Kate Aspergren, in this podcast, discusses playwriting and the beauty of our suspension of disbelief. She completely 'geeks out' over The Lion King and War Horse puppetry, and how, like children, we quickly forget that what we are looking at are men handling puppets.
It takes a few moments, but our eyes and minds adjust, but quickly, we are fully invested. Somehow, we do not see the puppeteers any longer. We only see Joey, prancing or running or rearing back. Kate couldn't explain it, from a playwriting perspective, she just said, sometimes things are so beautifully done you just want everyone to 'shut up so you can look at the horses.' Not only is she a playwright, but she is a true fan of live theatre, and respectful of it from cradle to grave - actor, technician, costumer. She is humble, and urges the playwright to rewrite if an actor keeps changing your lines, because they're 'probably making it better.'
We have been looking at the horses for a long time on stage, seeing them, suspending our disbelief:
Think when we talk of horses that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth;
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings
Henry V
Opening Chorus
To see the horses in War Horse:
No comments:
Post a Comment