Theater Collaborations

Full-fledged working collaborations between theater and puppetry companies are often the most creatively fulfilling of all applied arts projects.  Mock Turtle’s past record of working with other arts organizations certainly bears testimony to this assertion.  From our artistic sorties into the secular cantata (Handel’s Tra Le Fiamme), to the life and times of Don Quixote and our excursions into mythic Chinese traditions, our work as a puppet theater has always been enriched through our collaborations with other artists.

The Nightingale

In many ways our production of The Nightingale, adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen tale and performed in collaboration with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem was our most ambitious and risky production.  With a cast of seven puppeteers, a choir of some forty singers and a small baroque ensemble, the play was a substantial challenge.  Like most productions of its kind, an amazing combination of talent and cooperation led to its success.  The Nightingale was a tribute to Bach, Hans Christian Andersen and the Bethlehem arts community.

How Theater Collaborations Work

Our approach to collaboration with other theater companies tends toward a fairly pure version of devised theater, in which everyone has a say in almost every aspect of the work. This includes input into the script itself.  A good example of the method is our collaboration with Touchstone Theatre’s production of Journey from the East.  Here we had to adapt script to puppet and puppet to script as we took to the public parks with flying monkeys and a twenty-foot high dragon puppet.

Goals and Outcomes

There is no one reason for doing theater.  Commercial theater is directed toward making money. Community theater is about serving social and local needs.  But, more than anything else, a theatrical collaboration should be an aesthetic enterprise; first and foremost, a work of art.  That, in any case, is our approach to working with other theater, music, and dance companies.  We will continue to welcome any opportunities that come our way to fulfill that outcome.