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69° S.: The Shackleton Project, New York City-based marionette puppetry company Phantom Limb’s reinterpretation of Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 expedition to the Antarctic, directed by Sophie Hunter and presented as part of Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College, is a diorama of cohesive, chilling design and impeccable puppetry technique counterpointed by confusing symbolism and forgotten characterization.

Co-creators Jessica Grindstaff and Erik Sanko began with a concept—puppeteers on stilts—that would allow the cast a wider range of movement and the production a grander scale. After imagining a set in glaring white, the pair settled on Shackleton’s story, in which his ship sank but the whole Endurance Expedition crew survived, as a vehicle to showcase these visuals. Herein lies the glaring weakness of this aesthetically remarkable production: form over content.

Not to say that Grindstaff and Sanko didn’t put time or effort into researching the story. Quite the opposite. They secured funds to fly to Antarctica (where they collected found images and sound featured throughout 69° S.), spoke with scientists examining climate change, and even met Shackleton’s first American descendant. But these experiences funneled more directly into the tone and design than the plot, which makes 69° S. more like a performance-art piece than a theatrical production.

Actors swathed in red cloth, hooded like ninjas, are the first to appear on stage. They alternate between moving acrobatically (choreography by Andrea Miller) and awkwardly shuffling back and forth, bent over, clutching their ankles. They all seem to move in slow motion. This glacial pace remains a constant for the duration of the show, and although being stranded in the Antarctic for two years would be drawn-out and somewhat lifeless, and even though manipulating puppets takes precision and patience, the ultimate effect by the halfway point is monotony.

As for the red creatures, what do they represent? During the post-show Q&A, the creators pointed to global warming, saying the first question posed by most audiences was often about the red men—a red flag, at least to me, that the symbolism is unclear. One unmistakable symbol, however, comes in the form of a black skeleton, beautifully manipulated by a puppeteer in white, who sets towering cloth glaciers into the sky (set design by Grindstaff) by pulling a red rope at the end of the creatures’ dance, and thus sets the story into motion, taunting Shackleton’s explorers with their own mortality, as they arrive slowly on stage.

A projection screen covers the entire back wall, and images (video design by Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty) of Shackleton’s ship, glaciers, cascading snow, stars, the real explorers, and World War I (which began during the expedition) flit by to a thrumming, forward-propelling combination of strings and humming rock. Lighting (by Andrew Hill), as exemplified by a moment of gray, muted dawn, blends in as an organic part of the world Shackleton’s men inhabit. The music (composed by Sanko) is one of the piece’s strongest elements, ranging from rumbling and dangerous to flowing and mournful. It conveys subtle emotions that the puppets’ faces, which remain static, cannot.

Sanko has crafted the puppets themselves so that each of the six members of the expedition becomes an individual through varying outfits, frozen facial features, and statures. In one bit of impressive design, the puppets’ teeth chatter audibly as they try to warm up around a fire. Still, their excruciatingly slow and limited motions take away much of their humanity—a humanity stilted already by lack of variation, action, or conflict in the plot.

The puppeteers’ skill, though, is undeniable, especially as showcased in a scene requiring puppets to be passed from puppeteer to puppeteer as the expedition team walks in a circle using a technique called the “innovative march.” The puppeteers’ costumes (designed by threeASFOUR) channel elements of Japanese Bunraku puppetry, brought to new heights with the addition of stilts. Grindstaff aptly described their arching, see-through white hoods as influenced by both Shinto brides and Victorian beekeepers. Strange, futuristic researchers. Spiritual guides. The puppeteers are both enigmatic and sublime.

The amount of thought and vision that go into creating this production make its shortcomings so heartbreaking. Beauty becomes irrelevant when overshadowed by hollow characters and sluggish plot development. Perhaps for the right theatergoer, 69° S.’s artistry will be enough. But it left me cold.

Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College
Phantom Limb Company
69° S.: The Shackleton Project
Friday, November 11, 2011
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center, JCCC Campus
12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS

For more information, visit http://www.jccc.edu/theseries

Top Photo: 69° S.: The Shackleton Project 

By Jessica Showers

Theatre Contributor

Jessica Showers, a long-time believer in the collaborative power of the performing arts, is a Midwest native and Kansas City-based arts journalist. She is on the editorial board for The Sondheim Review, a quarterly magazine dedicated to the work of renowned composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Jessica received a master's degree in arts journalism with a focus in theatre from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a bachelor's degree in magazine journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. As part of her graduate coursework, Jessica partnered with Charleston, S.C.'s daily paper The Post and Courier to cover theatre at Spoleto Festival USA. She also interned in New York City for American Theatre magazine and for Syracuse Stage, Syracuse, N.Y.'s local LORT theatre organization. Jessica looks forward to delving into Kansas City's wealth of theatricality and sharing it with KCM's readers.