Beneath the Surface

CAST

Water One:
Jesse Neumann-Peterson
Thirsty: Masanari Kawahara
Ringmaster: Esther Ouray
Bobo: Julie Boada
Uno: Malia Burkhart
Pepe: José Maquin Gutierrez
Tweet: Jessica Tweet
Squeak: Greg Herriges

Video

PRODUCTION TEAM

INITIATING CONCEPT & DIRECTION: Sandy Spieler

CONCEPTUAL TEAM
Sandy Spieler, Masanari Kawahara,
Duane Tougas, Malia Burkhart,
Esther Ouray, Julie Boada, Rachel Breen, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Will Hommeyer, Greg Herriges

SCRIPT: Aditi Brennan Kapil

MUSIC COMPOSITION AND DIRECTION: Greg Herriges

VIDEO ARTIST: Will Hommeyer

VIDEO MUSIC RECORDING:
Jeff Sylvestre

VIDEO SOUNDSCAPE:
Ruth MacKenzie, Greg Herriges,
Bob Hughes, Masanari Kawahara

TECHNICAL DIRECTION:
Duane Tougas

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT:
Paul Robinson

LIGHTING DESIGNER:
Richard Ashcraft Wilson

PUPPETS, COSTUMES, PROPS:
Masanari Kawahara, Sandy Spieler, Malia Burkhart, Julie Boada, Jim Koplin, Duane Tougas, Gustavo Boada, Paul Robinson, Bill DeLong, Jessica Tweet,
with help from Christina Danathar, Chad Danathar, Nancy Larsen,
Brandy Snyder, Jaime Barber, Joan Fritz, Heidi Huebner, Ann Schrempp, Ugaso Sheik-Abdi, Jenna Thorsett, Jody Thorsett.

SET: Sandy Spieler, Duane Tougas

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS:
Jim Koplin, D. Blake Love, Malia Burkhart, Rachel Breen, John Nordgaard

STUDY GUIDE:
Rachel Breen, D. Blake Love

EXTRA RECORDING: Bob Hughes

AUDIO DESCRIPTION:
Judy Baldwin

COMPOSITIONS FROM CIRCLE OF WATER CIRCUS: Steve Sandberg, Bob Hughes, Esther Ouray

WORDS FROM LIFE OF HOH: Florence Dacey

PROJECT EVALUATION:
Linda M. Bosma,
Bosma Consulting, LLC

About The Performance

Featuring magic toilets, dancing pipes and roaring rain, at this show’s core is an investigation of contemporary water issues and a celebration of our everyday drinking water.

At turns hilarious and poetic, Beneath the Surface mixes live performance, music, and video projection to engage and inspire all ages. Water quality, availability, and stewardship are increasingly relevant to our lives, even in water-rich Minnesota.

The "Circus of Wonderments" that bubbles up from Beneath the Surface is an entertaining exploration to these issues that face our world, and our communities, about water.

The question, “Where does the water come from, and where does it go?” leads to a fun-filled look at the water cycle, the bottled water phenomenon, and the Mississippi watershed that is a part of us all.

School matinee and public performances available.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

As we prepared Beneath the Surface, Annika Bankston, an engineer with the Minneapolis Water Works wrote:

“Something seems symbolic to me in that the minute a person sees and touches the water from their tap, it begins its journey back to the river. This point of unveiling the water is a culmination of all the infrastructure and effort to make it pristine and it instantly becomes thought of as waste.”

Her comment pierced my heart. Is water ever “waste”? I think not! Water is ESSENTIAL in its work of washing and nourishing the world! Why then do we take it so for granted?

Does the excellent convenience of our city’s water infrastructure help us forget the water and our public service professionals who provide us with clean water? What an irony! And does this perception of water as “waste” lead to the many toxins in daily use that get washed away “somewhere” – “out of sight, out of mind”? How do I participate in the journey of water through streams, rivers, wells, pipes and bottles towards my own and my neighbor’s inevitable drink? How can I ensure the health of the water we all share?

These are the questions I held as “we” created Beneath the Surface. This “we” refers to a fabulous team of artists, advisors, researchers, organizers—and members of “On the Commons.”

Many thanks! It has been my privilege to work with each and all of you!

Thank you for joining us! May our time together “invigorate” discussion, networking, and brainstorming towards the joy and responsibility in caring for the precious gift of Water the moves inside each living cell of our planet.

-Sandy Spieler

Quotes

“ ... an all-out puppet extravaganza.”
-The Rake

“ ... a joyful and bubbly
celebration of water.”
-TC Daily Planet

I would like to recommend a relevant and joyful puppet show about water ... called Beneath the Surface. . “Teach the heart and the mind will follow” is a quote that John Caddy, local poet and environmental educator uses in his work ... I feel that this show does teach our hearts and nudges us to think of ways that we can impact our world as our water cycle is stressed. It is accessible to young and old alike. Go see it!  -Margo McCreary

It told a great story of the cycle of water in a very entertaining way. I brought my 7 year old grandson and his friend ... On our way back to the car we passed a sewer and they had to take a look ... I think you got the message across. I’ll be telling friends about the play. -Judy Gregg

We loved it…. You showed the input, throughput and output in such a way that I can’t imagine anyone ever buying another plastic bottle for the water in it. I’ve already sent material to five people suggesting that they attend, and have heard from three that they will!! - Jan Hively

My family and I had the opportunity to see "Beneath the Surface" today. ...It is the kind of show that can, ... create inspiration for much needed change in our careless environmental attitudes. I've worked with a focus on water for my entire career and the one thing that always gave me perspective was the adage that everyone is downstream from someone. -Robert Brown