In an era before television and cinema, shadow plays offered
an inexpensive form of entertainment. They were performed simply, using little
cut out shapes that children could reproduce at home. One such play was “The
Broken Bridge,” which may have originated in France in the 18th
Century. One puppeteer, Francois Dominique Seraphin, so captivated audiences that he drew the attention of the French aristocracy. Marie Antoinette reportedly attended his shows.
Author Mary Robinette Kowal pays homage to this once-popular form
of entertainment in her Jane Austen-like novel Shades of Milk and Honey. One
afternoon Melody Ellsworth receives visitors in the family drawing room. Her
old sister Jane is upstairs, reading to her mother from William Meinhold's gothic romance novel Sidonia The Sorceress. After awhile, her mother asks
Jane to see what’s occurring in the drawing room. She creeps
downstairs, where she watches Mr. Vincent performing “The Broken
Bridge” for her sister Melody and the dashing Captain Henry Livingston. Weaving
folds of glamour from the ether, Mr. Vincent creates small dark silhouettes on the tea
table.
“A traveler, after a number of obstacles, approached a
bridge, which was in the process of being destroyed by a workman with a pickax.
The traveler tried to get the workman to tell him how to cross the river, and
after receiving a series of increasing rude answers, he found a boat and
crossed the river.”
Mary Robinette Kowal is a professional puppeteer, and she
performed “The Broken Bridge” at last year’s World Fantasy Convention in
Brighton, England. Afterward, she turned her stage around to show
us how she constructed it. Apparently, she found a better use for cereal boxes than consigning them to the landfill.
Isn’t it amazing the way an author or a puppeteer
can make a story come alive for us, can draw us into their characters, plot, and
drama, can make us laugh and cry and care about what happens, and without
spending hundreds of thousands, or hundreds of millions of dollars, to make a “realistic”
TV episode or movie? That’s a special kind of magic, a feat that such talented
people should take great pride in.
At least, that’s what I think. But then,
maybe I’m just prejudiced…
Dragon Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment