My Soul's Shadow
Manual Cinema’s My Soul’s Shadow is a cinematic shadow puppet show and immersive installation based on the poetry of Federico García Lorca. 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 a chamber ensemble. The installation includes projections of Lorca’s poetry, interactive rotary phones that allow audience members to hear readings of Lorca’s verse, and a collection of other curious objects for people to explore.
Created by Manual Cinema
Base on the Poetry of Federico García Lorca
Directed by Sarah Fornace
Photo by Gesi Schilling
Photo by Gesi Schilling
Photo by The Chicago Tribune
Photo by Maren Celest
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.
Made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Credits
Commissioned by O'Miami Poetry Festival
Created by Manual Cinema
Base on the Poetry of Federico García Lorca
Directed by Sarah Fornace
Production
Text by Federico García Lorca
Translations by Catherine Brown, Greg Simon, and Steven F. White
Music Score and Sound Design by Kyle Vegter
Puppet Design by Drew Dir and Julia Miller
Installation Design by Ben Kauffman and Sarah Fornace
Custom Electronics by Andy Sigler
Associate Puppet Design by Lizi Breit
Live Sound Effects by Kyle Vegter
Sound Engineer and Production Manager: Mike Usrey
Puppeteers
Jose Nateras (Federico García Lorca )
Sam Duetsch
Charlotte Long
Diane Mair
Julia Miller
Music
Performed by the Nu Deco Ensemble
Aleksandr Zhuk, (violin)
Aaron Merrit (cello)
Daniel Velasco (flute)
Annabelle Hwang (clarinet)
Additional Cast
Kara Davidson (Puppeteer)
Ellen McSweeny (violin)
Alex Ellsworth (cello)
Deidre Huckaby (flute)
Zachary Good (clarinet)