‘The Mirrored Pool’ at Center for Puppetry Arts brings the cosmos closer
This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
Inspired by the legacy and writing of Carl Sagan, “The Mirrored Pool,” a world premiere running Friday through Feb. 22 at the Center for Puppetry Arts, is an exploration in blending eras and genres.
Created by puppeteer Tom Lee in collaboration with the modern classical music group Eighth Blackbird, the production tells the tale of the Golden Record, an interstellar time capsule launched in 1977 in Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft. These identical 12-inch gold-plated copper discs were included as a “message in a bottle” to potential extraterrestrial life, containing sounds, music and images of Earth. Voyager 1 is nearing 16 billion miles from Earth, while Voyager 2 is more than 13 billion miles from our planet.
The Center for Puppetry Arts pitches the show, intended for ages 18 and up, as an invitation to audiences “to reflect on humanity’s place in the cosmos.”
The artists aim to inspire audiences of all ages with their own journeys across mediums. Lee will play instruments, while Lisa Kaplan, pianist and executive director of the Grammy-winning Eighth Blackbird, will puppeteer. By blurring the lines of what the piece is and who the performers are, this creative duo invites audiences to contemplate that “anyone can do anything.”
Born in Korea and raised in Hawaii, Lee is a director, designer and acclaimed puppet artist whose credits include puppeteering in the Tony Award-winning production of “War Horse.” He was approached by the Center for Puppetry Arts for “The Mirrored Pool” as well the exhibition “Child of Wood” (on view in the Dean DuBose Smith Special Exhibition Gallery through May 17).
Lee’s two eldest daughters collaborated with him to create a giant scroll on view at the puppetry center. “I’m so proud of them. I have all these pictures of us working on the floor in this little apartment in New York, painting it,” he says.
In collaboration with Korean-born puppeteer Jaerin Son, Lee’s puppetry designs evoke an organic, fluid feel.
“It was a live process — a really joyful process,” he says. “It’s been exciting for me because it’s given me a chance to look back and to present all of these puppets that I’ve made over the years.”
Elemental percussion instruments punctuate the puppets’ journey and are played onstage.
Kaplan has dedicated the last 25 years of her life to playing “the music of now” through Eighth Blackbird. She co-founded the Chicago-based modern classical sextet in 1996 with Matthew Duvall, percussionist and artistic director.
“It’s not comparable to, say, the baroque era, when Bach was writing,” she says. “(Back then), most of what everyone was writing sounded a certain way. The music of now is written by living composers and contains real diversity and eclecticism.”
In this production, the pieces of music history onboard the Voyager meet the modern concertos of Eighth Blackbird.
The namesake mirrored pool is a metaphor for a place of return, convening and discovery. Familiar figures gather here and are tied together by melody.
“Musicians who choose to play contemporary music must be flexible and versed in many different styles. So there is Bach in our show, actually, because there is Bach on the Golden Record,” says Kaplan.
As Sagan writes in “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,” “the Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.” “The Mirrored Pool” seeks to make the most of our small stage.
“It gives us great perspective.” Kaplan says. “In a time where we may feel fragile and exposed, what we’re all looking for is connection and engagement. These points of engagement bring artists real fulfillment and get us away from what’s happening in the world.”
“The Mirrored Pool” invites audiences to indulge in humankind’s endless curiosity about what lies beyond our world and our place in it.
THEATER PREVIEW
“The Mirrored Pool”
Friday through Feb. 22. $22. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. NW, Atlanta. puppet.org.
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Susana Hills is an Atlanta-based writer with a background in theater and performance studies.
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