At Work Now

Detail of papercut for Kleist's story 'The Earthquake in Chile'.

1 — "The Vulture" and new work

I am currently performing The Vulture, based on Kafka’s Der Geier (see Performing Now), a live, highly gestural storytelling performance that brings together elements of oral storytelling, graphic novels/comics, and full-scene shadow puppetry. Voice and body movement interact with a sequence of paper-cut images that, illuminated from behind, are manually replaced as the story progresses.

I am developing two further pieces to add to The Vulture, creating an evening of three stories: two by Kafka and one by Jorge Luis Borges.

2 — Kleist research and writing

Alongside my performance work, I am awaiting the Kleist Museum’s response to my submitted article on Kleist’s On the Marionette Theatre, in which I offer an original investigation of the relationship between science and puppetry in the essay.

I am also writing sections that, due to the 25-page length limit, I could not include in my article, for journals specializing in Puppet Theatre and in the intersection of art and science.

3 — Gesture research

I continue to research the neurobiology and cognitive science underlying the generation and use of co-speech gestures. This research is part of a training workshop I am developing for actors, puppeteers, and storytellers, exploring gesture as an embodied and expressive component of performance.

4 — Tutoring

I continue tutoring students and artists in Dramaturgy, Puppet and Object Theatre, and Performance-Storytelling.

Contact: patod3@gmail.com