We’ll see you at the Route 66 Film Festival on Saturday, November 7th. Our film will be playing in Session 5 held between 7 and 10 pm. The festival is in Springfield, IL, just West of our shoot location on the Biggs’ Farm in Westfield.
The Route 66 Film Festival is in it’s 14th year and we are very honored to be a part of it! We are looking forward to experiencing this festival that claims to have “something for everyone” from shorts to features, experimental films to docs, local to international films.
On their Facebook page they state: “The general theme of our festival is journey, whether emotional, physical, spiritual or personal. We strive to introduce audiences to talented artists from around the world, as well as the American Midwest.”
If you’ve been following us on instagram or twitter, you may already be acquainted with our newest addition to the Coyote family: Foxy!
Jen Vargas will be puppeteering Foxy the Coyote in our upcoming production of Riley Ann Visits The Outcast Cafe and has been getting acquainted with her (as we finish building her) during our workshop these past few weeks.
Last week Jen took Foxy on a field trip to The Big Apple! Here’s a little photo journal of the experience:
Foxy and Jennifer get on the train from Wassaic to Grand Central- Final destination: NYC!After all the travel, Foxy rests and relaxes at Jen & Tom’s before a big day out tomorrow.Looking for a bite to eat…The ladies get their nails done for a big night out on the town!In a cab to somewhere exciting…!
It’s TIMES SQUARE!The beautiful gals having a blast in the heart of NYC.Foxy is so curious… So many smells in the big city!So glad you girls got a chance to explore the city together! (A sneaky shot of Foxy’s gracious host, Tom, in the background) See you two in the Berkshires!
Chunky and noisy,
but with stars in their black feathers,
they spring from the telephone wire
and instantly
they are acrobats
in the freezing wind.
And now, in the theater of air,
they swing over buildings,
dipping and rising;
they float like one stippled star
that opens,
becomes for a moment fragmented,
then closes again;
and you watch
and you try
but you simply can’t imagine
how they do it
with no articulated instruction, no pause,
only the silent confirmation
that they are this notable thing,
this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
over and over again,
full of gorgeous life.
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it;
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.
Going to NAFF this weekend and want a teaser? Can’t get out there but want more COYOTE GIRL?
Boy, oh, boy are we excited to share this with you! With our SNAFF premiere behind us and playing again at NAFF this Sunday night, we thought now would be a great time to finally share with you the trailer for COYOTE GIRL.
Very proud to announce that we have been officially selected at the New Art Film Festival 2015 in Champaign, Illinois! Good news for our Mid-Western pals (and for us), y’all have another opportunity to catch a screening!
Our short film, COYOTE GIRL, will be playing amidst a select group of other locally made films on the evening of Sunday, October 4th, 2015 at The Art Theater Co-op. We are featured in the final film block, starting at 9pm.
Taking place amidst the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, NAFF shares a hometown with the University of Illinois, as well as the Boneyard Arts, Ebertfest, and the Pens to Lens Festivals. We are honored to be a part of this art-film fest that aims to showcase the “unique collection of Illinois-produced independent films” at “one of the oldest, continually operation, purpose-built movie theaters in the United States.” The Art Theatre Co-op is a true community home, surviving it’s 102 years when in danger of closing, over 1,000 folks from near and far joined together to show their support and buy shares of the theatre, keeping it alive as a thriving co-op space.
Looking forward to being a part of such a history and hub for Art-Films in the heart of our country!
“You’ve been gnawing at my bones ever since.”
Stay tuned for the COYOTE GIRL trailer for your own viewing coming to the blog soon!
We’re back this #ThrowbackThursday with another #FeaturedFriend! Last month we began a series of interviews with past artists who have come through the Outcast Café. We are delighted to catch you up on their journeys since parting ways and to share a few of their fond memories from their time with us. If you missed our first Featured Friend, Kelsey Hogan, you can check out her interview here.
This month is a special treat as we introduce Jennifer Vargas, one of our Ministering Angels from The Dick and The Rose NYFringe tour in 2012. We are pleased to welcome Jen back to the company this fall as MA (Ministering Angel- solo that is) in our workshop of Riley Ann Visits the Outcast Café. We invite you to enjoy Jennifer’s brilliance right along with us:
The beautiful and talented Jennifer Vargas.
