Joan Howard

Building Middle Earth

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The Peripatetic Players have been hard at work creating the props, costumes, and special effects that will bring Middle Earth to life at a park near you!

Thumper, the Peripatetic Players Head Whirlygig-Maker, has a brilliant idea: Since the members of the famous Fellowship had to travel by foot, the Players will, too — they’re packing all of the whirlygigs, wigs, and whatnot into suitcases and trunks rather than into FluxWagon, their folding mobile stage. All of Middle Earth will come out of the suitcases, and the Players will bravely perform sans stage for the first time!

It’s quite an audacious experiment, and we’re reasonably confident that Samuel (Peaches, the Peripatetic Players’ leading man and impressario) will think it is a *genius* idea.

Behold, some designs-in-progress! Including Princess Gwen in a princess wig, paper claws painstakingly crafted by Percival Perkins, and statuesque illustrations by Meekins!

A Lord Of A Ring In A Suitcase opens in Santa Clara on Saturday, August 17, sponsored by the Santa Clara City Library!

Tour Schedule
Joan (Thumper) looks like she's yelling while wearing a plastic Viking-style helmet with the horns upside-down
Illustration of two faces, each wearing a armor: one serious and bearded, the other clean-shaven with a half-smile and wink
Marlene (Princess Gwen) becomes an elf queen warrior with her long blonde wig, gauzy white robe, and striking a fierce pose with a foam sword in each hand.
Joan (Thumper) pretends to claw at Soren (Percival)'s face with paper claws affixed to her fingers
Seven vests in a variety of fabrics, from plain to plaid to floral brocade

On Adaptations of Children’s Literature…

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An interview with Rebecca & Joan

Rebecca and Joan — who when not embodying Mdme. Directrix and Thumper, respectively, are the SPPP’s producing organization, Idiot String — sat down after one of the final Aesop Amuck rehearsals with none other than Sam Bertken (a.k.a. Meekins) to talk about their inspirations for both Aesop Amuck and the Peripatetic Players’ debut adventure, O Best Beloved.*  Sam writes for S.F. Theater Pub,** a great blog about theatre and the independent theatre scene in the Bay Area that is run by producer, playwright & director Stuart Bousel.

We talked about influences like Mercer Mayer & Maurice Sendak, the Muppets, and Medieval & Renaissance theatre, as well as why performing on FluxWagon and breaking the fourth wall are so important to us. Read the interview here!

*Please note there are a couple words bleeped out with asterisks in this article that, if unbleeped, would be inappropriate for young audiences!

**Please also note that the content of S.F. Theatre Pub in general is aimed at adult audiences, and some topics elsewhere on the site may  not be appropriate for kiddos.

Guess what else?

We have three more shows — including today’s 5pm performance in Pleasanton

There’s still time to donate to our Kickstarter Campaign — until late Monday night!

Thank You, Kickstarters!

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Thank you to everyone who has donated to Flux Fest ’15 and to our Kickstarter campaign!

We’re now just over halfway to our Kickstarter goal of $2500, with 10 days to go. If you’ve been meaning to throw in your support, now’s the time! Click here to go to Kickstarter — if only to watch the video. If you’ve already given, THANK YOU! Here’s a list of our wonderful supporters!

Because of your generous support, we’ve been able to add some bells and whistles to FluxWagon, like her new trapdoor and Aesop-appropriate paint job.

trapjopan-ig

Joan, designer of the FluxWagon, in her new trap door.

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FluxWagon at our opening performance at DeFremery Park, Oakland

New this week: animal portraits by the excellent Megan Hillard! (Stay tuned for photos of those after this weekend’s shows in Hayward and San Francisco.)

Your support is also invaluable to less photogenic but essential endeavors, like making insurance payments, buying gas, and renting trucks to tow Fluxie.

You also help ensure the Peripatetic Players can get paid! They’re super photogenic, actually.

The Peripatetic Players in action. Photo by Tim Guydish.

The Peripatetic Players in action: photo by Tim Guydish. Click through for a whole wonderful set of photos!

FluxWagon Needs a Makeover!

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It’s true! We are underway with modifications to makeover FluxWagon for her new adventures with Aesop’s Fables. She’ll still be the same lovely red-and-yellow on the outside, with colorful worlds on the inside. But the Fables require a much more pastoral setting than the exotic locales of the Kipling tales we told in O Best Beloved. Allow the Players to tell you more:

And you can help! Just click on over to our new Kickstarter campaign, where any amount will help not only get FluxWagon ready to roll, but pay for boring things like insurance, park permits, and artists’ rent.

Thank you!!