Award-Winning Cashore Marionettes at SOPAC on Sunday

For more than 30 years, master puppeteer Joseph Cashore has been bringing his handmade marionettes to life. Now he's bringing his show, Simple Gifts, to the (SOPAC) for one performance on Sunday, March 25 at 2 p.m.

Cashore's fascination with marionettes began as a boy when—on vacation at the Jersey shore—he saw a colorfully dressed pirate marionette hanging from the ceiling of a gift shop. Intrigued, Cashore asked the saleswoman if he could make the marionette move. She told him no. That was just the encouragement he needed.

His first marionette was as basic as it gets. A straight strip of wood with one or two cross pieces—called an airplane handle—controlled it. Frustrated with the limited movement it allowed, Cashore began adding more strings and pieces to his setup. Now, his Cashore marionettes are works of art, and his controllers are marvels of engineering.

Simple Gifts is a series of touching and poignant vignettes that explore what it means to be human. A piece about a homeless man illustrates compassion. An interaction between a mother and her baby illuminates their loving, tender bond.

“I try to express the main theme as succinctly as I can,” Cashore said. “I try to eliminate everything that's not to the point.”

Cashore begins with the central theme he wants to express, then makes drawings of the character and how it will to move. He builds the puppet and then crafts the hand control with springs, pulleys and levers until it resembles a machine from science fiction. Every hand control is different and is designed for a specific puppet.

“It takes longer to build the control than the puppet,” Cashore said. “I have to keep rebuilding the control as the character develops. The system has to work as a whole. That's the difficulty, getting it all working together.”

The sophisticated movement of Cashore's bespoke marionettes and his artistry bring the puppets to life with stunning realism that is captured in the simple turn of a head or the complicated way in which an elephant keeps a feather airborne by blowing at it through its trunk. These stunning moments can be viewed on video on the Cashore Marionettes website. His graceful, galloping horse is as visually poetic and beautiful as the real thing.

“I worked on the horse for over a year,” Cashore said. “You build it, then figure out why it doesn't work. Each puppet has its own difficulty.”

Each scene is meticulously choreographed to the music of such renowned composers as Vivaldi, Strauss, Beethoven and Copland.

“When I'm choosing music, I have to make sure it not only supports the emotion I want to convey but also has enough changes so the puppet can move to the music,” Cashore said. “That's critical. It's very hard to come up with the right music.”

Cashore's remarkable skill and elegant mastery have thrilled audiences worldwide, and his artistry has been awarded a Pew Fellowship for Performance Art and a Jim Henson Foundation Grant. He also received a Citation of Excellence from the UNIMA-USA, the highest honor an American puppeteer can receive for shows that touch their audiences deeply.

The Cashore Marionettes in Simple Gifts will be playing at SOPAC on Sunday, March 25 at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $15 ($12 for SOPAC members) and are available online on SOPAC's website or by phone by calling (973) 313-ARTS (2787).  The box office is located in the main lobby Monday - Saturday from 12-6 p.m.