Kat Pleviak is having a Puppet Meltdown! #Chicago

Kat Pleviak, curator of Puppet Meltdown, lives in Chicago where she is also the founder and artistic director of Sea Beast Puppet Company.  Under Kat's direction, Sea Beast has initiated a number of exciting puppetry projects including a series of touring family friendly puppet productions, the Gorilla Puppetry Project, and Puppet Meltdown Puppet Slam. Kat has an MFA In Youth Theatre and Puppetry from the University of Hawaii Manoa.

Marsian: So Kat, When did you start performing at puppet slams? 

Kat Pleviak: The first slam I performed in was in 2007 at Puppet Rampage at the National festival. The piece was called Naughty Nursery Rhymes and told the story of Jack and Jill as nasty little rag doll children. If you have the Puppet Rampage DVD there is a very short clip of that performance. 

M: How do your puppet slam pieces tie into the other kinds of puppetry, performance or your art-life at large? 

KP: They are a great outlet for us to experiment with technique and subject matter. My company, Sea Beast Puppet Company, primarily does family friendly touring shows, so doing short and adult pieces allows us to grow and explore our creativity.

M: What cities have you performed in puppet slams or cabarets in? Which was the furthest or most exotic? 

KP: I have performed at slams, in Chicago IL, Skokie IL, Norridge IL, Minneapolis MN, Wilmington NC

M: What is the funniest, freakiest, edgiest, or weirdest show you have seen? 

KP: The first slam I ever went to was at a nation festival in 2005. A woman there did a shadow piece about the holocaust that was amazing and gave me a lot to think about in terms of what you can do with a short puppet piece.

M: What was the worst puppet slam you performed at and why? What made it disastrous?

KP: I was in a slam at a puppet festival and we were asked to bring 2 pieces, one of which was cut because the slam went to long. The piece we did show was too small for the space to be seen by anyone in the venue so no one got to enjoy it.  

"A note to producers: Your slam performers are your guests and it should be your number one goal to help them succeed and have a great experience. A note to performers: be true to your work. If you walk into an event and can see your piece won't work, pull it. It does not help you to do a piece that disappoints based on a technicality. Know your work and show it to it's best."

M: If you were to form a puppet slam circuit near you for touring, what slams/cities would this include? 

KP: Chicago, Champaign, Bloomington, Evanston, Madison, Minneapolis

M: Tell us about a fabulous failure (at a slam) and what you've learned from it. 

KP: The first slam we ever did had strict guidelines in terms of time and when a few acts went long, we ran over and did not get a curtain call. I think it is so important to recognize your performers. To fix this, we now always plan to have our company represented with a few pieces, some of which are scheduled to go last. This way, if we run long we can cut our own work, to enable recognition of the invited performers.

M: Why are Puppet Slams important to you?

KP: They give us a chance to experiment and grow as artists, while connecting with like minded individuals.

M: What inspires you to create a puppet slam piece? 

KP: Usually things that make me laugh

M: Who are some other artists on the puppet slam circuit that you are inspired by?  

KP: Carole D'Agostino does "Object Theater Time" which is puppet improv, always amazing and my brother Tom. He has performed in a number of slam pieces and his characters are always amazing.

M: What pieces do you have in circulation to perform in puppet slams?

KP: I have a bunch but two of my favorites are Another Man Treasure. This piece is in miniature and tells the story of a mouse and a robot living in a trash heap - I love this piece because we film it live and project it live as a film. The other is called Road Rage and is a shadow piece about an angry driver. I made Road Rage while studying with Richard Bradshaw at the O'Neill Puppetry Conference.

M: Where can people contact you to perform? 

KP: Email me at katburglar1@hotmail.com, Facebook, or our website - www.seabeastpuppetry.com.

M: Where would you like to see the Puppet Slam Network in the future? 

KP: Everywhere!

M: What advice do you have for up and coming slam artists?

KP: Make each performance the very best it can be on the day you do it and take pride in your work! Have fun, share work, learn and grow and live!

