oregon shadow theatre
The Oregon Shadow Theatre is a Portland Oregon based company specializing in the art of shadow puppetry. Their award-winning shadow plays have toured across the United States and in Canada, including performances at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Detroit Institute of Arts, Festival Place in Alberta, the Chilliwack Cultural Centre in British Columbia, the Puppeteers of America National Puppet Festivals, the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts and The Northwest Puppet Center in Seattle, Washington. OST productions are noted for exquisite, colorful puppets, live music and sound effects, and lively good humor. Among other honors, OST has twice received the Unima Citation for Excellence in the Art of Puppetry.
Oregon Shadow Theatre is a collaboration of shadow puppeteer Deb Chase and musician and actor Mick Doherty.
Deb Chase has been specializing in the magic of shadow puppetry since 1980. She has created numerous shadow plays for the Oregon Shadow Theatre, and has designed shadow puppets for other puppet companies, including Carter Family Marionettes, Oregon Puppet Theatre, Puppet Soup--A Theatre of Objects, Seattle Puppetory Theatre, and Tears Of Joy Theatre. Deb has taught students, teachers, and puppeteers the art of shadow puppetry through workshops and residencies. She worked in Germany with shadow puppeteer Margrit Fuglsang, and has toured Japan as a performer. Deb holds a fine arts degree from the University of Oregon. Her theatrical experience includes street theatre, including a portable shadow stage for the sidewalk, on both coasts of the U.S. Deb served for several years as Shadow Puppetry Consultant for the Puppeteers of America.
Mick Doherty has worked as Actor/Musician with the Oregon Shadow Theatre for twenty years. Mick has worked as a professional performing and studio musician since 1979, and has composed music for film, theatre and television. He is featured on a number of recordings by the Trail Band and the Cascadia Folk Quartet (aka The Whammadiddidle Dingbats!). Mick has pursued studies in voice, classical guitar, string bass, Persian santoor and African percussion. He is known in the U.S. as a hammered dulcimer specialist, an instrument for which he teaches private lessons and festival workshops.
Oregon Shadow Theatre is a collaboration of shadow puppeteer Deb Chase and musician and actor Mick Doherty.
Deb Chase has been specializing in the magic of shadow puppetry since 1980. She has created numerous shadow plays for the Oregon Shadow Theatre, and has designed shadow puppets for other puppet companies, including Carter Family Marionettes, Oregon Puppet Theatre, Puppet Soup--A Theatre of Objects, Seattle Puppetory Theatre, and Tears Of Joy Theatre. Deb has taught students, teachers, and puppeteers the art of shadow puppetry through workshops and residencies. She worked in Germany with shadow puppeteer Margrit Fuglsang, and has toured Japan as a performer. Deb holds a fine arts degree from the University of Oregon. Her theatrical experience includes street theatre, including a portable shadow stage for the sidewalk, on both coasts of the U.S. Deb served for several years as Shadow Puppetry Consultant for the Puppeteers of America.
Mick Doherty has worked as Actor/Musician with the Oregon Shadow Theatre for twenty years. Mick has worked as a professional performing and studio musician since 1979, and has composed music for film, theatre and television. He is featured on a number of recordings by the Trail Band and the Cascadia Folk Quartet (aka The Whammadiddidle Dingbats!). Mick has pursued studies in voice, classical guitar, string bass, Persian santoor and African percussion. He is known in the U.S. as a hammered dulcimer specialist, an instrument for which he teaches private lessons and festival workshops.
Deb Chase completely hit it on the nail! Shadows are magical for the audience and the performer because the performer doesn't know what they are showing the audience and the audience doesn't know what the performer is doing to show them that image.
My favourite part of this theatre companies was their choice of content. Some people think that fairytales are cheesy and overdone. An easy crowd pleaser. And that's partly true. As the 'crowd', i love watching fairytales come to life. Especially when they are done creatively.
This theatre company showed beautiful stories through shadows and did so quite effectively.
The drawback of this performance was that it relied heavily on machinery and cut out. This made the performer obsolete. I think using the body in shadow work is one of the primary elements we are looking into, so this theatre company's work wasn't so helpful in the long run. It was beatiful to watch though
My favourite part of this theatre companies was their choice of content. Some people think that fairytales are cheesy and overdone. An easy crowd pleaser. And that's partly true. As the 'crowd', i love watching fairytales come to life. Especially when they are done creatively.
This theatre company showed beautiful stories through shadows and did so quite effectively.
The drawback of this performance was that it relied heavily on machinery and cut out. This made the performer obsolete. I think using the body in shadow work is one of the primary elements we are looking into, so this theatre company's work wasn't so helpful in the long run. It was beatiful to watch though