On Saturday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m., Sandglass Theater will present two original works by ensemble members Kalob Martinez and Jana Zeller.
Puppet Crimes celebrates the grotesque tradition of hand puppetry in two styles, and assures a night of wicked enjoyment from comedy to tragedy.
Kalob Martinez is an actor, voice artist, fight director, and puppeteer from Houston, Texas. He is a member of the company of Babylon, Sandglass's newest original work, which begins touring in the fall. He has an MFA from the Puppet Arts Program at the University of Connecticut and created El Beto in order to complete his MFA.
According to a news release, El Beto is a one-man, bilingual, hand puppet version of Shakespeare's Macbeth and is set in the world of the Mexican drug cartels: “While the U.S. engages in the war on drugs, another war is fought by the cartels in order to gain control of the U.S./Mexico border.”
Martinez's other credits include the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, and the Alley Theatre in Houston. Additionally he has performed at the Houston Grand Opera, Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre, and the Houston Shakespeare Festival. He has appeared in more than 50 commercials and industrial videos, and has voiced the English dubs of anime for ADV Films, Seraphim Digital, and Sony.
Zeller will be presenting her adult Kasper and Gretel. This raucous hand puppet piece features traditional German hand puppet heroes Kasper and Gretel as they struggle with the duties of a married couple inside an old shack.
The action turns comical, tragic, and grotesque as the two juggle the baby, their chores, and making money, dream of a better future, and hide a dangerous secret from each other. Based in a tradition that first appeared in the fairgrounds of Europe in the 17th century, these stock characters continue to comment on society.
Zeller grew up in a family of international puppeteers and started working for the theater in her teens. As a set painter and designer, she has worked for the theater, opera, TV, and the movies, and has designed and built a wide range of puppets.
In 2001, she founded her own puppet company, Spybird Theater, and has performed her works in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, and India. For the past two years she has been touring with Shoshana Bass, presenting a cherished children's puppet show that the two sisters inherited from their mother, Inez Zeller Bass.