The 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:

Drawing by Rachel Tietjen. Typography by Domenica Peterson.

While 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).

(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