A light diversion
Shadow play lacks substance in En Masse
by Bill Rodriguez
EN MASSE. by Heather Henson. With Kristin Miller, Melissa Hensley, Heather Henson.
At Perishable Theatre through October 3.
Heather Henson's En Masse is such a gentle offering. It
tries to slow us down, as if to show us that a drifting cloud is as worthy of
attention as a parade passing below it. The work's interplay of shadow
puppetry, nature-inspired objects and movement is opening the Stage 2 schedule
at Perishable Theatre.
It's a slight presentation, which too much theatrical expectation will blow
away. Barely longer than 30 minutes, it consists of four overlapping pieces,
all centered around a large translucent circle that stands against a simulated
star-lit sky in the black-box space. Helping direct the mood, like a guided
meditation, is lighting design by Nicholas Wisdom and sound design by Tim
O'Keefe, the New Age music including selections of Neotropic and Sun
Electric.
The pieces are inspired by the natural environment, and draw us into that
world around us. A deer puppet, manipulated with rods, has a body that is the
head of a man. In perhaps the most gracefully beautiful image, a fish puppet,
translucent but softly multi-colored, undulates atop the upraised legs of the
puppeteer behind the screen. At some points the shadows of the puppeteers are
thrown onto the center-stage circle, just as shadow puppets do from behind the
screen.
The first piece, "Stone wall hoof," is the least arresting as shadow play, but
eventually puppeteers Kristin Miller and Melissa Hensley emerge to do a dance
of their own choreography. Wearing elegant white deer heads atop their heads,
Julie Taymor- style, they perform a pas de deux that combines the movements of
the animals with the longing that humans have to be so graceful. An even freer
grace, that of wind-borne leaves and petals, is displayed in "Petal rise."
Natural forms that look like milkweed pod segments drift about, culminating in
one of the performers wielding three of them and turning into a dancing
trillium.
Water imagery abounds in "Sea breath." Miller and Hensley swish fish about on
wands, two in each hand. The little puppets are lit from within, and in the dim
theater space the wonderful illusion is maintained that a school of fish are
flicking this way and that with a collective intention. Less successful,
because less variation is possible, are three fish as shadow puppets, whirling
like a tripartite Tao symbol.
Such imagery comes alive as we enter more fully into the water world. The
floor is already slick from foam "snow" that the petals drifted through in a
short element called "Squall." Now projections of jellyfish appear on the
screen, as before it two performers make great elongated bubbles with loops of
string, as conventional bubble machines also fill the air. This culminates
behind the screen as Henson creates bubbles by blowing through circles made
with thumbs and forefingers. All three manipulate them and exchange them in an
impromptu little water ballet. We see the performers as shadows and the bubbles
in all their iridescent glow. Beautiful.
Much of En Masse, as charming as its moments can be, reminds us how
much more effective these pieces would be in the context of larger works. They
could enhance or amplify the mood or theme of more elaborate theatrical
productions or fuller choreographies. The opening, for example, is a rather
static five minutes apparently designed to center us, but it consists of
nothing more than the shadow puppetry of a deer leaping while similar imagery
is projected on the face of the screen. This might have worked better, focusing
our attention rather than risk becoming boring, if it had been a background
component instead of the main event. In fact, Rhode Island School of Design
graduate Henson has contributed shadow puppets to the Trinity Repertory Company
production of As You Like It, as well as set elements for the Cadence
Dance ballet The Snow Queen.
A collaboration is in order. Heather Henson's lyrical imagination would
incorporate well into a more ambitious presentation. As it is, what we have
here is largely beautiful set design in search of a production to enhance.