On the Mainstage

Beneath the Surface

-Sandy Spieler

Beneath the Surface

A Circus of Wonderments!

Come to the Circus
of the Common Well!

  • The Wettest Show on Earth!
  • Experience the Rain!
  • The Monsters and Myths!
  • Staggering Magic Acts
    and Daring Rescues!
  • And above all… Clowns Clowns Clowns!!
Episode 2 of Invigorate the Common Well
In Collaboration with On the Commons

Video

What the Critics are Saying

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

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

Quotes

Scene from Beneath the Surface

-Bruce Silcox

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

About Beneath The Surface

Learn About:
  • Public Water Works
  • Mississippi Watershed
  • Bottled Water Industry
  • Stewardship of Our Water Common
Beneath The Surface is a splashy celebration and investigation of our everyday drinking WATER. This enlightening and entertaining production features live performances, music and video. There's even a "What You Can Do!" Carnival to engage and inspire all ages!
Beneath The Surface bubbles up a "Circus of Wonderments," overflowing with fun, energy and imagination. This is a great way to introduce the children in your life to the issues that face our world about water.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Welcome to Beneath the Surface, the second episode of our trilogy Invigorate the Common Well!

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?

Scene from Beneath the Surface

Photo by Bruce Silcox

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

PRODUCTION TEAM

Scene from Beneath the Surface

-Bruce Silcox

  • 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 Ashcroft Wilson
  • PUPPETS, COSTUMES, AND 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 and 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

MANY THANKS TO
OUR PROJECT ADVISORS:

Scene from Beneath the Surface

Photos by Bruce Silcox

  • Annika M. Bankston, P.E.,Minneapolis Water Works
  • Gemma Bulos, International Water Networker
  • Tara Chadwick, Danza Mexica Cuauhtémoc of Minnesota
  • Whitney Clark, Friends of the Mississippi River
  • Doug Freeman,Minnesota Arts and Ecology Alliance
  • Susan Gust, GRASS ROUTES of U of M;
    City of Mpls Public Health Advisory Committee
  • Neal Hines, Civil Engineer Dept. of Limnology, Hydrology
  • Seitu Jones, Advisor of Community and Public Spaces
  • Jim Koplin, Researcher, Environmental Activist
  • Satish Kumar, Resurgence magazine, Schumacher College
  • Ken Meter, Director of Crossroads Research
  • Mark Muller, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
  • Anil Naidoo, Council of Canadians
  • Patrick Nunnally,Mississippi River Initiative
  • Megan O’Hara,MN Arts and Ecology Alliance
  • MaryLynn Pulscher,Minneapolis Parks and Recreation
  • April Rust, Project WET
  • Akhmiri Sekhr-Ra,
    Powderhorn Phillips Cultural Wellness Center
  • John G. Shepard, Center for Global
    Environmental Education, Hamline University
  • Stew Thornley, Minnesota Department of Health,
    Drinking Water Protection
  • Shiney Varghese, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Teachers:

Download Curriculum Resource Guide (Word)
Find Water-Related Links, Downloads, and a Bibliography at the Web Resources for Water Issues Page collected by On the Commons

SUPPORTers

This project was supported in part by grants from:

  • The Bush Foundation
  • Sisters of St. Joseph Partners in Justice
  • Minnesota Department
    of Health, Environmental
    Health Division, Drinking Water Protection Section
  • National Endowment
    for the Arts
  • Mary H. Rice Foundation
  • Cynthia Krieg Memorial Watershed Stewardship Fund
  • Toro Foundation
  • WedgeShare
  • and many contributions from individual donors

CAST

  • Water One:
    D. Blake Love
  • Thirsty:
    Masanari Kawahara
  • Ringmaster:
    Esther Ouray
  • Bobo: Julie Boada
  • Uno: Malia Burkhart
  • Pepe:
    José Maquin Gutierrez
  • Tweet: Jessica Tweet
  • Squeak:
    Greg Herriges
Cast from Beneath the Surface

SPECIAL THANKS TO

  • Minneapolis
    Water Works
  • Friends of a Mississippi River
  • Mayor RT Rybak
  • Blue Moon Productions
  • Hamline University Center for Global Environmental Education
  • Mary Lynn Pulscher and the Environmental Education Division
    of Minneapolis Park & Recreation Department
  • Stew Thornley and the Minnesota Department
    of Health
  • Amber Collett of Think Outside the Bottle campaign
  • John Akre
  • Bart Buch
  • Mictla Chadwick
  • Tara Chadwick
  • Trang Do
  • Elizabeth Garvey
  • Laura Harada
  • Micah Spieler-Sandberg
  • Rose Spieler-Sandberg
  • Lynne Derby
  • Nathanial Damrod
  • Nick Lethert
  • Annie at Corporate Accountability
  • Twin Cities Municipal Waste-Water Treatment
    Facility (Pig’s Eye)
  • Linda Henning
  • Michael Mereness
  • Norma Adam
  • Cecile Bellamy
  • Joan Fritz
  • We also want to thank the many people who have contributed to our work on water
    over the years, especially those who worked on Come to the Well, The Circle of Water Circus, and Life of HOH.

ON THE COMMONS

Understanding the presence of the commons in our world makes it possible to imagine social change taking place in new ways. We rise together to claim our inheritance – of nature, culture and community. In so doing; we recognize our responsibility to safeguard this inheritance for future generations.

Here in Minnesota, at the headwaters of the Mississippi, the opportunity for leadership in re-defining our relationship to water is ripe and critical. How we share our water today with those who live downstream has ripple effects around the globe.

In our collaboration with In the Heart of the Beast, On the Commons celebrates the role of art and culture in making the commons tangible, concrete and visible. We thank In the Heart of the Beast for the privilege of working together to bring public attention to water as a commons. Across the U.S. On the Commons encourages deeper public knowledge and interest in the significance of the commons in all of our lives. You can find out more about us at: www.onthecommons.org

-Rachel Breen,
On the Commons

You Can Help

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