MY SOUL'S SHADOW
is a 45 minute cinematic shadow puppet installation based on the poetry of Federico García Lorca, created by Manual Cinema.
The shadow projections are created using six overhead projectors, five puppeteers, two screens, and dozens of handmade paper shadow puppets. Original music by Kyle Vegter is performed live by Nu Deco Ensemble. The installation includes the text of the poems that are turned into moving images in the performance.
My Soul’s Shadow loosely adapts imagery, themes, and characters from Lorca’s poetry, dividing his body of work into three acts. The first act is based on poems Lorca wrote early in his career in Granada and Madrid; many of these poems take inspiration from Spanish folk tradition, and are steeped in nature imagery, as well as portraits of Granada’s gypsy community. The second act is based on poems Lorca wrote while visiting New York City, and the third is based on The Divan Tamarit, which Lorca wrote near the end of his life, and which takes inspiration from the Arab-Andalusian poetic tradition. The performance of My Soul’s Shadow is bookended by the character of Lorca himself, and is based on biographical details of his life, including his ultimate imprisonment and assassination at the hands of Nationalist militia in the early days of the Spanish Civil War.
PRESS
“a surreal journey”
- WILSON SAYRE, WLRN Miami April 2015
“an immersive, engaging experience”
- HILARY SAUNDERS, Miami New Times April, 2015
CREDITS
My Soul’s Shadow was created by Manual Cinema Artistic Directors: Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller and Kyle Vegter
Directed by Sarah Fornace
Music Score and Sound Design by Kyle Vegter
Installation Design by Sarah Fornace and Ben Kauffman
Puppet Design by Drew Dir and Julia Miller
Associate Puppet Design by Lizi Breit
Music performed by Nu Deco Ensemble (nu-deco.org)
Aleksandr Zhuk, violin
Aaron Merrit, cello
Daniel Velasco, flute
Annabelle Hwang, clarinet
Live Sound Effects by Kyle Vegter
Sound Engineer and Production Manager Mike Usrey
Puppetters: Sam Duetsch, Charlotte Long, Diane Mair, Julia Miller
Puppeteer and Garcia Lorca, Jose Federico
Text by Federico García Lorca
Translations by Catherine Brown, Greg Simon, and Steven F. White
My Soul’s Shadow also adapts Lorca’s illustrations and drawings.