Puppet masters conquer fear

Step into Odd-Lot Puppetry Co. just off Liberton Drive and it looks like a whirling dervish passed through.

Wall-to-wall eye-catching fabric and fur appears randomly stuffed into shelves and bags. Rulers litter the floor and every chair is haphazardly covered with sketches, puppet skins or tools.

In the sculpture room, Patrice the owl is still in its prototype stage, a skeletal composite of wood, industrial plastic, metal brackets, springs and oilfield tubing.

“We try to make everything so it’s durable and long lasting. We try to reduce, reduce and recycle,” says builder Tyler Collins. A consummate problem solver, Collins can look at a 2-D pencil sketch and create a puppet from the inside out.

Just by twisting control rods, Collins crosses the owl’s eyes, opens the beak and flaps his wings. Although one of the smallest, the bald bird is the most complex within the puppet family.

Patrice just needs a coat of plumage to star as the comic relief in the company’s remount of Albert’s Afraid on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre.

Albert’s Afraid is a 45-minute family production that deals with fear. It journeys into the world of Albert, a seven-year-old bat separated from his parents and locked in a trunk. After a desperate escape back to his colony, Albert was terrified of everything including his shadow.

One blustery night while the parents are hunting, Albert’s one-year-old sister Eva is blown out of their bell tower home. Although paralyzed with fear, he realizes and it’s up to him to save her.

Along his odyssey, Albert meets a raven that picks on him, a cat looking for a meal, a banshee with self-esteem issues, a werewolf that panics at change and a skeleton that fears falling apart.

Although the theme is serious, puppeteers mine the story for as much comic and theatrical potential as possible.

The 45-minute black light musical is the brainchild of Brendan Boyd, Odd-Lot Puppetry founder.

“This comes from my childhood. I was bullied when I was younger,” Boyd says. “I thought this would be a good time to put on a show about fear. There are a lot of scary things in the world. But you have to face them and overcome those fears to stay true to yourself.”

A graduate of the Keyano College theatre program in Fort McMurray, the stage was part of his DNA since birth. His mother, Michelle, is a scenic designer and fibre artist and father, Stephen, once a sound tech for the college is now project manager.

Albert’s Afraid was initially developed as a commission. The Fort McMurray Public Library hired Boyd to compose a Halloween musical.

“In one month we wrote a 25-minute show, produced the soundtrack and built the puppets. It was very stressful, but it was an amazing learning experience,” Boyd says, adding he lost a great deal of sleep to meet deadlines.

Bunraku, a form of traditional puppet theatre characterized by life-sized puppets, was the inspiration for this magical black light show. It takes anywhere from two to four puppeteers to manipulate a puppet and if they are not synchronized, the puppet’s movements will appear unnatural.

Puppeteers paint the characters’ skins with a phosphorescent paint that glows under the scrutiny of a black light.

“We’re on stage the whole time, but the audience can’t see us. We wear a black ball cap with a black jersey hood over it to cover our faces. And we wear black fitted clothes that allow for movement.”

In addition to Boyd and Collins, actor-director David Johnston and Victoria Green, another Keyano graduate, will manipulate the puppets.

Since the northern premiere, Albert’s Afraid was mounted several times in Edmonton including the 2014 Edmonton Fringe. At each staging, the storyline was tweaked and now runs with 14 songs, six originals and eight additional instrumental tracks.

The company recorded the lush soundtrack and features an impressive list of musicians: Julia Dolman (cello), Stephanie Phani Geary (sax), Michael Lowings (violin), Greg Moffat (trumpet), Rob Johnson (trombone), Jerry Vague (drummer), Michael Gordon (keys) and Andrew Israelsen (standup bass).

For the story line and instrumental inspiration, Boyd looked to Max Fleischer, the 1920s American animator, inventor, film director and producer responsible for Betty Boop and Popeye.

“I love the way Popeye punches a clock and it breaks into a lot of little clocks. That’s the kind of animation logic we like to use.”

Collins, a graduate of the Keyano music program, has worked with Boyd on numerous projects over the years. Enjoying a friendship that dates back to junior high, he has teamed up with Boyd for numerous projects.

For a few years, Collins retreated from theatre working at a “real job” as a highly paid crane operator. But he eventually returned to theatre, building prototypes using his blue-collar experience and whatever scraps of material were available.

“My mind never stops creating so doing this full-time is more rewarding than money.”

After each upcoming show, the troupe will host an information session and that will include exposing the mechanics of their brand of puppeteering.