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Interview in Providence Phoenix 9/2/2004 1:14:35 PM
Bill Rodriguez, reporter for the Providence Phoenix, interviewed me regarding Cosmic Spelunker Theater's presentation of "Waltzing to War." He asked some excellent questions that went well beyond the press release. You can read it at:
Minor nitpicks (note that errors always creep into the interview process owing to deadlines, mishearings, and mistranscriptions.):
1.) James' last name is spelt "Van Looy."
2.) Some might read the article with the impression that I went to Vermont and studied with Peter Schumann. Bread & Puppet is based on Peter Schumann's farm, but It is not a school of puppetry. Nor have I as of this date been to the farm in Glover, VT. What happened is that I volunteered with B&P while they were in Boston, and "studied" by taking copious notes about the experience (see the series "Two Weeks With Bread & Puppet" in this blog.) I did learn a great deal about theater in the process.
3.) The helmet I was wearing in the video that Bill Rodriguez saw was a German World War II helmet, but owing to the flared edges, he probably mistook it for a World War I helmet. Since then, I have made paper mache molds of that helmet, which are much lighter and thus better for stage work. In addition, since they are made from paper shopping bags they look a lot more like the helmets worn by US troops in Iraq-- the Germans designed good helmets that helped deflect blows to the head and so many modern militaries have adopted that shape.
These are very minor mistakes and in no way undermine the quality of the interview which posed excellent questions to me.
