The O'Neill Intensives were a development of our Master Classes. A number of conference participants expressed an interest in attending a session that would enable them to investigate one aspect of puppetry over an extended period of time. Thus the Intensives were born.
They are held during the three days before the main conference sessions. Participants arrive on Wednesday morning and depart on Saturday. The sessions begin on Wednesday afternoon. One may choose to attend just the Intensives, the Conference or both.
This year, the O'Neill welcomes back Jim Kroupa who will present his workshop on puppet mechanics.
Please Note: There has been a change in the Manipulation Intensive due to an unforeseen circumstance. The Manipulation Workshop will be divided between Robert Smythe and Martin P. Robinson. Martin will be teaching a basic video manipulation course with one master workshop per day. Robert will be teaching the table top technique described in depth below in two workshops per day. This course is still open and we will waive the late fee, since it is a change in curriculum and artist. If you are interested and have not registered, please contact Bobbie Nidzgorski at ONeillpupconf@aol.com.
The fee is $400.00 which includes the intensives, all meals and lodging.
Due to the change in workshop and instructors, the $50.00 late fee for those who wish to attend this new workshop will be waived. |
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Fundamentals of Puppet Performance: Performer, Instrument and Score
- with Robert Smythe (Artistic Director of Mum Puppettheatre of Philadelphia)
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This class will use to develop an awareness of the three fundamentals of puppet performance: the performer, the instrument and the score. The class will use LeCoq mime technique and other theatre exercises to develop performance skills; found objects to create hand-puppets and Japanese-style bunraku puppets for instruments; and simple improvisational exercises to open the exploration of developing works for puppets. Participants will work solo and in pairs and will learn how to create their own work through exercises designed to increase control of the elements of theatre.
Photo: The Fantasticks, nominated for a record 7 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater, winner of three, including Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical |
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Robert Smythe - Robert Smythe is considered one of the foremost puppet artists in the United States, referred to as "an amazing amalgam of man and puppet." He has won prestigious fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and awards and honors from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the American Center for the Union Internationale de la Marionnette. He has four Barrymore Awards in the areas of choreography, design and education, and is one of the few puppeteers listed in "Who's Who."
As the founder and Artistic Director of Mum Puppettheatre, he has written, directed and performed over 20 original productions using puppets, masks and human actors. According to the Philadelphia City Paper, his work is responsible for the "Philadelphia theater renaissance that continues to this day,” and he is widely acknowledged to have changed perceptions about puppetry and theater throughout America.
Robert Smythe has directed and created work for the Arden Theater, the Wilma Theater, Interact Theater Company, he Minneapolis Children’s Theater, and the Independent Eye. He has created four original concert works with the Philadelphia Orchestra: Swan Lake won the 2003 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Collaboration for Mum. Robert has performed his work throughout Japan, Europe, North and Central America, and at many venues throughout the United States, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Baltimore Theater Project. His work can also be seen at EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World and on Nickelodeon. |
| Video and Television Technique and Performance - led by Martin P. Robinson |
I will be working participants through the video monitor barrier into a land where the camera/monitor vision system is their friend. Some puppets were designed to be worked in front of a camera, others adapted to it. Once the performer has mastered the technique, the puppet is seen from the outside as it is being created/acted from the inside....a strange method of perception, when you think about it. In this media saturated time it is useful to have the video monitor as a tool of the puppeteer's vision.
The participants will be moved through the monitor technique as fast as they can individually handle so that we may get to the heart of performing...creating powerful characters that elicit a strong response in an audience.
Puppeteers are encouraged to bring a favorite puppet of their own to use...and I will bring a hoard of lip-synch hand puppets. See you there... |
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Martin P. Robinson - MARTIN P. ROBINSON has been a professional puppeteer since discovering that it was the perfect link between acting and sculpture. A 1974 graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he has worked for Nicolo Marionettes, Addis Williams, Bob Brown, Paul Ashley, Bil Baird, Jim Henson, and for five seasons of "Spitting Image" in England. As a puppeteer on Sesame Street since 1981 he has won Emmys for his characters Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster, Slimey the Worm, and those "Yip-yip" Martians. During his spare time he performed the Cat in the Hat on the Nickelodeon series; "the Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss". His company, Hairy Edge Productions has designed/performed "Allegra's Window" and "Blue's Room" on Nickleodeon and "Oobi" on Noggin. |
| Teaching has become an important aspect of his professional life as the senior puppet coordinator for Sesame International, hiring and training puppeteers for productions in Canada, Mexico, Israel/Palestine, Egypt, Germany, Russia, Bangladesh, France, India, Indonesia and Ireland. Film credits include "Follow That Bird", "Muppets Take Manhattan", "Elmo in Grouchland", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "The Producers". In 1982, Martin designed, built and performed the plant in the original Off-Broadway production of "Little Shop of Horrors" for which he received a Drama Desk and an LA Drama Critics Award. He provided the same services for the incarnation of the show that was recently on Broadway. Martin also designed for the production of "Frogs" at Lincoln Center, and two productions with orchestra for Carnegie Hall. Presently, there is a live production of Nickelodeon's "Go Diego Go" touring the country with twenty large scale jungle animal puppets and a huge talking tree from Robinson's shop. At the O'neill Puppetry Conference Martin was twice a guest artist; developing "Jackstraws in a WindTunnel" and "PigeonHoled". |
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Creating Mechanisms for Puppets - led by Jim Kroupa
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The three day intensive will examine Jim Kroupas approach to "Mechanical Heaven." Starting with hands-on examples, each student will design and build a puppet mechanism using Jim's "Keep it Simple" approach. Minimal effort for maximum effect. Supplies and cookies will be served!
For over 20 years, Jim Kroupa - of 3/Design Studio - has been designing and building puppet mechanisms for TV, films, and commercials. His numerous credits include Eureka's Castle, Gullah Gullah Island, Between the Lions, Bear in the Big Blue House, Book of Pooh, It's a Big Big World, and Johnny T and the Sprites. |
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