OC: Welcome back, Jenny! We’re so happy to have you in the rehearsal space again. Can you take us down memory lane? Tell us a little about your initial collaboration with Outcast Café:
JV: I was attending NYU Tisch for Drama and Barbara Allen was a clowning teacher of mine. It was my favorite class and I asked her if she knew of any other clowning opportunities in the city. Barbara later reached out to me about a show she was choreographing and she told Biggs about me. I auditioned for him and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jen (front and center) leaps fearlessly into the Ministering Angel team in a pick-up rehearsal at NYFringe 2012.
OC: A history we remember fondly! It was such a joy to have you join the team. What was one of your favorite memories from the summer of 2012?
JV: I have so many! One of my favorites was just working with the Ministering Angels. I was the youngest of the four and I never felt like I was underestimated. We all took good care of each other. We also had a lot of fun behind the scenes (and beyond the drape).
Jen (Center left) enjoys a beautiful company meal hosted by Cindy Elitzer (far right). Pictured: Tori Sheehan (far left) and Kelsey Hogan (center right).
OC: Indeed, we did. Getting to show you the Berkshires was a pleasure, and once we arrived on your turf, New York City, it was great for the non-NYC based members of the company to have someone who knew the ropes. We’d love to know what you’ve been working on since we last saw you. When you’re not workshopping in the Berkshires with us, we can still find you in New York, right?
JV: Right. I just graduated from NYU Tisch with my BFA in Drama. I also wrote, performed, and directed my very own piece called An Afternoon Visit; or otherwise known as Pussy. Since then, I’ve officially moved to New York City and have been auditioning. I’m also in the process of writing a web-series, which will hopefully start filming in the next couple of months.
The Ministering Angels and Puppet Babies take part in Fringe NYC 2012’s “get off your couch..” initiative. Jenny and her babies sit top right of the couch.
OC: Wow! We are so proud of your hard work and accomplishments. We love collaborating with such a driven and creative artist. Are there any thoughts, feelings you want to share about diving into another show with us?
JV: I’m about to be a part of the cast for Riley Ann Visits…, which I am very excited for!! Every time I get in the room with the puppet babies, there are so many new characters to meet and stories to explore. I can’t wait to start working on the new coyote puppets and exploring the depth of the story of Riley Ann Visits The Outcast Café.
Jen and her babies appear in the bottom right corner of the drape during “Yoke of Oppression” rehearsal in Lee, MA.
And what an exploration it is becoming! We are now a week into our process out here in the peaceful and creatively nurturing Berkshire hills and are discovering lots of new information about our story as well as developing a heightened puppetry vocabulary. Stay tuned for more tidbits and pictures from our process soon! Go ahead and follow our Facebook, twitter, and instagram accounts for frequent updates.
As we move forward in our work this year and begin to stage the second play in our trilogy, Riley Ann Visits The Outcast Café, we wanted to give you readers a chance to check in with some of the amazing folks we had the privilege of working with on the several iterations of our first piece, The Dick and The Rose.
To kick us off, here’s a few words from the radiant Kelsey Jayne Hogan:
Kelsey shares a laugh with Company members Dave Demke and Caley Milliken at the Gryphon Venues’ Opening Night party in Edinburgh 2011.
OC: Can you tell us a little about your initial collaboration with Outcast Café?
KJH: I remember getting an email from Biggs early into the new year. I had loved working with Biggs in my freshman year improv class. He introduced me to so many new forms of theatre and I had never felt more expressive. This opened my world. I had always been a bit reserved in auditions and life in general, Biggs was the opposite. Larger than life with an ability to express the deepest emotions. I admired him as an artist, professor, and person. When I learned he wanted to work with ME, I was shocked and looked forward to getting to work.
OC: Sounds exciting! What was it like, bringing to life the work of your mentor? How was the rehearsal process? And what was the Edinburgh Fringe like?
