The Puppet Pod!

A Retirement Party Photo: Sub/Urban Photography [https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5efba3305b97a2491c76390a/1611445109487-B84R9YB1FW74JBINBDZO/Spencer+pic_resize.jpeg?format=1000w] Photo: Sub/Urban Photography Spencer (he/him) thinks puppetry is object manipulation for communication. Spencer Lott is a puppeteer, designer and director. His puppetry credits include A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (starring Tom Hanks), Sesame Street (HBO/PBS), and Melvin the Birder (Amazon Prime). Recently, he’s designed puppets for projects with Nickelodeon and LaGuardia Performing Arts High School. In addition to being the Associate Artistic Director of Trusty Sidekick Theater Company, Spencer Lott is the recipient of four Jim Henson Foundation grants for his original puppet productions including Blossom. He is a resident artist at HERE Arts developing a biographical puppetry work with visual artist Maiko Kikuchi. www.misterlott.com [http://www.misterlott.com/]

Puppetry is a Love Language Photo: Storm Thomas [https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5efba3305b97a2491c76390a/1608310281480-Q42W4H3Y7B7QFA6ACNE3/Storm+Pic_resize.png?format=1000w] Photo: Storm Thomas Storm (they/them) thinks puppetry is a tool, no more, no less. Storm Thomas is a playwright/drummer-pastor/maker and has written and composed musicals: Notes on the Past, Ancient Future, and Be Like Bone. Storm has been everything from a Joker with Theater of the Oppressed NYC to a performer at the 2017 Obie Awards. In classes like Black Musical Theater, Music for Performance, and New Musical Theater Lab Storm's teaching focus is on generating new material (UArts and Playwrights/NYU). Storm has an MFA from Sarah Lawrence and is currently pursuing a degree in engineering at City Tech. Performances include Skin of our Teeth (TFANA), Futurity (Soho Rep/ Ars Nova) and Lexus Verses and Flow Season 3 Episode 1, feat. Jill Scott.

Shine Your Heart Sensei_resize.jpg [https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5efba3305b97a2491c76390a/1606759730121-T7097URE95AVHLXRNI5J/Sensei_resize.jpg?format=1000w] Nishikawa-Sensei (he/him) thinks puppetry is life. Koryu Nishikawa V is the fifth generation headmaster of the 160-year-old traditional puppet theatre company, Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo, a national asset of intangible folk culture. Since he was a child, Koryu Nishikawa V was trained in the form by his grandfather (third generation) and his father (fourth generation). At the age of 23, he studied the three-person-manipulation-technique as an apprentice at the Bunraku National Theatre. In addition to regularly scheduled performances in Hachioji town, Koryu Nishikawa has performed throughout Japan. He also teaches and directs for many traditional puppet theatre companies throughout the country. Since 1995, he sponsored the program “Succeeding Traditional Puppet Plays” and continues to promote Japanese traditional puppet theatre in order to protect and preserve it. He and his company have performed for Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA) international festival in the Soviet Union, Belgium, India and France. Other invited performances include the 200th Commemoration of the Founding of the U.S.A., Belgian Music Festival, and the Lisbon International Puppet Festival. Since 1987, he has taught Kuruma Ningyo for The Swedish National Puppet Theatre Company and for the Swedish Puppetry Institute. In 2000, Mr. Nishikawa participated in the Uruguay Theatre Festival, where he received the Frorrenshio prize, a special prize for foreign play. In 2004 he was chosen as Hachioji sightseeing ambassador and in 2006 Koryu Nishikawa received the Hachioji city Cultural Testimonial Award. Since 2013, Koryu-Sensei has been a co-creator and performer along with Tom Lee in the multimedia puppet piece, Shank’s Mare, which has toured from NYC, to Japan, to Hawaii, across the USA, and France.

Stapler Gaze Photo: Emma Wiseman [https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5efba3305b97a2491c76390a/1594322783429-WRXJ4725G0WBWRKFI81Y/Wiseman_OOO_Out+Of+Office_resize.jpg?format=1000w] Photo: Emma Wiseman Emma thinks puppetry is goofy, and Emily thinks puppetry is very uncanny valley. Emma Wiseman (she/her) is a multidisciplinary theater maker with a particular interest in puppets and objects. In addition to creating original and collaborative works of performance, including OOO: Out Of Office with the inimitable Emily Zemba, she has toured internationally with Robin Frohardt’s The Pigeoning and Nick Lehane’s Chimpanzee, and served as lead puppeteer for the Emmy-nominated “Animated Life”, a New York Times Op-Doc series created by Sweet Fern Productions.  More at emmawiseman.me [https://www.emmawiseman.me/] Emily Zemba (she/her) is a playwright and occasional office-object whisperer. Her work has been presented both on and off music stands at places like Local Theater, First Floor Theater, LPAC, Williamstown Theater Festival, Ars Nova, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater...and also at places not like them at all. She is a commissioned playwright with Theater Masters, a member of Two River Theater Emerging Writers group, an affiliated writer with the Playwrights Center, and a New Georges affiliated artist. Check out her upcoming projects with The Pool 2020 [https://www.thepoolplays.org/] and Society [http://www.societytheatre.com/] emilyzemba.com [https://www.emilyzemba.com/]

Material Performance Photo: Janie Geiser [https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5efba3305b97a2491c76390a/1604519700105-43S6717FTHMAYJLJLGAF/Janie+Geiser+Photo.jpeg?format=1000w] Photo: Janie Geiser Janie (she/her) thinks puppetry is confusing. Janie Geiser is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes performance, film, puppetry, installation, and visual art. Geiser’s work is known for its recontextualization of abandoned images and objects, its embrace of artifice, and its sense of suspended time. Geiser is the recipient of a 2016 Doris Duke Award. One of the pioneers of the renaissance of American avant-garde puppet theater, Geiser creates innovative, hypnotic performances and installations that integrate performing objects, puppets, and projection. Her work has been presented at The Public Theater, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Redcat, The Walker Art Center, and other venues. Janie lives in Los Angeles, and teaches at CalArts School of Theater. More at janiegeiser.com [https://www.janiegeiser.com/]