Stories and traditions intersect in a journey across time and space. Traditional puppetry meets live-filmmaking!
Shank's Mare by Tom Lee & Koryu Nishikawa V
Shank's Mare is an internationally renowned puppet theatre piece by Tom Lee and Japanese Master of the cart-puppet form, Koryu Nishikawa V of Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo. Shank’s Mare is the story of two wandering travelers whose paths intersect across time and space. A medieval astronomer and his assistant track a comet across the heavens; a swordsman turns bandit out of grief. All wander up mountains, into snowstorms and eventually, through time, to the sounds of hammer dulcimer and Japanese shamisan and flute.
Using traditional Kuruma Ningyo cart puppetry, video projection and live music, the piece explores themes of life and death and how tradition is passed on. Gorgeously detailed miniature sets combine with cinematic projections and virtuosic puppetry to create a once-in-a-lifetime performance event, appropriate for ages 5 and up.
"You simply won’t see better puppetry anywhere nor a tighter braiding of methods old and new nor artists working so confidently at the peak of their craft.”--Helen Shaw, Time Out, NY
Shank's Mare has been featured at the Musee de Branly in Paris, France, the Chicago Puppet Festival, the Iida Puppet Festival in Japan, La MaMa in NYC, and has toured across the United States, and Hawaii.
Approx. running time: 70 minutes.