Last Friday, I was listening to CBC Radio 1’s show Q. The host of the show did an interview with the members of The Old Trout Puppet Workshop & Friends from Alberta. They are former university classmates, who got together to form this puppet workshop. Their efforts have realised The Famous Puppet Death Scenes, which showed at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts last week.
I was intrigued by their description of their puppet show. They explained how they created several characters to depict various ways of dying. What an interesting topic for a puppet show Ghomeshi commented. The puppet creators agreed. They stated that they wanted to provide people a different way to deal with the topic of death. It is easier to accept even the most gruesome death when the individual who dies is a puppet. In that sense, they make a good point.
It turns out the show has been a big hit in Alberta and other places it has visited. In one of their shows, a grief counsellor approached them and thanked them for putting the show together. This therapist mentioned how he counsels people around dying and the grief it causes. One of the members of the group made a point of mentioning that various cultures have different ways in dealing with death. In some cultures, children are exposed to the idea that we all die at an early age. This, in my opinion, is the healthiest way; it is best children now that all living beings eventually die and incorporate that idea around religious and other beliefs.
I just had to go see this puppet show on its last day (Oct 27th). It was Saturday, and I made my way to the Distillery District. Of course, my TTC bus was late and I didn’t reach the theatre until 2:35ish; the show started at 2:30pm. I was able to get a rush ticket and once there was an appropriate time, the usher led me and two other latecomers into the theatre. The room was full, which made me glad. I had not seen a puppet show since high school… and I’m not about to say how long ago that was! Nonetheless, I was looking forward to this show.
The puppets were all made from different materials… Not all were realistic looking but I got to like the aesthetics of each scene, the look of the characters, the music and the voices. I forgot what it was like to suspend disbelief and just watch the puppets become “real” characters. We had a host, the very philosophical: Nathanial Tweak, who greeted us and kept us afloat in between some of the scenes. He became one of my favourites; his voices, mannerisms and tone just added to feel of the show. In one of his short asides to the audience, he said, “don’t let us [puppets] die in vain.” I thought this very telling in that he was asking us to find some kind of meaning in this show of death scenes.
Of course, some scenes were funny; others rather dark and grim and still others, rather moving. The ones that stick to mind for me are The Swede of Donnylargan by Sir Walter Pill. This scene depicted older people entering a home, who die by shooting themselves after thinking the individual before them has committed suicide. It made us laugh but also question how people deal with the idea of suicide. Another scene titled Ice Age starring Swan Roderick depicted “super humans” in the future who find a frozen body of a “pre-human.” The hilarious thing about this vignette is that all super humans look like Johnny Depp! In this future, people have “cured death” and no one dies. This pre-human explains to them about death and they realise that without death life has no meaning. So after many years of being frozen, the pre-human (who had a brain tumour) is left to die.
Later in the show, we see Lucille Arabesque by Agathon Finley. Lucille is an old lady who is brought out on stage on a stretcher-like bed. The vignette depicts her in her last moments caressing the face of a younger man, played by one of the puppet masters. I found this scene very moving; the audience fell silent. The show closes with Nathanial Tweak, who says he will play out the Perfect Death Scene, in which Nathanial himself dies and is carried away by the grim reaper. This was perhaps the saddest scenes for me, as I had grown fond of this character over the span of an hour or so. It was the quietest death scene of all and I think, the one that moved us the most.
Needless to say, these were all fictitious characters. The scenes and stories depicted are all the creations of Peter Balkwill, Don Brinsmead, Mitchell Craib, Pityu Kenderes, Bobby Hall, Judd Palmer, Stephen Pearce, and Tim Sutherland. These puppeteers and Co. have given us plenty to laugh and think about in terms of the topic of Death and Dying. If you get a chance to see this show, go on… You will be pleasantly surprised.
Addendum: I found the video clip below from The Old Trout Puppet Workshop‘s YouTube Channel. Enjoy!
