I was very struck by Peter Schumann’s first assertion in “The Old Art of Puppetry In The New World Order” that puppetry is a form of art and performance that can exist without speech or language – as he put it, “Puppet theater has a talent to manage without language!” To me, as someone who, in regard to creative pursuits, primarily writes, this concept about making a statement without language is interesting and somewhat foreign to me. After reading Schumann’s work, I started thinking a lot about leaving space for silence, especially while I watched the “Bread & Puppet: Grasshopper Rebellion Circus – Naked Truth Pageant – Hallelujah” video. I do think the characters in the masks were able to convey certain emotions and to connect with the audience in a different way because we are paying more attention to their gestures and body language, and not pre-occupied or biased by what’s coming out of their mouths. Thinking about this also reminded me of the moments of silence in Drnaso’s Sabrina and how they were able to convey poignancy in a new, gut-feeling way, especially in regard to moments of grief.

I also wanted to note the piece on p. 34 of “40 How To’s” called “How to Transform Unwanted Noise Into Music.” This is something I like to do somewhat unconsciously, especially when I am at home in New York City, which is always filled with unenjoyable sounds. I thought this piece did a good job at capturing the sense of making the unbearable bearable and even enjoyable while still also being somewhat annoyed about it. I also really liked this idea of “assigning the ear a brand new task,” because I feel like I rarely think of my ear as an entity that can learn anything new anymore.