This play got back to me a little belatedly on the whole interview thing, entirely because they were stuck in a technical rehearsal when I sent them their questionaire...so...a little late, but always entertaining... the Chameleon Theatre Circle!! Yaaaay!I feel like Kermit the Frog when I intro something that way, and that's not wholly inappropriate in this case. Chameleon is making their successful return to the Fringe two years after their last hit Death Penalty Puppetry with a new show entitled Monsters in America: Puppets of Mass Distraction. Issues and puppetry combined seems to be a genre that fits this group well.
The company since its inception was run by G.J. Clayburn until just recently. He is still heading up this project, though. Here's a 5 question interview that shed a little light on this year's production:
Q: Now that rehearsals are wrapping up, what has been the most pleasant surprise so far?
A: The writing has been top notch and very consistent. With four writers looking at the show from four angles, I sometimes wondered how it would all fit together. I thnk we melded our viewpoints very well. I have twice as many scripts that I wrote that are not in the show than are in the show. I'm sure the other three writers (Rick Raasch, Kim Kivens, and Phil Gonzales) have at least that much, too. The dedication of the collaborators to listen to each other and value everyone's opinion has made the show stronger.
Q: When we last talked, it was about how the show had changed over teh two-year process...how about just since the last itme we talked?
A: It's amazing what a deadline does for a show. Last time we talked, the shape of the show was there, but the nuts and bolts were missing. We now have the whole show assembled--in fact, we took a step we idn't think we would be able to do last time you and I talked: we incorporated video. I'm a big fan of multimedia in theatre. I would have been happy schlepping out the puppets and presenting the piece like that. I believe, however, that multimedia techniques can add nice little touches to a show. It's a lot more work, but the payoff justifies the tears.
Q: What do you hope will be the main thought carried away from your show by members of the audience?A: I actually hope each audience member takes something different away from our show. I hope it leads to discussions. Our show has a liberal bent, so in a sense we'll be preaching to the choir in many cases. We're not looking to change anyone's mind, but hopefully our show serves as a reminder about things that are happening in our world. How we allow ourselves to be distracted by polarizing issues while the politicians shape my kids' future.
Q: If this is a huge hit, would you think of remounting it outside the Fringe?
A: Absolutely! We worked hard on developing the show; depending on the circumstances, I would welcome an opportunity to show it off more than five times.
Q: What is your favorite line from your show?
A: Rick Raasch wrote a song in which a woman sings about her encounter with the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The final two phrases just kill me:
HIS FLESHY LIPS, HIS WEBBY FRILLS
THE SEXY WAY HE FLARED HIS GILLS
HIS FISHY BREATH, HIS SLIMY SKIN
SO TOTALLY AMPHIBIAN
AND IF YOU WANT A COLLOQUY
ON DEVIANT ICHTHYOLOGY
ASK WHOM YOU WILL BUT DON'T ASK ME
(GO TAKE IT UP WITH AL KINSEY)
MY SECRETS SHALL REMAIN MAROONED
SAFELY BENEATH THE BLACK LAGOON
So... there you have it! G.J. and crew will have their muppet-esque crew hard at work for you this Fringe. Don't miss it.
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