-
on August 10, 2010
Chthonic Theater
commented on a project updateIf you donated and are eligible for a free ticket but already purchased on Brown Paper tickets, you can still use your comp ticket for a friend. Let us know who your friend is and we will make a reservation for them. Thanks!
-
on August 10, 2010
Chthonic Theater
Posted project update #5Show details and updates
For backers only
If you’re a backer of this project, please
log in
to read this post.
Post Comment -
on August 9, 2010Funded!
Set sail with the “Ship of Fools”--a burlesque musical odyssey of silly proportions by Chthonic Theater
The ship of fools is a musical comedy that chronicles the deportation from society of a group of “fools”. Music, puppets, masks, fun galore!!
-
101% funded $1,525 pledged
- 18 backers
- Funded Aug 09, 2010
-
-
on August 6, 2010
Chthonic Theater
Posted project update #4Harlequin Inspiration
Post CommentThe three main characters of The Ship of Fools comment, critique and at times disrupt the story as it moves along. They also manipulate the Fools, be they in mask or puppet form.
These roles are modeled after 3 archetypal characters from Commedia dell'arte, an Italian theatrical style that began in the 1500s and, "was characterized by masked "types", the advent of the actress, and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. Compagnie, or companies, were troupes of actors, each of whom had a specific function or role." -Wikipedia
First there is Harlequin, an agile and bouncy joker, very mischievous and always lusting after Columbine (or food). Columbine is Harlequin's mistress, a flirtatious and tricky feminine clown. Pierrot is also in love with Columbine, but never wins a contest against Harlequin, so is often sad, spaced-out, confused, or just plain lost.
The costumes for our show are being created by Rachel Tietjen and Domenica Peterson. These are the preliminary design sketches:
And here are some of the early stages of fabric being created for the show:
-
on July 29, 2010
Chthonic Theater
Posted project update #3Poster finished!
Post CommentDrawing by Rachel Tietjen. Typography by Domenica Peterson.
-
-
on July 25, 2010
Chthonic Theater
Posted project update #2Ship of Fools Rehearsal 7/23/2010
Post CommentWhile Maxx and John work on puppet hands and the faces of the 5 fools, Erika leads a musical rehearsal, teaching some new musicians the songs. Rachel and Analisa sing along about madness, monsters and mayhem. Chloe, our fearless director, guides us through the script (her baby).
-
on July 20, 2010
Chthonic Theater
Posted project update #1In Praise of Folly
Post Comment(from the Chthonic Theater Blog)
“The vain spectacle, the frivolous sounds and the maelstrom of noise and colour that make up the world is only ever the world of madness, and that must be accepted. This artificiality of the world must be welcomed, and the knowledge that shallowness belongs not only to the spectacle but to the spectator as well, and that to appreciate it what is required is not the serious ear reserved for the truth, but that more light hearted form of attention more usually reserved for a fairground spectacle or a circus act.” -Michel Foucault, “History of Madness”
Seurat's The Circus“The circus is a tiny closed off arena of forgetfulness. For a space it enables us to lose ourselves, to dissolve in wonder and bliss, to be transported by mystery. We come out of it in a daze, saddened and horrified by the everyday face of the world. But the old everyday world, the world with which we imagine ourselves to be only too familiar, is the only world, and it is a world of magic, of magic inexhaustible” -Henry Miller, “The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder”
So if the world is a metaphorical circus, then we are the clowns making light of the spectacle that is our physical existence. This is, in any case, what Chthonic Theater will attempt to channel in our production of the ‘Ship of Fools,’ an original musical. The storyline plays with definitions of concepts like exile and belonging as well as normal and abnormal which generally carry a very serious tone. Through the use of spectacle and comedy, these ideas will all become parodies of themselves!
by Chloe Tietjen
-
on July 10, 2010
Chthonic Theater launched a project
Set sail with the “Ship of Fools”--a burlesque musical odyssey of silly proportions by Chthonic Theater
The ship of fools is a musical comedy that chronicles the deportation from society of a group of “fools”. Music, puppets, masks, fun galore!!
- $1,500 funding goal
- 08/09/2010 Funding Ended
Chthonic Theater
Oakland, CA
Chthonic Theater (pronounced Thon-ik) is an Oakland based performing and visual arts collective, started by three sisters, Erika, Rachel and Chloe Tietjen (the T-sisters). The word chthonic means literally , “in, under, or beneath the earth” and oft... view more
If you donated and are eligible for a free ticket but already purchased on Brown Paper tickets, you can still use your comp ticket for a friend. Let us know who your friend is and we will make a reservation for them. Thanks!