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 Click for stage events Wood is no good Trying out for the penis puppeteers
"You guys have to get comfortable being naked." Standing in the aisle
of the New Lakeshore Theater, six men strip down to their socks. The men
are in varying degrees of shivering, varying degrees of trying to cover
up. They are informed that if there is any stiffness they will be told
to leave. The master puppeteers strip down too and then herd the men on
to the stage.
This isn't some twisted prelude to male humiliation, but open-call
auditions for "Puppetry of the Penis." Created by Simon Morley and
David Friend, it made its Chicago debut just this February, but has
toured Australia, Canada and several U.S. cities since 1998. Due to the
demands of the road, the guys of POTP are looking for like-minded
gentlemen, who have "stretch factor and no shame," to expand their
production.
Before auditions begin, the men participate in a short workshop to
learn some of the penis installations. There is wrapping, bending,
folding, squeezing, pulling and twisting as they manipulate their most
private of privates into moves like The Hamburger, The Eiffel Tower,
The
Loch Ness Monster and The Wristwatch. (Use your imagination.) Mark Neal
and Jim MacGregor, the puppeteers running the auditions, keep things
light and move from one installation to the next with a strange ease.
The men focus; some get it on the first try, some don't. After all,
this
is no longer a private show for a girlfriend or boyfriend, nor even a
public display of erection.
Also by Christine Badger
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