RedCat’s NOWfest never shys away from any genre. This week, the festival will feature a fresh interpretation of Greek Mythology using puppets in the piece “Zoophilic Follies.”

NowFest)

Tandem, the production company behind this story, is a collaboration between composer Daniel Corral and designer Caitlin Lainoff.

In a town flocked with talented and aspiring actors, the duo went another route. They felt puppets could best bring the story to life. 

Not only to represent the strong characters, but also to allow a greater scale to tell the story.  To make it appear that an actor is falling from a mountain that would require a harness, proper safety equipment, pits, maybe a net. 

None of that is needed for a puppet: “Puppets help us place the action in a smaller space and still feel impactful," Lainoff said.

The impact is enhanced with music, which is a large element of the piece, and for Corral the process for creating the music in this play was completely non linear. His musical numbers were influenced by logistics, such as the timing of songs, but also artistic when he was matching the emotional sections of the story with music.  “It’s all about finding key moment in the text and using that,” Corral said.

Every detail of the performance was thought out between the two, even the miniatures costumes designed by Lainoff that must take into account the movements of the puppets.

Corral and Lainoff along with their staff of 21 created everything from scratch. The text, the music, and the visual components were created almost simultaneously sculpting the piece as a whole.

This is the first show that they have officially called themselves Tandem as a group and Corral said it is “a big introduction to both of us. This is the type of work we are doing, and want to do.”

If you have never seen a puppet opera, or never read Greek mythology this is your chance to have a unique experience. But when you peel back the layers of this elaborate production, at its core there is a universally relatable story.

 “It’s an achingly beautiful story about people who cannot quite achieve. We have all felt that moment where we strive for something and we are almost there and we don’t quite make it," Lainoff said."I think we want people to walk away feeling- that was an amazing journey and inevitable heartache at the end.”

“Zoophilic Follies" will be playing at NOWFEST Sept 22nd, 23rd, and 24th at 8:30pm.

Reach Tallie Johnson here.