More on the “Garage Door Nativity” newspage.
Patty Contaxis, Director Auteur of the Garage Door Nativity, began her theater work in
New York City in the richly experimental atmosphere of the late 1970’s. “I was drawn to
companies that were pushing the edge of theater arts, experimenting not only with how
stories were told, but which stories were told. I was also drawn to theaters that sought
fresh and often direct relationships with their audience.”
The directors that most influenced Patty: Muriel Miguel, Gloria Miguel, and Lisa Mayo of Spiderwoman Theater; Lois Weaver, Peggy Shaw and Deb Margolin of Split Britches; Tadeusz Kantor of Cricot2; Eugenio Barba of Odin Teatret; Peter Schumann of Bread and Puppet Theater. “These companies were telling the stories of the marginalized and oppressed, lifting up the beauty and ordinary heroism of lives left out of mainstream culture. These artists see their work as essential and unavoidably political, not just entertainment. Although their work is wonderfully, magically entertaining, and often hysterically funny.”
In New York, Patty worked for Theater for the New City, Teatro Viola, and I Giullari Di Piazza. Regionally, she worked for The Rhode Island Feminist Theater in Providence, and Front Room Theater in Seattle. She was co-founder—with Maura Tucker and Hollis Giammatteo—of Tiny Grace Theater in Seattle.
Patty’s conceptualization of the Garage Door Nativity was a long, slow process. “I let these ideas and images unfold slowly in my imagination, over many years—sitting in church one Advent season after another—reworking the Christmas story as a contemporary story, locating our modern lives in this ancient and eternal drama.” She told Adam Blons about her idea last winter. “He was the first person I ever shared this with; up to then, it had been a private reverie. He was immediately interested in trying to produce it. I had always thought of Phil Porter in the role of Gabriel. Adam and I agreed that a production this size would require his talent and skill. The three of us met one time to discuss the possibility of a Christmas play. Phil was immediately hooked, and that was it. Adam, Phil and I met weekly throughout the spring planning and designing the production. We enlisted designers and builders from within the church, and held casting calls in May. Over thirty FCCB congregants are now involved. Working with this cast and crew is an amazing rush of energy and warmth.”
Rev. Adam Blons has served as the Minister of Community Life at First Congregational Church of Berkeley (FCCB) for 8 years where he oversees the ministries with children, youth and families. He got his start with puppetry as a child in a puppetry troup with the Masque Youth Theater and School in Rochester, MN. He was the voice of a thunder cloud in one production, he remembers. He emerged on the stage himself for the first time in a memorable performance as the diminutive Zaccheus in a musical church play. “I was the tallest cast member and managed to sing my tenor solo despite having braces and my voice changing during the production.”
Despite having very little formal performance training he loves to create dramatic moments through storytelling, worship leading, or just playing around the house with his two daughters. At FCCB he collaborated on the creation of 6 giant puppets for use in worship on Palm Sunday and wrote and performed a puppet production of the Prodigal Son. He also owns the first two seasons of the Muppet Show. “That should count for something,” he says. Finally, and most importantly, he does a great impression of Kermit the Frog. In fact, Kermit has made an appearance in worship at FCCB, much to the surprise of the late Jim Henson.
Adam is inspired to be with this creative team and loves the chance to explore the Nativity story in this unique way. Overseeing the creation of the different kinds of puppets in this production, hand puppets, shadow puppets, and giant rod puppets was a great challenge. He says of this experience, “Puppets are able to communicate deep truths in very accessible ways. Their use in worship goes way back to the middle ages as priests dramatized Biblical stories through mystery, miracle and morality plays. This production attempts to revive the spirit of those early dramas as it seeks not to explain the story or its meaning, but invite the audience to experience the mystery permeating the Biblical stories. All I want for Christmas this year is to have one moment that resonates deeply with the mysterious presence of Emmanuel—God with us.”
Phil Porter, Production Designer for the Garage Door Nativity, has been weaving together art and theology for over 35 years. He brings a variety of artistic skills—visual design, dance, theater improvisation, and music—to the exploration of key issues of life and meaning. “Part of the church/faith process is telling the story\both the overarching ones of tradition, but also our most individual and personal ones. I’ve always been interested in telling the old stories in new ways as well telling the new faith stories\God‘s work is playing out in each of our lives.”
Besides being Minister of Art & Communication at FCCB, Phil is also the co-founder of InterPlay, which combines movement, storytelling and singing in improvisational ways. He directs an InterPlay-based performance group called WING IT! which is composed of over 20 dancers, storytellers and musicians. “We create full evening performances on the spot, weaving together pieces that are rooted in both our universal and personal experience. The Garage Door Nativity does a similar thing, looking around the edges of the Christmas narrative to find the places where we connect the divine story with our own lives.“
Phil was intrigued by the many layers of Patty’s conception of this production, both the content and the form. “I can’t think of any other production that has grown out of the stories of Jesus’ birth that comes any where close to this in style. This is in no way your typical Christmas pageant. The familiar elements are there, but the point of view is so different. For example, Herod plays a much larger role in this version of the story. His effect on the life of the community into which Jesus was born was powerful—but not in good ways. He was definitely threatened by the news of Jesus’ birth and very nearly thwarted the whole story. It was important to lift up that challenging part of the tale.”
Phil has been busy conceptualizing costumes for untraditional angels, coordinating an impromptu latin jazz percussion ensemble, building a star that leads us into the story, and working with several others to bring into being the actual “garage” that is central to the story. “I’m definitely getting to use a wide variety of my gifts and skills (and a lot of time!) working on this project. It is a big and exciting challenge. And it is great to have so many people involved.”
More on the “Garage Door Nativity” newspage.