EXCRUCIATINGLY ORDINARY Puppet Show Promises to Be Anything But
Zach Dorn’s latest spectacle, An Excruciatingly Ordinary Toy Theater Show, opens in San Antonio on Friday, March 20. The show, created in collaboration with playwright Murphi Cook, features a series of vignettes in which ordinary events – drawn from lost diary entries –are performed with paper puppets on a remarkably intricate miniature stage. Seen up close, through the lens of a carefully guided camera, these mundane happenings become deeply thought provoking in their nuances and unique details.
“Perhaps the ordinary is not quite as ordinary as we think it is,” Dorn said.
The performances will be held every Friday and Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. from March 20 through April 18. Miniature Curiosa’s Toy Theater Parlor is located at the 1906 Gallery, 1906 S. Flores St. Tickets are $15 at the door or online. For Dorn, the intimate venue evokes the history of Toy Theater, which began in the Victorian era as a way to entertain family, friends and neighbors before or after dinner. Such productions would be held in family parlors, performed for an audience of less than a dozen people.
Dorn and Cook have created an experience that harkens back to this tradition, in both the intimacy of the setting, and the provision of snacks and libations before the show. Cook has designed the parlor so that visitors become immersed in the performance from the time they step through the door.
Click to read more of Gretchen Greer's feature in the Rivard Report of March 12, 2015
An Excruciatingly Ordinary Toy Theater Play
by Zach Dorn and Murphi Cook
Miniature Curiosa
March 20 - April 18, 2015
Performances will be held every Friday and Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. from March 20 through April 18, 2015.
Every evening is a totally new experience. Seating in the parlor is very limited, with audience sizes only reaching about 30. Advanced ticket purchases are highly recommended. Shows can also be scheduled for parties, business meetings, weddings, and whatever your heart desires by contacting miniaturecuriosa@gmail.com.