It was hot, but magical in the Berkshires. That first summer with Gail, Emma, and Dylan as my fellow Ministering Angels was incredible. Being under a sticky sweaty parachute with puppets really does create a bond that can’t be broken easily (really the entire cast spent a lot of time under there and we loved each other in spite of our smells). There were days that felt like we were swimming through the air and I was excited to get to Edinburgh with its cooler forecast.
Layover in Heathrow with the gang (R to L: Kelsey Hogan, Dylan Wittrock, Emma Sims-Biggs and Ian Milliken)
Traveling there was another adventure all together…I suppose this show was really entirely one huge adventure with millions of others taking place inside of it. A night spent in London’s Heathrow, an amazing flat, the pubic triangle, flirting with the coffee shop boy down the street, making friends with our venue managers, telling dead baby jokes to passersby, handing out hundreds of flyers, scotch lessons from my dad, ACDC karaoke, and performing a wildly fun, dark, and entertaining show…Edinburgh Fringe was a delight and ended way too soon.
Kelsey and her puppet baby “Bob” work the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.
OC: Indeed, it was. But we were lucky enough to have you with us again in 2012.
KJH: Yes, the following year I received another email from Biggs, we were going to New York. I was thrilled. The play had evolved and so had the cast and crew. I was reunited with my puppet (Bob) and introduced to our new ministering angels. It was a great evolution. We clicked again (I am convinced that parachute makes you friends for life). Bob (my puppet) often had a lot to say. One of my distinct memories was Biggs pulling me aside to tell me “You don’t even realize you are talking when you have your puppet with you, but you need to tell him to pull back a bit”. It was a realization that masks and puppets have a life of their own, it was what truly made me appreciate the art form. Bob did need to pull back and he did.
We had a great time experiencing the NY Artist lifestyle. We had a small apartment and I chose the smallest room (I could touch both walls at the same time). That summer the show really hit a stride, and we got to see other fantastic shows.Performing in the Cherry Lane Theater was an experience I will never forget.
Kelsey rocks the spoons again in our new four-man band (Ian Milliken, Evan Gambardella, Robert Biggs) for NYFringe 2012!
OC: Neither will we! You were such an important part of the experience both times around. It was a pleasure to work with you and we miss your enthusiastic and collaborative presence in the rehearsal room. You’ve had a big journey since we parted ways 3 years ago (!!). Could you tell us a little about what you’ve been up to?
KJH: Of course. A lot of time has passed since then. I truly miss it everyday. It was a time in my life that I was incredibly passionate and excited to get up every morning to create something and be around and connect to other artists. Though I still perform here and there and write when I take the time for myself, I have now moved back to the west coast.
After graduating from Emerson I moved to Washington D.C. and took a year long internship in devlopment and administration with Woolly Mammoth. It was great experience and I found a way to soothe my creative mind in an office by taking on event planning. After a year there I moved back west and took a job with Berkeley Rep handling donor relations and assiting with events.
I just had a one year anniversary with this job, something I have never had! It is exciting and terrifying. I enjoy what I do, love the company and my co-workers, though it can feel a little monotonous not working under a hole-filled parachute with a 7ft penis puppet…I’m moving up in the company and starting in September will be the special events manager which I am very proud of and grateful for. I tend not to plan my life ahead of time; that must be the artist, nomadic soul in me.
Kelsey’s first encounter with the Puppet Babies (South Lee, MA 2011)
OC: We, too, know that traveling spirit very well;) Congratulations on all your hard work and many accomplishments over the past few years! We are so proud of you. Anything else you’d like to treat our readers to? Big life lessons? One more laugh?
I do hope I can see Bob again…when you connect with a puppet it never really leaves you (and my non-puppeteer friends don’t get it). Having Biggs in my life, being a part of “The Dick and the Rose”, connecting with Tori, Caley, Dave, Ian, Ron, Dylan, Emma, Gail, Jenny, Jake, Evan, Barbara, Deborah (I know the list goes on, but for the sake of this sentence I’ll end it here) also will never really leave me. They pushed me to be better every day and make me who I am now. I don’t stay in a shell and won’t be reserved; my self-confidence has soared and I will be forever grateful for them.
The main lesson I learned is to take life by the 7ft. dick, if you will, and live your adventure.
