Physicist Albert Einstein was one of the most influential personalities of the 20th century; but his theories and accomplishments might seem beyond the grasp of children.
That isn’t going to stop the First Stage Children’s Theater from presenting an original show about “Einstein: Hero of the Mind.” Moreover, the company will present his story via puppets, thanks to the vision and artistry of local puppet designer Max Samson, founder and artistic director of The Mask and Puppet Theater.
About two years ago, Samson said he began outlining “the aspects of Einstein’s life” that he thought “would lend themselves to a theatrical production that would have meaning for Milwaukee youth.”
He began by focusing on the ironies of Einstein’s life. Samson explained in a press release for the production that Einstein was the “smartest man who ever lived, [yet] dropped out of school and failed university entrance exams. While working in a patent office, out of the stream of scientific research, he came up with the theory of relativity, forever changing everyone’s perception of reality. As a pacifist, Einstein urged President Roosevelt to investigate into the making of the atomic bomb. He then sees America use it as a weapon against the Japanese.”
Samson presented his idea to Rob Goodman, the founder of First Stage Children’s Theater, who had enjoyed a previous work by Samson. Goodman suggested the two collaborate on a production.
“We met together and brainstormed about Einstein, his life and science, but even more about him as a person,” said Goodman, who also helped co-direct the production.
Magical book
Translating Einstein’s story into a puppet show proved a difficult task.
“I had to find a unique play-writer [who] could use puppets and have the story be about Einstein [yet] have it fit First Stage’s audience,” said Goodman. “I read scripts and finally read [Patty] Lynch’s and found it very interesting.”
During a telephone interview, Lynch recalled that Goodman had called her “and asked me if I’d be interested in doing a collaboration with a puppeteer. I had just seen a European theater using puppets, and I thought I’d love to work on a piece that used puppets, music and live actors.”
Lynch, who had never written a puppet show script before, came up with what Samson dubbed “a brilliant device.” She created a young girl named Tamara who was assigned to write a report about Einstein for school.
“I wanted to write a story that would illuminate [Einstein’s] life but also allow the audience to have the opportunity to reflect on how they have things in common with Einstein if they maintain their sense of wonderment of the world,” she said.
In the play, the source book Tamara uses happens to be magical. Tamara finds herself transported to Einstein’s side as he makes his scientific discoveries and fights his personal battles.
But Tamara “also goes on a personal journey, becoming more aware of the world,” said Lynch.
The play uses some 40 puppets of all sizes and styles, and includes original music composed by local composer Ernie Brusubardis.
Samson has more than 30 years of puppet theater experience. He founded his first puppet theater while living for a year-and-a-half in Israel. It was called Teatron Bubot ha-Shamen v’ha’Gadol (The Heavy, Bulky Puppet Theater). (“All the puppets were very big. Some were 20 feet tall.”)
After touring throughout Israel, he was hired by the Amsterdam-based Summer Strat Theater to put on “outdoor extravaganza-type” productions.
In Samson’s latest production, he uses several different styles of puppets, including modified Japanese bunraku puppets, marionettes, 13-foot tall puppets and a multi-headed puppet.
Samson said the most difficult puppets to operate are marionettes because “they have about 30 strings.” But “whatever kind you are using, [the difficulty] is in making them come alive theatrically so that you can transmit emotion and meaning to the audience.”
Asked if making puppets was a hobby, Samson thought for a second and said, “It is what I spend most of my time at. I would not call it a hobby, I would call it that thing which is essential to life.”
“Einstein: Hero of the Mind” opens Jan. 25 at the Todd Wehr Theater of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and runs until Feb. 24. It is sponsored by Firstar Bank.
Ticket prices range from $7.50 to $16.75. For information about show times and ticket reservations, call 414-273-2314.
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