THEATRE

 Pontine Theatre Presents Autumn Portraits
Created & Performed by Sanglass Theater's Eric Bass.

8-10 February, Pontine Theatre presents Sandglass Theater's, Eric Bass, in his solo production, Autumn Portraits. Performances are Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 4pm & at 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $24 and may be purchased online at www.pontine.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the door a half-hour prior to each show (cash & checks only), based on availability. Pontine's West End Studio Theatre is located at 959 Islington Street in Portsmouth NH. Pontine's 2012-13 season is supported by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. This production is funded in part the New England States Touring Program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with fundis from the National Endowment for the Arts' Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies. Accommodations are provided by The Sise Inn.

Autumn Portraits is a compelling solo puppet-and-mask performance, a series of five interlocking vignettes, each exploring one puppet character and its interplay with its manipulator, who might appear as a masked figure, or simply a voice from the sky. Eric Bass' handcrafted rod puppets are characters in the "autumn" of their existence who act out their stories in precise and evocative gestures as they meet their pasts, their selves, their deaths.

Autumn is a metaphor for that time of life when our thoughts turn inward, when we feel the loss of summer warmth. Each of these puppet “portraits” presents a moment in one character’s existence. Some are funny, some touching, some bizarre, and all speak to the human experience, as only puppets can.

Bass performs solo, and for most of his performance he manipulates the characters in full view of the audience. He combines his own craft with the traditional Japanese Bunraku methods of puppetry. While the performance may be enjoyed by older children, “Autumn Portraits” is intended for adult audiences.

Utilizing only a small puppet stage, Eric's masterful storytelling technique and stunning puppet manipulation leads his audience on a fascinating journey that constantly asks the question of who has control, the puppets, or their master? By intertwining the use of masks, table-top rod puppets and a combination of the two, Autumn Portraits focuses on the relationship between the manipulator and his puppets, told through a constant, yet ever-changing dialogue between the two.

This celebrated solo performance has won awards in Australia, Hungary and a Citation of Excellence from the Union Internationale de la Marionette. Eric Bass, with his spouse, Inez Zeller Bass, is founder of Putney, Vermont's Sandglass Theater.

Eric Bass has presented his work in theaters and festivals throughout Europe, America, Australia and Israel. His awards include the Citation of Excellence from Pecs, Hungary, and the First Prize Critics Award for Best Production at the International Festival of Puppetry in Adelaide, Australia.