Theatre Beyond Words - images to inspire

Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Spring, 1993 by Karen Waterman

When you leave the theatre after seeing a performance by Theatre Beyond Words, chances are your first words will be, "I've never seen anything like that before!" Best known for their shows for young audiences based on a family of white masked characters called "The Potato People", TBW performs full-length mime shows in theatres and at festivals all over the world. Called a "National Treasure", the company is now celebrating sixteen years of excellence.

Their latest production, Night Train to Foggy Bottom, dazzles you with images, transports you into a surreal world of dreams and memory and takes you on a fantastic voyage where time plays tricks and the realm of physical reality dissolves. The show will stimulate you, delight you and leave you spellbound. Not only does it challenge the actors who use mime, puppets, mask, dance and song, it entices the audience to give up linear thoughts and thoroughly experience the sensory (and sometimes visual) feast set before them. Having worked with this wonderful group of actors, I thought it best to talk directly to them about their creative process, the evolution of the show and the challenge they now face in producing Night Train to Foggy Bottom. The following is an interview I had with Robin Patterson (Co-Director) and Terry Judd (Actor & Collaborator) following their Toronto debut at Harbourfront in February. Night Train to Foggy Bottom is a collective creation by TBW and Coad Canada Puppets. Robin and Terry are both founding members of TBW.

Karen: What inspired Night Train to Foggy Bottom?

Robin: Arlyn Coad's dreams and imaginings were the inspiration for the show. Night Train was conceived by Arlyn as a sophisticated mime and puppet show for adults, using one live actor as the dreamer and puppets for all the rest of the characters.

When we decided to do a co-production, Foggy Bottom grew to include five actors and one puppeteer in a complex mask and puppet show enhanced by five and recorded sound as well as slide and overhead projectors, a surreal set and a moody fighting plot.

Karen: How long did you think about the ideas in the show before you began the writing and rehearsal process?

Terry: We thought about them jointly for a year, but Arlyn had been collecting the images for at least ten.

Karen: Why did you decide to collaborate with the Coads?

Robin: We have been friends for twenty years and have talked often of working together. Their style of puppetry and our style of maskwork are complimentary; we both have a curious blend of European style with North American perspective and humour; and we both insist on fine, polished, detailed work.

One evening over dinner, the Coads, Terry and I were railing at the fact that so much of our theatrical bread and butter came from children's shows because the perception in North America is that mime and puppets are essentially for children. We decided it would be great fun and a challenge to both companies to create a sophisticated adult piece.

Karen: What was the show's theme?

Terry: The show concerns the internal journey of an artist as he creates a new sculpture.

It could be his train of thought during one fantastic night. It could be the altered state of mind in which he works throughout the whole creative period, in which every single thing he sees, hears, feels, tastes or touches influences his work.

We are dealing with analogic thinking, trying to show how ideas grow from unconscious image to visual metaphor, from pre-verbalization to conscious thought.

We are not concentrating on the dreamer's conscious form of expression; we are showing the sources of his thoughts - his subconscious images, his memories and his personal metaphors as they are being created. We are showing the sources of his inspiration and the state of mind he is in as he creates his sculpture. His conscious and/or verbal thoughts about it are simply bookends to the rest.

Karen: How did you get the idea for the dresser?

Robin: The concepts for the erotic dresser as well as many other scenes in the play were inspired by dream characters of images which Arlyn remembered and embellished. Arlyn is a visual artist as well as a puppeteer; her images are very strong and particular - and often quite funny.

Luman built the dresser before rehearsal began. We improvised with the prop/puppet, creating particular physical business and sound effects to enhance the growth of the "character" from an inanimate object to a living, breathing, sexy humanoid.

Karen: The family is fictitious, based on a combination of people and their attitudes to each other. Since the father had a Victorian attitude toward the family, he was dressed as a Victorian gentleman and the mother was a porcelain doll, attached to him by his watch chain. The grandmother had a very strong influence on the dreamer, so she is oversized with an amazing head which opens to allow ideas in and out.

Karen: I enjoyed the comments on art in the show. How has your audience reacted to this show?

Robin: Our best audiences are those which do not need to know every second as the show progresses what is going on. The images should wash over them, having what effect they will until the end. That is the time to compile and analyze. We do not have much dialogue in the show; we hope to elicit discussion amongst audience members after the performance.