As a result, she found that there was much less stress in the community because there was indeed a community who came together regularly to celebrate the arts, which is exactly what theatre is all about.
“Little Shop of Horrors” plays on the Main Stage through June 26. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Season tickets are still the best bargain offering patrons opportunities to see other upcoming productions including “Let the Eagle Fly,” “Chicago,” and “The Adding Machine.” Tickets can be purchased online at western stage.com or through the box office at (831) 755-6816.
—Daniel Tarker
