Goblin Party Interactive
Goblin Party Interactive
IBEX Puppetry
Orange Venue, 2010 Orlando International Fringe Festival</strong>
Puppets and kites fill the Orange Venue, threatening to entangle the lights high up in the ceiling. The IBEX cast hands out goodie bags with a candy necklace, glowing Koosh Balls and foam rocks, and up on the big screen the 1986 “Muppets meet David Bowie” film Labyrinth plays. On the floor, puppeteers perform a shadow play of the film, encouraging us to shoot darts at pointy toothed fairies and hurl rocks at nasty Goblins. Teenaged Sarah foolishly wished her baby brother gone, and Goblin King Jareth (Bowie) is all too happy to accommodate. When Sarah repents, she has 13 hours to solve the Labyrinth to retrieve her brother, and along the way she meets lots of felt and google eyed creatures.
While the puppet action was continuous and delighted the small children in the audience, my eye was often drawn to the film itself rather than the performance, and this is always a weakness of Shadow Plays. Another thing that struck me was the dreadful quality of the music in Labyrinth. One might expect better from the Thin White Duke although at the time he sported a then-fashionable mullet. On the floor the shadow Bowie wore matching hair and one of the largest cod pieces ever to grace this normally Shakespearean stage. The Ibex puppets were cool, but the cinematic distraction kept me from fully enjoying them.
This event is part of the 2010 Orlando International Fringe Festival. For schedule and ticket information, please visit http://OrlandoFringe.org
