Photos from the Odyssey Show (Thanks Adrienne!)

Quote of the Day

Surely the job of fiction is to actually tell the truth. It's a paradox that's at the heart of any kind of storytelling.

-Jeremy Northam

The Face of Penelope

Of all of the puppets I have recently created for my retelling of Homer's the Odyssey, my favorite is Penelope. This character is the gentle and loyal wife that Odysseus pines for during his long arduous journey. She is the root of his homesickness.

The Boy and the Ghost

The Boy And The Ghost
I have discovered another folktale that is found all over the world under different pseudonyms!

Sometimes called Jack and the Ghost, Tinker the Ghost, Esteban and the Ghost or simply The Boy and the Ghost this is a tale of a poor character who goes off to seek his fortune and encounters a ghost who helps him find it. The ghost appears bit by bit as his body parts fall down the chimney in all of the versions. Why the ghost haunts the house and how our main character handles the apparition, however, differs greatly from tale to tale. The subtle variations to this story leads me to wonder about what those alterations might say about the cultures in which it is found.

I especially loved San Souci's The Boy and the Ghost with illustrations by Pinkney.

Jataka Tales

Jataka Tales
I have just discovered the ancient Buddhist stories known as Jataka Tales. I read Ellen Babbit's book created in 1912 that focused on retelling the animal stories. My favorite was the Foolish, Timid Rabbit. It was very similar to the Chicken Little story. A melon falls out of a tree and a mob of animals get caught up in the hysteria. A lion saves the day by introducing logic and reason to the scene. AND- hooray! the lion suppresses his carnivorous ways and no one gets eaten. I am much more comfortable with this than Foxy Loxy.

And I must say that it is wonderful to discover a whole new genre of folktales!

Images from my own personal mythology

When I was a little girl, this watercolor painting hung in my family's bathroom. My mother had purchased it overseas somewhere in the sixties. Sometimes I would imagine that it was a man carrying many flowers and at other times it was an alien flower monster with the legs of a man.
I am thinking about incorporating this image into one of my children's programs, perhaps recreating the flowerman as a puppet.
What does this image say to you?

Website Launched and the Story of Odysseus

My company, Fantastic Fables, has officially launched a website! View it at: fantasticfables.net
Ironically, I have been researching Homer's Odyssey to create a performance enhanced with puppets for the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana this summer. The set will be handpainted and inspired by Greek art. Puppets will be flat paper silhouettes. The form of the Trojan Horse, the Cyclops and the Sirens are gradually taking shape.
As Odysseus embarks on his sea voyage, I too am beginning a new chapter in my professional storytelling career. Hopefully I can cut the underworld scene from both! Wish me luck.