ALI GOSS Photo by Richard Termaine

In the Time of the Blue Ball – by Ali + Lila

Collaborators:
Created by Ali Goss Performed by Ali Goss and Lila Reyes
Music: Patricia Julien
Sound Design: Graham Cook

A multi-media puppet piece based on the book of the same name by Manuela Draeger. Inspired by Manuela Drager’s work of the same title, In the Time of the Blue Ball explores a not-so-distant world in which infrastructure is absorbed by untamed elements. In the piece, the familiar becomes strange as the protagonist Bobby and a wooly crab set off to free a noodle named Auguste Diodon who is trapped in every bowl of noodles eaten in the world. But the question stands, did the noodle ever want saving at all? The piece was originally developed at the Eugene O’Neill Puppetry Conference in 2019.

Ali Goss is a puppet-maker and puppeteer working primarily in toy theatre, marionettes and movement-based work. In 2016-2018 they toured with Melbourne Snuff Puppets wreaking havoc in Taiwan, London, Berlin, and at the FIDENA festival in Bochum. Their work has been seen at Puppet Showplace Theatre, The Tank, La Mama, Coney Island, the Sugarlife Lounge, and internet chat rooms. They currently work at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre. alexandragoss.com @aliylila

Lila Reyes is a multi-media artist and story teller. Her work explores the complex relationship between craftsmanship and identity while also exploring diasporic generational trauma in the modern context. Her work has been seen at The Tank, The Puppet Showplace Theatre, The Balcony, and Coney Island. When not creating she is a renewable energy professional spearheading innovative alternatives for clean energy storage. 

AARON HASKELL

Dream Sequence 1 – by Aaron Haskell

Collaborators:
Aaron Haskell* and Joseph Lymous
*Actors appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

Sometimes our dreams serve us best to create our new reality. How do we find our direction? Our protagonist’s life has become so wrought with thought of who they are supposed to be and their place in a world that seems to be breaking down around them that their life has become somewhat mundane and seems to lack purpose. Then a dream changes everything. 

Credits: ‘Cirque du Soleil’s Toruk: The First Flight’ (Puppeteer) 2016-2019, ‘The Pact’ (Creator/ Director) St. Ann’s Warehouse Puppet Lab 2016, ‘Me_irl’ (Creator/ Director/ Performer) Nightmare NYC’s horror play Festival 2015, ‘The Avant Gardner’ film (Puppet Creator/ Performer), ‘War Horse’ 1st National Tour (Horse Puppeteer/ Ensemble) 2012-2014, ‘Wake Up, You’re Dead!’ (Creator/ Director/ Performer) La MaMa 2010. AaronHaskell.com

Me, You, He & She – by Tianding He, Miyu Yokota

Collaborators:
Directors & Performers: Tianding He, Miyu Yokota
Producer: Ge Gao
Creative Technologist: Manning Qu
Puppeteers & Puppet builders: Bingxu Wang; Talisa Velazquez

A mothership made from surrealistic absurd materials · A puppetry made of realistic cultural clashes. The name and the story of ‘Me, You, He & She’ come from two female Asian creators, whose names sound like ‘me you’ (Miyu) and ‘her’ (He). Born and raised in Asian countries and pursuing their theatre dreams in New York, the cultural differences always clash in their bodies and lives, especially the identity as female. They create this puppetry with cultural relevant materials to discuss relationship between mother and daughter as well as the manipulated female identities in the society. It is a puppet performance about them, as well as everyone in the world. 

Tianding He is an interdisciplinary director, performer, puppeteer and producer originally from China. She has her first MA in Performance Studies from Tisch, NYU. Now she’s pursuing her second MA in Theatre of Hunter College. Her recent credits include: ‘The White Night’ (director, Margo Feiden Gallery), ‘Romantic Misadventures of Ah Q’ (producer, Theatre Row), ‘Puppet Blok: (beats)’ (puppeteer, Dixon Place), ‘Puppet Slam: Stranger II’ (puppeteer, La Mama), ‘Invisible Days’ (deviser, performer).

Miyu Yokota is originally from Tokyo, Japan and pursuing her dream as a performer. She’s earning Bachelor of Arts as theatre major in Hunter College. Her major work in theatre include Water By the Spoonful (Orangutan, Kaye Playhouse), The Arsonist (Anna, Tribeca Performing Art Center), Antigone (Ismene, The Baker Theatre Library).

CHARLOTTE MOROZ

Suitcases and Birth and Irritation and Ascension: A One-Woman Show – by Charlotte Moroz

A 10-15 minute work-in-progress storytelling about my recent trip across the United States to stir up my own life, to let people love me and maybe even save me, to time travel on a budget, to drive away a romance that was going too well and drive right into my own foolish heart. Join me as I re-learn how to use a motorized vehicle, passionately ignore my bank account and reimagine life, at least my own. 

Charlotte Moroz is a theater-maker, song-maker based in NYC and creates theatrical experiences as a means to celebrate human beings. Charlotte makes a blend of music, TED Talk, choose-your-own-adventure, folk storytelling and fever dream that is collaborative, archival, and seeks to delight and uplift and has recently returned from a 3-month tour across the United States putting on improvised musicals at each stop. Charlotte looks forward to returning to Puppet BloK! travels-with-Charlotte.com, misfitpuppets.squarespace.com