As a puppeteer in Concord Academy’s Winter Mainstage, The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons, I’ve noticed that many people didn’t know what I was referring to by “puppeteer.” So, I decided to interview James Williston, CA’s technical director, who leads the puppeteering team and built the mastodon marionette. When I say “the mastodon marionette,” I mean a massive 10-foot-tall, 12-foot-long wooden marionette-style puppet in the shape of a mastodon, which will be used for the upcoming play.
Williston’s interest in marionette puppets stemmed from a marionette his aunt brought home from a vacation in Spain when he was a child. Since then, he has kept a collection of marionettes over the years. When he read the script for this year’s mainstage, he wondered how to represent this giant furry monster. “I looked around, and just kind of had an inspiration, and thought, hmm, because we have this unique space, in our theater, and this whole catwalk system that is not normal, it might allow us to do something like this, which you couldn't do in other spaces,” Williston said.
Additionally, many students don’t seem to know much about the new Centennial Arts Center. One of the most distinctive aspects of the C.A.C. is the uniquely flexible yet safe catwalk system. “Having a catwalk system that has 8 feet between our catwalks… is not normal,” Williston mentioned.“Usually, you have either a grid system where you can't really get things through, or there's only a couple of catwalks or no catwalks at all.”
Another aspect of the new C.A.C. space that made this immense undertaking possible is the new Kingman Support Shop (also known as the “Scene Shop”) next to the theater. The advent Scene Shop introduces a massive amount of new space to the set and prop creation of CA productions. When asked in what ways the Scene Shop had been helpful to the creation of the mastodon marionette, Williston responded, saying, “This whole thing wouldn’t have happened without the space and tools of the Scene Shop.”
Williston stated that this is undoubtedly the most ambitious task he has committed to yet. He said, “Yes. Yes, it is. Definitely. Having five student operators is an adventure, and it's been fun so far, and we know that it will be, but it's a difficult, difficult thing.”
I think I have informed you that you look forward to seeing the mastodon's debut and everyone's hard work come to life during the performances!