Joseph Cashore doesn't mess around with his marionettes.
Illustration by Jason Rearick / The Citizen, photos provided
Marionettes put on lifelike show
Marionettes put on lifelike show
In fact, he prefers not to call them puppets.
“I want to create the illusion that the marionette is a living, conscious being on stage,” Cashore said.
Audiences will experience the extremity of Cashore's craftsmanship when the marionette artist takes the stage of Phipps Auditorium in Macmillan Hall at Wells College tomorrow night.
Cashore's show consists of a series of 13 vignettes ranging in tone from comedic to dramatic.
“I like to arrange the evening so it's a rollercoaster ride,” he said. “There are a number of surprises in the show that the audience doesn't expect.”
Despite the quizzical qualities often associated with marionettes, Cashore feels the audience will not find any difficulty falling into the drama he presents on stage.
“Drama is ideal for marionettes - you can feel with one more than you can with a human actor because they possess a certain poetic quality that disarms the audience,” he said. “The performance is for adults and young adults; this isn't a kiddie show,” he said.
Each vignette stars one of Cashore's hand-made wooden marionettes. They all possess at least 16 joints by which he can control their movements.
Fashioning the joints and other features of the marionette is the first step in the figure's creation. What follows is a period of experimentation that can last as long as a few years.
“I build it and string it up, then I have to figure out why it's not working,” Cashore said.
The uniqueness of each marionette's anatomy demands that it possess its own control mechanism. The familiar “airplane control” - the wooden cross with four strings attached - does not suffice for Cashore's creations.
Cashore must utilize his entire upper body to articulate the movements of his marionettes with several strings, levers, springs and pulleys.
He fine-tunes each marionette's limb movements by “judiciously adding pieces of lead until the movement looks natural.”
“The illusion is in the subtlety and the precision of the movements,” Cashore said.
Once Cashore has found the correct configuration for the marionette, he can incorporate it into the show.
Each travels in a foam-lined case that firmly protects them from scratching or breaking on the road. The wooden cast of Cashore's show fits snugly into his full-sized van.
Cashore made his first marionette when he was 21, but he didn't begin working as a full-time marionette artist until 17 years later. His mastery of the art has come largely on his own.
“I read every book I could find on the subject and learned by experimenting,” Cashore said.
Along with his wife, Wilma, Cashore takes his show on the road nine months out of the year for more than 100 performances at colleges, small theaters and performing arts centers. The size and intricate detail of the marionettes necessitates the small venue size.
“I could never work in front of a thousand people,” Cashore said.
During the show, a spotlight is fixed on the marionettes to illuminate their sophisticated forms.
Cashore takes the stage dressed in black to provide him with camouflage against the black background. As he lets the marionettes take center stage, Cashore's stealth is matched only by his seriousness about his art.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be contacted at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
“I want to create the illusion that the marionette is a living, conscious being on stage,” Cashore said.
Audiences will experience the extremity of Cashore's craftsmanship when the marionette artist takes the stage of Phipps Auditorium in Macmillan Hall at Wells College tomorrow night.
Cashore's show consists of a series of 13 vignettes ranging in tone from comedic to dramatic.
“I like to arrange the evening so it's a rollercoaster ride,” he said. “There are a number of surprises in the show that the audience doesn't expect.”
Despite the quizzical qualities often associated with marionettes, Cashore feels the audience will not find any difficulty falling into the drama he presents on stage.
“Drama is ideal for marionettes - you can feel with one more than you can with a human actor because they possess a certain poetic quality that disarms the audience,” he said. “The performance is for adults and young adults; this isn't a kiddie show,” he said.
Each vignette stars one of Cashore's hand-made wooden marionettes. They all possess at least 16 joints by which he can control their movements.
Fashioning the joints and other features of the marionette is the first step in the figure's creation. What follows is a period of experimentation that can last as long as a few years.
“I build it and string it up, then I have to figure out why it's not working,” Cashore said.
The uniqueness of each marionette's anatomy demands that it possess its own control mechanism. The familiar “airplane control” - the wooden cross with four strings attached - does not suffice for Cashore's creations.
Cashore must utilize his entire upper body to articulate the movements of his marionettes with several strings, levers, springs and pulleys.
He fine-tunes each marionette's limb movements by “judiciously adding pieces of lead until the movement looks natural.”
“The illusion is in the subtlety and the precision of the movements,” Cashore said.
Once Cashore has found the correct configuration for the marionette, he can incorporate it into the show.
Each travels in a foam-lined case that firmly protects them from scratching or breaking on the road. The wooden cast of Cashore's show fits snugly into his full-sized van.
Cashore made his first marionette when he was 21, but he didn't begin working as a full-time marionette artist until 17 years later. His mastery of the art has come largely on his own.
“I read every book I could find on the subject and learned by experimenting,” Cashore said.
Along with his wife, Wilma, Cashore takes his show on the road nine months out of the year for more than 100 performances at colleges, small theaters and performing arts centers. The size and intricate detail of the marionettes necessitates the small venue size.
“I could never work in front of a thousand people,” Cashore said.
During the show, a spotlight is fixed on the marionettes to illuminate their sophisticated forms.
Cashore takes the stage dressed in black to provide him with camouflage against the black background. As he lets the marionettes take center stage, Cashore's stealth is matched only by his seriousness about his art.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be contacted at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
