SELECTED PERSPECTIVES ON THE PUPPETRY OF THEODORA SKIPITARES by LAUREN HOBBS SEXTON (Under the Direction of FARLEY RICHMOND) ABSTRACT Although interest in puppetry in America tends to come in “waves,” puppetry itself is an art form found throughout history and across many cultures. It is a form of expression that, depending on the culture, can be considered high art, popular, folk entertainment, or a bridge between these categories. This dissertation will not attempt to address all forms of puppetry in either a historic-geographic method, or by creating a taxonomy of manipulation methods. The purpose of this dissertation is rather to examine the work of Theodora Skipitares, an artist whose influence by and application of multiple artistic traditions is unique within contemporary American puppetry. Theodora Skipitares is one of a group of New York performers, such as Jim Henson, Peter Schumann, Julie Taymor, and Lee Breuer, whose work in adult puppet theatre and experimental theatre in the late twentieth century exemplified a new way of approaching performance and a revival of interest in puppetry. Like many of these artists, Skipitares draws influence from a variety of art forms, however it is the intersection of Skipitares’ specific range of influences that is the impetus for this dissertation. It is my opinion that Skipitares’ productions cannot be truly understood from within one artistic tradition or perspective and, therefore, they demand an analysis which acknowledges how selected discourses and traditions intersect in her work. Theodora Skipitares has been labeled a performance artist, a theatre conceptualist, and an innovative director, but rarely a puppeteer. Her productions represent the margins of what is an already marginal art form. The goal of my dissertation, therefore, has been to analyze specifically the puppetry of Theodora Skipitares, revealing how her work is situated within the traditions of American puppetry, performance art, experimental theatre, Japanese puppetry and Indian performance traditions. As this study is informed by materialist feminist perspectives on gender and representation, I will also consider how Skipitares’ work is situated within the frame of gender studies. Overall, each of these artistic influences and/or movements affected the way Skipitares chose to create her puppets and the way she in turn uses those puppets in performance. INDEX WORDS: Theodora Skipitares, Puppetry, Puppet, Theater, Gender, Object Theater, Performing Object, Asian Theater, Indian Theater, Performance Art, Chris Maresca, Alissa Mello SELECTED PERSPECTIVES ON THE PUPPETRY OF THEODORA SKIPITARES by LAUREN HOBBS SEXTON B.A., University of North Carolina at Asheville, 2000 M.A., University of Toronto, 2002 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2007 © 2007 Lauren Hobbs Sexton All Rights Reserved SELECTED PERSPECTIVES ON THE PUPPETRY OF THEODORA SKIPITARES by LAUREN HOBBS SEXTON Major Professor: Farley Richmond Committee: Freda Scott Giles David Z. Saltz Dorothy Figueira Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2007 iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my husband, Jeremy, who kept me grounded; to my parents, who let me go; and to CB and Farley who took me so far. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First I would like to thank Theodora Skipitares for allowing me to interview her, for being so accommodating in all my needs, and for letting me into her world of puppets and performing objects. I would like to thank my committee members for all of their help with editing and revisions, and for working to get me to this point. Thanks to Dr. Richard Neupert, for teaching me how to balance teaching and scholarship. Dr. Tricia Lootens and Dr. Blaise Parker, thanks for helping me attempt to understand Judith Butler, gender and feminism. I would like to thank the Center for Puppetry Arts, specifically Susan Kinney, for help in researching past exhibits. Finally, I would like to thank my family and my PhDivas for your endless support. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 Part 1: Review of Literature ......................................................................................5 Part 2: Critical Method............................................................................................15 Part 3: Chapter Outline............................................................................................24 2 AMERICAN PUPPETRY AND THE WORKS OF THEODORA SKIPITARES.....27 Part 1: A Brief History of American Puppetry – Definitions of Puppet .................29 Part 2: Theodora Skipitares’ Puppets in Performance.............................................34 Part 3: Skipitares and Object Theatre......................................................................41 3 THEODORA SKIPITARES, PERFORMANCE ART, AND EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE...............................................................................................................46 Part 1: Performance Art Traditions .........................................................................46 Part 2: Experimental Theatre Influences – Skipitares and La Mama......................56 4 ASIAN PERFORMANCE TRADITIONS IN THE PUPPETRY OF THEODORA SKIPITARES ..........................................................................................................66 Part 1: Japanese Influences......................................................................................67 Part 2: Indian Influences..........................................................................................75 vii 5 CHARACTER CONSTRUCTION IN THE PUPPETRY OF THEODORA SKIPTARES............................................................................................................89 Part 1: Gender Text and Gendered Characters........................................................90 Part 2: Character/Puppet Design and Gendered Puppet Body ..............................100 Part 3: Defining Puppet Performance and the Puppet/Performer Relationship ....111 Part 4: Puppet Character Development and Performance .....................................116 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ..........................................................................133 Part 1: Intersecting Traditions in Skipitares’ Productions.....................................134 Part 2: Final Conclusions—Gender and Puppetry ................................................140 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................145 A THEODORA SKIPITARES’ PRODUCTION HISTORY .......................................145 B TRANSCRIPTS OF INTERVIEWS WITH THEODORA SKIPITARES ...............154 NOTES.........................................................................................................................................187 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................191 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Although interest in puppetry in America tends to come in “waves,” puppetry itself is an art form found throughout history and across many cultures. It is a form of expression that, depending on the culture, can be considered high art, popular, folk entertainment, or a bridge between these categories. This dissertation will not attempt to address all forms of puppetry in either a historic-geographic method, or by creating a taxonomy of manipulation methods. The purpose of this dissertation is rather to examine the work of Theodora Skipitares, an artist whose influence by and application of multiple artistic traditions (both in and outside of puppetry) is unique within contemporary American puppetry. Theodora Skipitares is one of a group of New York performers, such as Jim Henson, Peter Schumann, Julie Taymor, and Lee Breuer, whose work in adult puppet theatre and experimental theatre in the late twentieth century exemplified a new way of approaching performance and a revival of interest in puppetry. Like many of these artists, Skipitares draws influence from a variety of art forms, however it is the intersection of Skipitares’ specific range of influences that is the impetus for this dissertation. It is my opinion that Skipitares’ productions cannot be truly understood from within one artistic tradition or perspective and, therefore, they demand an analysis which acknowledges how selected discourses and traditions interest in her work. Theodora Skipitares has been labeled a performance artist, a theatre conceptualist, and an innovative director, but rarely a puppeteer.1 Her productions represent the margins of what is an 2 already marginal art form. The goal of my dissertation, therefore, has been to analyze specifically the puppetry of Theodora Skipitares. This dissertation will specifically focus on Skipitares as a puppeteer—a designer and director of performing objects and puppet operators. Within this focus, I will address primarily Skipitares’ productions elements: the puppet designs, video projections, and structure of her performances. Skipitares’ dramatic texts—more accurately “storyboard scripts” or scenarios of scenes—will