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Got Straight no strings: The digital puppet production “Fear in the Western World,” explores how gun violence and fear shooter
affect two parents searching for their abducted child. Photo by Maria Baranova
Puppet show explores gun violence and fear in America
COURIER LIFE, DEC. 27, 2019-JAN. 2, 2020 35
By Rose Adams Welcome to the gun show!
A new high-tech puppet
show blends horror movie
tropes and Greek mythology to discuss
gun violence in the United States. “Fear in
the Western World,” opening as part of the
Exponential Festival at the Target Margin
Theater in Sunset Park on Jan. 5, follows
two parents who trek through catacombs
hidden beneath under their suburban home
in search for their abducted daughter — and
who come across mythical, gun-wielding
creatures along the way, according to the
show’s co-creator.
“There’s a Greek slant on their
adventure as they go on,” said David
Commander, who wrote and directed
the production with artist Rob Ramirez.
“The whole performance is presided
over by Janus, the god of transitions and
passageways.”
The play’s spooky tunnels make the
show feel like a horror movie, Commander
said, but its creatures are as frightened as
they frightening. The protagonists, and the
catacomb dwellers they come upon, cling
to their guns for a sense of protection —
often injuring each other in shootouts —
even if there is no real danger, Commander
noted.
“They’re using guns because they’re
scared,” he said. “They’re scared
when they’re safe; they’re scared when
they’re being threatened. They’re just
frightened.”
Commander created “Fear in the
Western World” in response to the many
mass shootings in the US since the Sandy
Hook elementary school shooting in 2012.
Each tragedy involved a cycle of violence,
media coverage, and political posturing
that, to Commander, felt like an endless
carnival ride.
“There’s something kind of like a
haunted house ride or a rollercoaster where
you can’t get away,” Commander noted.
“You can’t escape it. You’re in for the ride.”
The show mimics the sense of anxiety
that Commander believes plagues the
country, and that contributes to the cycle of
fear and gun violence. But despite its dark
subject matter, the show is not completely
bleak, he said.
“It has a very optimistic ending,” he
promised.
The show will feature several hightech
puppets with tablets for heads,
with distorted images of human faces
on their screens. The puppeteers will
move the puppets with rods, and change
their expressions by using a video game
controller. The puppeteers will remain
visible to the audience, allowing viewers
to see how the show is made, Commander
said.
“There’s no attempt to trick the
audience,” he said. “The audience has a
choice in what to focus on.”
“Fear in the Western World” at the
Target Margin Theater 232 52nd St.
between Second and Third avenues in
Sunset Park, (718) 398–3095, www.
targetmargin.org. Jan 5–19; Wed–Sat at
8 pm; Sun at 3 pm. $25 ($18 students and
seniors).
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