April Open Calls for Performance

April Puppet Slam Network Open Calls for Submissions include National Puppet Slam #Atlanta, Strung Out Puppet Cabaret #Cincinnati, PUNCH #NYC, and Puppet Rampage #FtLauderdale

NATIONAL PUPPET SLAM  #Atlanta 

Submission: April 8th / Performances: August 3rd-5th

Contact Beau Brown

 The mission of the National Puppet Slam is to recognize excellence in the art of short form puppet theatre. The featured pieces were nominated by their respective slams and then curated by The Puppet Slam Network and the Center for Puppetry Arts. As the largest non-profit organization in the country dedicated to puppetry, the Center for Puppetry Arts is invested in supporting and showcasing the next generation of puppeteers. These performances showcase the beauty, ingenuity, and hilarity of Puppet Slams from all across the country. 

DOLLY WIGGLER CABARET  #Calgary 

Submission: Open / Performance: May 5th

Contact office@animatedobjects.ca

The International Festival of Animated Objects announces a spring Dolly Wiggler Cabaret featuring short mask and puppetry performances for an adult audience at a secret location. Artists wishing to perform send a note to office@animatedobjects.ca, and we'll contact you with the details.

CAFÉ CONCRET #Montreal

Submission Open / Performance: May 7th 

Contact: cafeconcret@gmail.com 

Café Concret, a Montreal-based cabaret of experimental puppetry and performing objects, is seeking proposals for short performance pieces. Café Concret is a bilingual community event for puppeteers, musicians and other artists interested in animating objects. The event is not-for-profit and artists will be paid a modest fee. Curators are looking for experimental object based performances under 15 minutes. Acts could be excerpts or complete pieces, new or works-in-progress. Please include the following information in your proposal, plus any other information you think is important: Name and contact info, Brief description, Length, Technical needs, and documentation of your piece (or past work) in the form of photo or video.

STRUNG OUT PUPPET CABARET #Cincinnati
Submission: April 15th / Performances: June 2nd & 3rd
Contact: Irina Niculescu  

Mad Slams announces Strung Out Puppet Cabaret, a puppet slam debuting on June 2nd & 3rd at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. They are looking for short form puppetry acts for adults that feature a great diversity of puppet forms: rod puppets, humanettes, shadows, toy theatre, marionettes, animated objects, puppets combined with performing arts, films etc. Upload a video of your piece and send a weblink to inniculescu@gmail.com Requirements: Acts must be 7 min or less with a set up must that can be completed in under a minute. Assistance provided with travel expenses, lodging for up to 4 nights, passes to the Cincinnati Fringe, CD audio/projector and screen for films

PUNCH #NYC #BROOKLYN
Submission: Open / Performances:  June, August & Decembercontact Gretchen Van Lente Try out new material or that piece you did for class (in front of people who aren't your classmates). Get feedback on a piece that needs some work. Show a short piece developed for Puppet Playlist, at the Puppet Lab or at the O’Neill Puppetry Conference to a whole new audience! Schmooze and drink with other people who like puppets. Get an equal split of the door (guaranteed $40 at least).
 

PUPPET RAMPAGE # FT Lauderdale
Submission: April 18th (Audition) / Performance: May 26thContact: Jean MinuchinCall for Puppeteers! We have a new puppet slam coming up in Fort Lauderdale. Jim Hammond and Jean Minuchin are co-producing a slam on May 26th at World and Eye Arts Center. Looking for short form puppet theater for adults. Calling all storytellers, visual artists, performance art folks and of course puppeteers who want to try out. Try-outs are on Wednesday April 18th at 6PM. RSVP on Facebook.

PUPPET MELTDOWN #Chicago

Submission: June 1st / Performance: July 19th

Contact:  Mary Kate or Kat Pleviak at (630) 790-1337 

We are currently looking for a wide range of short puppet pieces to showcase at this evening of performances no longer than 10 minutes and geared towards an adult audience. So if you have something hilarious, outrageous, naughty, poignant, absurd or unusual that you would like to perform, please visit our website www.seabeastpuppetry.com to download an application.

