LOVE AND PUPPETS

The Old Trout Puppet Workshop is scheduled to return to the Magnetic North Theatre Festival for the fourth time after their sold out run of Famous Puppet Death Scenes in Ottawa two years ago. Since their last appearance at Magnetic North, the Trouts have been uprooted from their Calgary home by the merciless demands of the real estate market and dispatched themselves to a hacienda in Guanajuato, Mexico. There, sequestered from the cruel demands of the everyday, the Trouts settled into dreaming and fashioning their next construction: The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan. This new project reunites them with Director Vanessa Porteous, with whom the Trouts previously collaborated on Pinocchio, and who has been recently appointed as Artistic Director of the prestigious Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary.

Although the Trouts work as a surprisingly functional collective, philosopher-turned-children's-writer-turned-enigmatic-puppeteer, Judd Palmer is often thrust into the spotlight.

Here Judd shares his impressions with us:

We here at the Old Trout Puppet Workshop have been making puppet shows for almost ten years now, which means that we have spent the greater part of our pseudo-adult lives mucking about in heaps of sawdust and dismembered hands and legs and eyeballs, to a soundtrack of creaking joints, in an atmosphere of body odour and train diesel. We didn’t exactly realize it when we first gathered to swear our hairy oaths under the winter sky back in 1999, but we had embarked on a strange voyage that entwined both life and art like a tangle of wool propelled by some scampering feral cat, down the staircase and out the door into the wide and wondrous world.
When we look back on our old shows, they seem a little like diary entries: slightly inscrutable, in that way of crises past, but nevertheless a record of the beleaguerments and brou-ha-ha that constitutes, when all is said and done, life. Our first show was about birth, and with it was born the Old Trout; but we didn’t even realize at the time that we were thus celebrating and eulogizing the beginning of our company. The next several, for reasons that remain foggy, have much to do with pride and its subsequent fall; the evil of innocence, and the sorrow of experience. Finally we made a show whose significance to us was fearful: Famous Puppet Death Scenes, which seemed as if it might actually signal the completion of the cycle we had begun so many years before.

But it didn’t, and here we are again. What comes after death? Only love. And that is our subject.

The immortal spectre of Don Juan is our vehicle. We have been living under his sign for almost three years now, preparing for this show, and indeed like a spooky astrological curse he has laid our path before us even as we trod it. The show is a kind of exorcism; like the shows before it, it will eventually prove inscrutable to us, we are certain. Even now it is inscrutable, because we are still entangled in the mysteries of the ancient story, and God only knows if we will emerge happier or wiser for it. All we know is that our lives are being lived, and in some way we cannot quite understand, being turned into puppet shows. We’re hoping that some day Heaven will smile on the rank absurdity of such a life, and allow us entrance.

CALL FOR EVENT LISTINGS

The Festival is inviting submissions from the Ottawa theatre community for projects and performances taking place concurrently with the Festival, for inclusion in our brochure as UPCOMING OTTAWA-AREA THEATRE EVENTS. This will be a prime opportunity for Ottawa companies to promote their work to theatre artists from across the country, international representatives and guests as well as audiences interested in celebrating excellence in Canadian theatre.
Deadline for Submissions: Monday, February 16.

ELIGIBILITY

• Projects / performances should be the work of professional theatre artists, as defined by the Canada Council: The Canada Council defines a professional artist as someone who has specialized training in the field (not necessarily in academic institutions), who is recognized as such by her or his peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition), and who has a history of public presentation or publication.
• Work from other artistic disciplines may also be considered, but space is limited and preference will be given to professional theatre activity.
• Preference will be given to projects with at least one performance or presentation falling between the dates June 3-13, 2009, although projects taking place between May 1 and June 30, 2009 may be considered.
• Projects must take place in the greater Ottawa-Gatineau region.
• The Ottawa Fringe Festival will be included as a festival. Individual companies appearing at the Ottawa Fringe must also be performing outside of the Fringe in order to be eligible for a separate listing in the Magnetic North brochure.
• Space is limited. Eligibility does not guarantee publication in the brochure.

Magnetic North Industry Series Pitches
Ottawa, Ontario, June 8 - 10, 2009

Every year, Magnetic North draws theatre professionals from across Canada and around the world to facilitate dialogue, networking, collaboration and exchange. The Industry Series, which runs this year from June 8 - 10, adds depth, relevance, value and provocation to the festival delegate's experience. A full program of discussions, gatherings and performative encounters will enhance the festival in a myriad of ways for professionals of all stripes. At the centre of the Industry Series are our Pitch Sessions, where eight new projects will be presented to a discerning audience of programmers, presenters and fellow artists.

Pitch Session
Tuesday, June 9, 1pm – 3pm, Arts Court Theatre
The Pitch Session is an ideal opportunity for artists to kick-start their projects, find new collaborators and extend touring opportunities by presenting their work to producers, artistic directors, festival curators, presenters and other cultural industry representatives. Deadline for submission is March 15.

Click here for more information on Pitch Selection criteria and submission details.

Dates to Remember
March 18 Festival Launch
June 3-13 Magnetic North Theatre Festival
June 6 -10 Presenters Window
June 8-10 Industry Series