XOXO
Kelsey
Kelsey in action in The Dick and The Rose (with Gail Shalan).
While Biggs stumbled across puppetry as a device to solve a theatrical story-telling problem (drowning children onstage), object manipulation and animation has become a cornerstone of our work at Outcast Café. Our mission statement now includes: “Using tools that leave room for the imagination. Song, dance, puppets, masks, objects found and handmade, all serving the story. We are bare bones, traveling lightly, making more of less.” Therefore, upon receiving the May/June print edition of American Theatre Magazine we were delighted to come across this article counting our puppets in good company.
Opening with commentary about our favorite cardboard man on a table (Moses from Blind Summit’s The Table) whom we delightfully encountered at EdFringe 2011 and continuing to sight the relevance of puppetry as a dynamic storytelling tool, Scott T. Cummings articulates our shared sentiment; “If we will only listen, the reasoning goes, puppets have things to tell us about what it means to be a person and what it means to be an object”.
We learned a lot about our own local centers of puppetry as well as the international ones we may have been aware of before. But mostly, we were happy to know that we are by no means alone in our reanimation of ” what cultural anthropologist and folklorist Frank Proschan dubbed “performing objects”—puppets, masks, ritual and fetish objects, and other material things endowed with agency through display, manipulation, storytelling, or performance”.
The Skeleton of the T-Rex from the original Jurassic film. (Source: www.thebeardedtrio.com)
Does this make us “Rude Mechanicals”?
Here’s a little #throwbackthursday for you all you Jurassic Park Fans! Don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see Jurassic World pretty much solely for the adept puppetry they still use in the franchise, despite all the technological advances of the last 20 years. As John Rosengrant (co-owner of Legacy Effects) says, “There’s some chemistry that happens between the actors and the piece” only to be captured through the magic of puppetry. Check out the process of building and manipulating the emotional death of the Apatosaurus in Jurassic World:
For me, one of the most exciting elements of being a part of Coyote Girl: The Short Film was exploring the art of puppetry through the medium of film. Both forms of story telling are expressions that Biggs and I alike have little experience with compared to our work on stage as actors, but to which we both find a strong draw. For myself as an actor (and I believe for the writer/director in Biggs) film and puppetry, both, are facets of performance that illuminate a simplicity and honesty in our work. The expansion and contraction that comes with jumping from stage to screen and back again mirrors the transient nature of playing a story as an actor and puppeteer simultaneously. This passing through many veils, masks, forms, expressions to articulate a primal truth hits the core of what I understand Outcast Café to be, and what enables, in my opinion, good story telling.
So, in spite of often feeling like I was on a novice’s path to creating this piece, the sense of trust I harbor towards the risks of puppetry and working on film come almost innately in comparison to being an actor on stage. Perhaps this permission comes from this distance from the self/ego I’ve discussed before during our filming log. Both puppetry and working on film give me a greater sense of offering my energy and skill to aiding the story as a collaborator, rather than veering off into any abhorrently self-aware, self-centered, self-obsessed trap that I fear in acting.
Regardless, the challenge of puppetry on film was one that my mind may have been cautious about, but my heart was hungry for. Since the wrap of the film I’ve done a lot of wandering around on the internet looking into puppets on film. BAM and the Jim Henson Foundation hosted an entire event devoted to this art form through which I found March’s #inspiringfellow , Toby Froud, as well as many other talented artists. I’ve watched old Muppet re-runs, shadow puppet music videos, Labyrinth, and even Jaws with a whole new awareness and appreciation. I’m exceedingly excited to share the results of our work with the world and often wish to thank Coyote himself as a trusted collaborator, but in the meantime I want to share a very exciting discovery I made recently:
On the world wide web exists a place that features incredible short films of all types and has an entire category labeled “Puppetry”. This place is called “Short of the Week”. In celebration of our upcoming short film with puppets, I want to share a couple treats from “Short of the Week” that I find have something in common with Coyote Girl. Sometimes it’s stylistic, sometimes it’s subject matter, and sometimes it’s just the joy of puppets! And after you’ve watched these goodies, browse the site for hundreds of other awesome short films.
