Profile
Joanna Santa Barbara
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South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Abel Tasman ▷
John the Walrus
o John’s voice, both speaking and singing.
Things I loved:
o His deep and passionate love of nature in his area and in other areas.
o His puppetry, both puppets, voices and scripts. The kea father-son duo was marvellous.
o His costumes.
o His presence on stage.
o His courage to be unique.
Things I think could be better:
I think John’s artistic drive to pare back to the bare essence of his performance may go too far at times. I’d have liked more explanations and lead-ins of places, creatures and scenarios, and to have had them linked up more. Particularly if presenting the Abel-Tasman ecosystem in another place unfamiliar with place names and creatures, the audience may need a reasonable amount of orienting.
Thanks, John, for sharing your unique gift. It was a pleasure.
Hi there Joanna, thanks for this really well-considered review. Glad you found a lot to love!
I appreciate your courage and thought in offering the suggestions/constructive criticism.
You mention "...the artistic drive...the bare essence..." Ah, well, Joanna you have to know, the barding rules, all the rhythm and song, the life force, playfulness and celebration of it. I've found it, it's the way I want to go, and reckon I'll keep things cranking, long as I can.
But the info/explanations/links you seek are likely to come with a programme. Not enough time to create it for you here, busy as I was with the storytelling course, close to the time of this show.
Thanks again for the feedback, Joanna ~ John the Walrus.
John Crick