Cindy Derby
The inspiration behind Edward’s House of String came last year while I was laying out pages for a children’s picture book I was writing and illustrating. At the time, I was living in Glasgow where there was a puppetry community who exposed me to the beauty behind this mysterious medium. After witnessing a one-woman adaptation of Cinderella by Shona Reppe, I was inspired to craft my stories through intimate and surreal worlds using puppetry.
Puppet Animation Scotland commissioned me to develop Edward’s House of String into a theatrical production, with the aim to perform it in various venues and gauge different audiences for feedback. I headed out on a solo exploration of the project, which included directing, performing and producing the work. I experimented with physical movement, objects, painting, and the construction of materials. After peeling through layers of material, I discovered the elements I was going to utilize to communicate this story.
I was interested in investigating Edward’s world through a visual language that expressed the colors and shapes of his emotional life. He is a lonely man, trapped inside this house and enslaved by the rhythm of a ticking clock. Edward’s movement was vital, and in the first build of the puppet his small size did not allow for this repetition, so the story took a different turn. This introduced new and exciting ideas — such as the string tree.
Cindy Derby in "Edward's House of String"
Stop-motion animation played a big part in the development of the piece, because it is a medium that allows your hands to guide the materials and characters. I worked with Cat Bruce and Ania Leszczynska and together we crafted and animated Edward’s memory sequences that were projected onto a woven tapestry during the performance.
I performed it twice as a work-in-progress at the Arches in Glasgow last December, and one performance at the Manipulate Festival in Edinburgh this past February. Although the visual and musical elements worked, the story still lacked its most vital components.
While I moved back home, the show moved with me. The steel tree sculpture came on the plane bubble wrapped, and Edward, barely a foot tall, was packed up in his cardboard box, and I took along many of the string bundles in my bag. After hibernating in my apartment for a few months, I was then ready to move into the next stage of the development with this piece in Los Angeles, where I would commit to my original story whole-heartedly and stay open to trying new ideas.
"Edward's House of String"
I got back into rehearsals with my new adaptation and a deeper understanding of how I wanted to express this story to audiences. I am fascinated by breaking down Edward’s repetition with string that enters his house. I feel Edward is in a battle with himself — to either allow memories to change him or to continually remain numb in his ticking routine. With these two different worlds clashing, the piece has introduced a more defined musical and visual composition, in which the music becomes Edward’s internal clock and spirit. It includes two live musicians playing the vibraphone and viola on opposing sides, four puppeteers, a now life-size Edward, and a steel tree sculpture that has grown six feet. We are collaborating and working together, which is a beautiful transformation from the lonesome solo exploration. I feel I am giving myself up to the piece and allowing it to breathe more.
One of the biggest outcomes I have learned so far on this journey of creating Edward’s House of String is that anything is possible. My goal is to share Edward’s world with audiences and reveal his journey to self-discovery.
Edward’s House of String is presented as part of REDCAT’s 8th Annual New Original Works Festival being held from September 8-24 with performances Thursday through Saturdays at 8:30 pm. This year’s festival features:
WEEK ONE | September 8-10
Marissa Chibas: Clara’s Los Angeles, Cindy Derby: Edward’s House of String, Lucky Dragons: Actual Reality
WEEK TWO | September 15-17
Robert Cucuzza: Cattywampus, Rosanna Gamson/World Wide: Layla Means Night
WEEK THREE | September 22-24
Tandem & Timur and the Dime Museum: Zoophilic Follies, Michel Kouakou/Daara Dance: Sack, Victoria Marks: Smallest Gesture/Grandest Frame
SINGLE TICKETS: $18 general, $14 students; FESTIVAL PASSES: $36 for all 3 programs
FOR TICKETS and INFO: Visit: www.redcat.org, call 213 237-2800 or drop by the REDCAT box office
LOCATION: REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), 631 West 2nd Street, LA.
Cindy Derby is a visual performance artist, painter and stop-motion animator. She received her MA in Classical and Contemporary Text in Acting from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She has performed throughout Scotland and abroad. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
