When was the last time you saw a good puppet show on a local stage? Perhaps not since Miniature Curiosa's Moon City played at The Studio@620 last year. Well, now Zach Dorn, one half of the two person mind behind Miniature Curiosa, brings his own solo project to The Studio@620 stage: An Excruciatingly Ordinary Toy Theater Show.
Miniature Curiosa, founded in 2012 by Zach Dorn and Murphi Cook, seeks to "explore the underbelly of childhood nostalgia with the disappointed eyes of adulthood through lo-fi technology, puppetry and non-linear storytelling."
Their performances have been met with great success. The aforementioned Moon City, about fictional amusement park builder Frederick Ingersoll's quest to build a magical wonderland in a Florida swamp, was a visual extravaganza.
Tonight a Clown Travels in Time, about clown Albert Billow's time-hopping run from the FBI, earned CL's coveted Best of the Bay Award for 2013. An Excruciatingly Ordinary Toy Theater Show has had some success already, recently scoring a prestigious grant from the Jim Henson Foundation.
MC's upcoming show in St. Pete derives inspiration from lost journal entries from Dorn's own life. Viewed through the lens of a simple digital camera, the story weaves through an artfully constructed paper world. In the piece, an opera singing-landlord refuses to return a security deposit, a ghost haunts — and maliciously taunts — a young boy, a lonely puppeteer stalks the child of two notorious celebrities and a boy envisions a perfect idea of the Earth where everything is made out of poop. Much more will pop up onto the stage, and it all promises to be a performance you won't soon forget — and one you probably won't want to miss.
An Excruciatingly Ordinary Toy Theater Show kicks off a four city, cross country tour in St. Pete at 8 p.m. on Sat., April 25, at the Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg. The roughly one-hour-long show is here for one night only. Admission is $15. studio620.org.
