Paper Plane People, a shadow puppet show, was performed at the Academic Magnet High School Lecture Hall on Saturday, November 15, at 5:00 PM. This was a result of AMHS sophomores working with Jumaadi, an Indonesian artist, who is not only known for his work with puppets, but is also a skilled painter, drawer, and sculptor. He is the fall 2014 International Artist-in-Residence at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art and will be creating new work to be exhibited there.

Jumaadi has been working with the students of Mr. Wright’s creative writing classes and Ms. Callicott’s art classes in small workshops throughout September, October, and November in order to prepare them for their presentation. He talked to them about his life growing up in Indonesia and how he became an artist. The artist also explained what traditional puppet theater shows were like in Indonesia, and the students were able to view his own puppets and other work at the Halsey Institute. From this collaboration, students have created their own cutout puppets and original story lines.

Almost all aspects of the production, including direction, lighting, sound composition, script, and visuals, are led by the students themselves. The show will consisted of     unique stories written by creative writing students and shadow puppet visuals created by art students. AMHS musicians at the school worked in conjunction with these students to make accompanying sound effects and music.

For more information, visit illuminatedshadows.wikispaces.com.

The shadow performance is loosely separated into twelve stories, all written by the creative writing students. Two of the stories are solely represented visually.

1) Envy in the Skies Written by Sophie Bello

2) And Then the River Ran Dry Written by Mackenzie Jenkins

3)  Written by Maya Hayley

4) Above the Surface Written by Natasha Tirpak

5) Written by Grace Beischel

6) Timeless City Written by Nate Leroy

7) Paper Plane People Written by Katie Conley

8) The Great Sage of the Mountain Written by Olive Gardner

9) Metamorphosis Written by Grace Christoph

10) Detrimental Decisions Written by James Reding

11) True Immortality Written by India Manigault

12) Division Written by Charlotte Lucas

 

Readers

Charlotte Lucas

Jack Heeke

India Manigault

James Reding

 

Visuals

Maddie Davidson – Visual Director, Puppeteer, Puppet Maker

Zoe Wright – Puppeteer, Puppet Maker

Liam Rowley – Puppet Maker

Isabella Knowles – Puppet Maker

McKelvey Smith – Puppet Maker

Anjali Pandey – Puppet Maker

 

Sound

Jessica Putnam – Musical Director

Nathan Bradley – Musician

Britney Tsui – Musician

 

Script / Editing

Olive Gardner – Editor, Script Manufacturer

Sophie Bello – Editor, Script Manufacturer

 

House Manager

Elsa Crowe

 

Lighting / Tech

Nate Leroy

 

Costume

Zoe Wright

 

Media / Design

Maddie Davidson – Logo design

Elsa Crowe – Press Release

Sophie Bello – Program

 

Special Thanks

Teachers Mr. Wright (creative writing) and Ms. Callicott (visual art), artists Jumaadi and Geoffrey Cormier, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (especially the director Mark Sloan and educational coordinator Liz Biswell), and Academic Magnet Parents in Education.