Please contact the Puppet Slam Network if you have an open call you would like posted

Open Calls for Puppet Slam Acts - February 2012

PUPPET MELTDOWN #Chicago 
Submission Due: March 1st, 2012
(Performance: April 14th, 2012)

Greetings and salutations, puppeteers and puppet fans alike! Puppet Meltdown has been officially selected to host a puppet slam at C2E2 (that's the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, for the uninitiated)!

So here's the deal: C2E2 is April 13th through 15th at McCormick Place in Chicago, and the slam itself will be held at 3:30 on Saturday, April 14th. So now we move on to the next step: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Anyone interested in performing at this amazing event contact us through the Sea Beast Puppetry website, www.seabeastpuppetry.com and we'll get you an application form ASAP. March 1st is the deadline for submissions, so get your puppets ready to rock, cause we're taking the comic and entertainment world by storm!!!


NATIONAL PUPPET SLAM  #Atlanta 
Submission Due: April 8th, 2012 
(Performances: August 3rd-5th, 2012)

ATTN Slam Curators: The 2012 National Puppet Slam is accepting nominations! 

The mission of the National Puppet Slam is to recognize excellence in the art of short form puppet theatre. The featured pieces were nominated by their respective slams and then curated by The Puppet Slam Network and the Center for Puppetry Arts. As the largest non-profit organization in the country dedicated to puppetry, the Center for Puppetry Arts is invested in supporting and showcasing the next generation of puppeteers. These performances showcase the beauty, ingenuity, and hilarity of Puppet Slams from all across the country.

The online Nomination Form can be found here: www.puppet.org/perform/nationalpuppetslam.shtml

STRUNG OUT PUPPET CABARET #Cincinnati 
Submission Due April 15th, 2012
(Performances: June 2nd & 3rd, 2012)

Mad Slams announces “Strung Out Puppet Cabaret,” a puppet slam debuting on June 2nd and 3rd at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. We are looking for short form puppetry acts for adults that feature a great diversity of puppet forms: rod puppets, humanettes, shadows, toy theatre, marionettes, animated objects, puppets combined with performing arts, films etc. Interested? Please, upload a video of your piece and send a weblink to inniculescu@gmail.com

Requirements for performance:
1. no longer than 7 minutes
2. set up for your act must be completed in less than a minute

We will provide:
1. assistance with travel expenses
2. lodging for up to four nights
3. artist passes for the Cincinnati Fringe Festival
4. CD audio/projector and screen for films

Deadline:
April 15th 2012

Contact: Irina Niculescu inniculescu@gmail.com

PUNCH #NYC #BROOKLYN
Submission Due: Open
(Performances:  February 20th, 2012, June, Aug & Dec TBD)
We’re gearing up for PUNCH 2012 and WE WANT YOU!

Why do Punch? Well, it's where artists can:
- Try out new material.
- Schmooze and drink with other people who like puppets.
- Get feedback on a piece that needs some work.
- Try out that piece you did for class in front of people who aren't your classmates.
- Get an equal split of the door.
- Try out a piece or scene with puppets even though they've NEVER worked with puppets before in their lives.
- Show a short piece they’ve developed for Puppet Playlist, at the Puppet Lab or at the O’Neill Puppetry Conference to a whole new audience!!!!
- Get a guaranteed $40 at least (courtesy of PUNCH’s puppet slam network grant!)

Perhaps the question to ask is WHY WOULDN'T YOU DO PUNCH?!?
There are only FOUR live PUNCH shows in 2012, so please let us know if you’re interested in any of the upcoming events:

- February 20th = general PUNCH @ Jimmy’s 43 pub
- June TBD = PUNCH Wizard of Oz Kamikaze
- August TBD = general PUNCH @ outdoors at a community garden
- December = the 2nd annual PUNCH Kamikaze Christmas Carol
- We will also have TWO film nights (April & October), so let me know if you’ve got a short film that uses puppetry and maybe we’ll show it!

So, think about it. Get back to me. Pass this on to other artists (puppet or not) who you think might be interested.

Kick ass.
Gretchen Van Lente
curator, PUNCH / artistic director, Drama of Works
PUNCH@punchpuppetslam.com

If you would like to submit an open call for the Puppet Slam Network, please contact puppetslam@mac.com with the details.