From January 19th to the 28th the art of puppetry, mask and animated objects will come to life at several Calgary venues for the third International Festival of Animated Objects. This year’s festival, organized by the Calgary Animated Objects Society, features a broad range of artists and performers, several of whom will have great interest to Calgary’s LGBT community.
Alberta born Ronnie Burkett, who just wrapped a successful Alberta run of his brilliant show Ten Days On Earth, returns for a one-night-only speaking engagement on January 22nd at the Vertigo Theatre. He will read from his latest work in progress: Billy Twinkle, and Requiem for a Golden Boy. The evening will give fans of Ronnie’s work the chance to learn about how and why he does it. I have spoken to Ronnie at length in promoting Ten Days on Earth (in the September 2006 issue) and I attended Alberta Theatre Projects “Talkback Tuesday” performance of the show. Having both a one-on-one conversation with him, as well as seeing his Q&A session, I can promise you that Ronnie is as entertaining to see speak as he is to see perform. This is a must-see, a chance to sneak a peek at his next work and learn from one of the most influential puppet artists in the world, raised right here in Alberta!
January 21st and 22nd sees Get Off The Cross, Mary! presented by Twigs and Company at the Calgary Opera Centre. A once-famous gay puppet decides to make his big comeback by producing, directing and starring as Jesus in a queer disco version of The Passion. This hilarious show was created by Edmonton’s comedy greats Trevor Anderson, John Ullyatt, Annie Dugan, Ryan Parker and written by Vancouver’s Berend McKenzie.
Los Angeles’ Paul Zaloom has been called “one of the most original and talented political satirists working in the theater” by The New York Times. He is an OBIE-winning puppeteer and performance artist who has written, designed and performed 12 solo spectacles, including Fruit of Zaloom, Sick But True, and his latest, The Mother of All Enemies, which plays January 25th – 27th at the Vertigo playhouse. This wickedly funny show gives new meaning to the term “shadow government.” A politicized update of the traditional Middle Eastern “Karagoz” shadow play, uses a glut of low-rent special effects as Zaloom plays out a frenetically comic epic. His Karagoz, a queer-secular-humanist-Quaker-Buddhist-agnostic-Arab-immigrant artist, somehow outfoxes a horde of pursuing adversaries made up of Homeland Security, Al Qaeda, the Statue of Liberty, the Christian Ex-Gay Movement, Minutemen vigilantes, and Israeli and Syrian agents. Zaloom will also be in The Dolly Wiggler Cabaret. This will be one of the funniest of the fest in one program of short comedic highlights. Your hostess Cory Mack guides you through this hilarious and daring evening. Paul Zaloom puts a modern twist on classic Punch and Judy routines with his Punch and Jimmy. The compelling mask work of Faustwork fascinates, while incomparable Cirque du Soleil clown and classically trained pianist Mooky Cornish turns the evening on its ear. Special guests will be waiting in the wings to surprise and delight.
The festival will also feature a visit from The Chiodo Bros., the puppeteers of South Park creator Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America: World Police. They will give a stop-motion animation workshop at the Art Gallery of Calgary, and present “Team America and Beyond” at the Uptown Screen! Both events take place on Saturday, January 20th, 2007
More than just puppetry, the IFAO features a myriad of local, national, and international artists working in the broader realm of animated objects, including new media artist and youth leader Archer Pechawis, musician and animator Chad VanGaalen, comedian Cory Mack, Faustwork Mask Theatre, sideshow hucksters Ghostwriter Theatre, puppet-maker and body-painter Jacquie Paul, hip-hop artist and youth leader Jerilynn Webster, rocker and artist Kara Keith, traditional Aboriginal mask and cultural performers ‘Ksan Performing Arts, shadow puppeteer Lynn Jeffries, Cirque du Soleil clown Mooky Cornish, multi-media puppeteers Red Smarteez Marionettes, scandalous sasspots Small Brown Package Theatre, and emerging Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth theatre troupe Young Spirit Voices!
This unique event only happens every two years and truly gives insight into the rapidly resurging art of puppetry and animation. Festival passes are reasonably priced at $129, are fully transferable and get you into all of the shows – a cost of $5 per show!.
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ANIMATED OBJECTS
January 19th - 28th, 2007
Tickets: (403) 221-3708
www.animatedobjects.ca
