The Cashore Marionettes show presented handmade marionettes performing multiples scenes.
Everything from elephants to rock stars occupied Baker Center’s Baker Theatre stage Monday night during The Cashore Marionettes show.
The sold out show, a part of the Performing Arts and Concert Series, involved marionettes, or puppets with strings, crafted by Joseph Cashore. Cashore was accompanied by his wife Wilma, who help set the stage between each piece.
“I’d like to show you some of my favorites,” Cashore said before beginning the show. “I hope you enjoy them.”
The evening began with a marionette violinist names Maestro Janos Zelinka. As classical music rang through the theater, the marionette gave the illusion it was playing the piece note by note. A few audience members let out gasps initially, and as the marionette bowed, the crowd roared with applause.
Many pieces focused on delicate movement accompanied by music. A boy marionette in a striped shirt swung from a trapeze with circus music in the background, which left the audience giggling.
Other scenes used props, such as a scene depicting homelessness, which used a small wooden bench, a paper bag and small trash can.
Somber music played as the character Old Mike wandered on stage with only a bag in his hand. After digging through a trashcan, the marionette clasped on a bench and began to cry.
He reached his empty hand up to Cashore and then out to the crowd. He again clasped crying and the lights faded to black.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="2bad3836-45c8-11e5-94af-b3eaa8814f7d"}}
Layne Mainor, a senior studying art history, said she saw a similar show before but found this one more interesting.
“I thought it was really entertaining because there was a really big spectrum of characters — a good variety,” she said.
Each scene caused the audience to react differently. A scene showing a little boy flying away with his kite caused laughter, but a scene with an old woman planting a flower on a grave resulted in utter silence.
“I thought it was a unique combination of many talents,” Tim Myers, a local who came to see the show, said.
Though he has seen a marionette show, he said it wasn’t quite as high of a caliber. A single act was impressive, Myers said, but it was even better that there were about a dozen marionettes in the show.
In the final scene, Cashore truly became a part of the show — he was a prop. The marionette began to climb up Cashore as if he were a mountain. After daunting music and a near slip, the marionette continued its way to Cashore’s head.
The marionette placed a flag with a picture of the world on Cashore’s head and the audience erupted in applause once more.
For the final bows, the audience rose to its feet as Cashore continued to thank all those intending.
Matt Thomson, coordinator for campus programs, said the show sold out and “went perfect.” He added there was a crowd of students, families and children.
“It’s crazy that one person can do all that,” he said.
@liz_backo
eb823313@ohio.edu
