Animal Cracker Conspiracy Puppet Company

Animal Cracker Conspiracy Puppet Company, orAnimal Cracker Conspiracy(ACC), is a contemporary hybridpuppet companyco-founded by Iain Gunn and Bridget Rountree that is invested in pushing the boundaries of kinetic performance, creating performances that "decenter expectations, open new avenues of thought, and invoke the uncanny."Their ongoing practice is based on a shared interest and exploration of where fine art,puppetry, performance art,circus, dance, film, andmixed mediaintersect. They perform nationally and internationally out of a multiplicity of venues such asLa Jolla Playhousein San Diego, California, where the company resides. ACC specializes in inclusive multimedia performances that encourage difficult discussions and foster community throughlocal theater,Street Parades, and national tours.
Gunn and Rountree have served as directors, designers, developers, producers, and puppeteers in the company's productions since its founding.
In 1993, Iain Gunn received aBachelor of Fine Artsfrom theUniversity of British Columbia. Bridget Rountree received aB.A. in Literaturestudying domestically atUC BerkeleyandUC Santa Barbarain 2005 as well as one inFine Artsinternationally atLa Scuola Lorenzo de' MediciinFlorence, Italy. They joined forces in 2004 after they met at theSan DiegoChildren's Museum where Gunn was an artist in residence while working with Fern Street Circus, a community circus for underserved youth. They collaborated inSan Diego'sundergroundperformance scene with Technomania Circus, which gave rise to the creation of their own collective circus,Zirk Ubu,as well as Animal Cracker Conspiracy.
Animal Cracker Conspiracy producespuppet shows,cabarets, and multidisciplinary exhibitions, many of which they have toured andperformedfor local, national, and international audiences.
Commissioned byLa Jolla PlayhouseWithout Walls (WOW)in 2020,Society of Wonderis a series of six short live action puppet films. The story is set in a not-too-distant world in impending collapse, partly due to the global disappearance of chickens and partly due to amonopolistictechnocracy which has innocuously taken over the world. The protagonists, five seemingly unrelated characters, receive mysterious signs and some coercion from a mysterious 6th character (the Cyborg) that eventually leads them all to one another and to the unearthing of magic. The use of puppets in Society of Wonder supports both the concept and content of the production. They serve as a bridge between the human and the spirit realm, which are invoked throughout the story in the search for magic, knowledge and the responsibility of humans to reconnect both to nature and culture.
Paper Cities,or Strategies to Avert the Coming Megalopolisis an ongoing experiment in devised puppet performance. They usepuppets, animated objects, dance/anti-dance(movement), original film andlive musicas routes to create and question meaning in an increasingly uncertain time environmentally, socially, politically and spiritually. The inquiry: whatepistemologieshave led to this precariousness? How have textual information andimages, sense and law, architecture and habit, played a part? Drawing from Gunn and Rountree's personal histories as art makers, lovers, and great-granddaughters and great-grandsons ofcolonial settlers, they implicate themselves with the 'other.' They interrogate historical narratives,settler/expansionistmovements that have led to an epistemology of 'progress' that occludes the realities of war,genocide,imperialism, andenvironmental degradation.
Performed with toy and object theatre, table-top puppets,stop motion animation, and film,The Collectoris a mysterious tale set in an alternate reality.The story follows a lowly debt collector who, under the management of a mechanical, tyrannical overseer, undergoes a radical transformation of spirit in the process of collecting outstanding debts. As he travels through anurban landscape, the boundaries between object and self collide, and a multidimensional,mixed media performancethroughOrwellian,Neo-Victorianlenses unfolds.
Gnomesense! A Happening in the Garden!is a parade performed withgiant puppets,stilt walkers, dancers, and musicians, offeringdreamlike, meta-impromptu dance partiesandsingalongsfor audiences to engage with and enjoy.Led by a group of benevolent, "mystical garden beings",Gnomesenseserves to invoke "spirits of nonsense, serious play, and make believe to come out and bask in the sunshine,"drawing inspiration from carnival processions across the globe, including giant puppetry used inIndonesian,Italian, andJapanesecultures.
TheCabaretis a curated show produced twice a year featuringshort formpuppet theater, designed for a mature audience.Created out of a desire to foster new works of puppetry, Animal Cracker Conspiracy presents a diverse group of puppet artists, partially supported by the Puppet Slam Network spearheaded byHeather HensonandIBEX Puppetry.
Directed by Liam Clancy and Patricia Rincon with artistic collaboration from Rebecca Bryant and composer Don Nichols,The Myth Projectexplores myths ofwarriorandmilitary training. A collaborative, site-specific effort, it was performed at the NTC Promenade, formerly theNaval Training Center, inPoint Loma, California. It aims to examine the essence of storytelling as a means to createsocial changethrough a blend of dance, theater, puppetry, and circus as a way to re-embodycontemporaryandancient myths.
Performed withZirk Ubuand directed by Liam Clancy,Adriftis a movingmeditationon the themes ofZen, vagabond, and welcoming the precarious into everyday life. Through the use ofplay, the idea of being unmoored, of letting go, and of allowing oneself to be swept away by forces outside of one's control are explored. As transient as it sounds,Adriftencourages the audience to leave behind familiar formulae and the safety of the known and realize the inevitable truth, continually found: there is nothing lacking.
With over a decade of experience performing on traditional 'echasse'peg stilts, teaching workshops, and constructing wooden stilts for performers, ACC continues to inspire with their audacious designs and inimitable presence, their stilt characters leaving beautiful and joyful impressions in the minds of their audience with every performance.
Though neither puppeteer initially intended on pursuing the art as aprofession, both were fascinated by the intricate, timeless performances within works such asThe Dark CrystalandThe Muppetsby puppeteering legendJim Henson, inspired as youths by his reification of puppeteering as an art as well as a practical, refined discipline in relation to a modern, mainstream audience. Gunn was especially moved by the themes ofresistance,struggle, and perseverance as presented inThe Dark Crystalfrom a very young age. Rountree was engaged by the storytelling quality ofTheMuppetsand its ability to communicate difficult themes to young audiences.
Later on, Gunn was influenced by street performers such asstilt walkerswhile growing up inVancouver, Canadawhile Rountree was introduced to theHandspring Puppet Companyduring an artist residency with teaching artistsRose ShakinovskyandClaire GavronskyinCape Town, South Africa. This, along withcharcoalartist-turned-puppeteerWilliam Kentridge's films,Ubu and the Truth Commission, served as major catalysts in their pursuing puppetry. As a pair, both also describe theanti-carceral,anti-imperialist, andanti-warsentiments andfolksyyet larger-than-life productions ofBread & Puppet, created by German bakers-turned-puppeteersElka andPeter Schumann, as transformative in how they viewed the boundaries of theater performance.
Animal Cracker Conspiracy is also heavily inspired by European styles of puppetry such as the use of more visible puppeteers intheater and street performancethrough giant puppets,marionettes, andstilt dancing.
Animal Cracker Conspiracy prioritizessocial commentarythrough various shows and exhibitions, even developing the structure and form of various projects in response to multiple issues, such as the use of typically useless butrecyclable materialsand household objects, including cereal boxes, brass pins, and even toilet paper, andupcyclingthem to reimagine the boundaries of puppets.Other causes include:
ACC also hosts community workshops to engage with audiences and continue this ethos beyond the theater.