Center for Puppetry’s ‘Mirrored Pool’ reflects music and mood of Earth, past and present 

Inspired by the legacy and writing of Carl Sagan, The Mirrored Pool, a world premiere running February 13 through February 22 at the Center for Puppetry Arts, is an exploration in blending eras and genres. Created by puppeteer Tom Lee in collaboration with classical music group Eighth Blackbird, the production will tell the tale of the Golden Record, an interstellar time capsule launched in 1977, containing Earth sounds, music, languages and images. The capsule is currently 15.7 billion miles from Earth onboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft. 

The artists aim to inspire audiences of all ages with their own journeys across mediums. Lee will play instruments, while Lisa Kaplan, pianist and executive director of Eighth Blackbird, will puppeteer. By blurring the lines of what the piece is and who the performers are, this creative duo invites audiences to contemplate that “anyone can do anything.”

Born in Korea and raised in Hawai’i, Lee is a director, designer and acclaimed puppet artist. With international and Tony award-winning credits, he was approached by the Center for Puppetry Arts for this performance as well as his current exhibition, Child of Wood. His two eldest daughters collaborated with him to create a giant scroll seen in the performance and exhibition. “I’m so proud of them. I have all these pictures of us working on the floor in this little apartment in New York, painting it,” he says. 

In collaboration with Korean-born puppeteer Jaerin Son, Lee’s puppetry designs evoke an organic, fluid feel. Elemental percussion instruments punctuate the puppets’ journey and are played by all onstage. The design process began with a loose framework, and the objects used evolved out of what was in the room when composing. 

“It was a live process — a really joyful process.” he says. “It’s been exciting for me because it’s given me a chance to look back and to present all of these puppets that I’ve made over the years.”

Kaplan has dedicated the past 25 years of her life to playing “the music of now” through Eighth Blackbird. She co-founded the Chicago-based classical sextet in 1996 with Matthew Duvall, percussionist and artistic director. “It’s not comparable to, say, the baroque era, when Bach was writing,” she says. “[Back then], most of what everyone was writing sounded a certain way. The music of now is written by living composers and contains real diversity and eclecticism.” 

In this production, the pieces of music history currently onboard the Voyager meet the modern concertos of Eighth Blackbird. The namesake mirrored pool is a metaphor for a place of return, convening and discovery. Familiar figures gather here and are tied together by melody. 

“Musicians who choose to play contemporary music must be flexible and versed in many different styles. So there is Bach in our show, actually, because there is Bach on the Golden Record,” says Kaplan. 

As Sagan writes in Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, “the Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.” The Mirrored Pool makes the most of our small stage. 

“It gives us great perspective.” Kaplan says. “In a time where we may feel fragile and exposed, what we’re all looking for is connection and engagement. These points of engagement bring artists real fulfillment and get us away from what’s happening in the world.”

The Mirrored Pool invites audiences to indulge in humankind’s never-ending curiosity of what lies beyond our world and our place in it. 

Where & When

The Mirrored Pool is on stage at The Center for Puppetry Arts February 13 through February 22. Tickets, $22. As part of the Puppetry NOW program, Tom Lee has curated Child of Wood, on view in the Dean DuBose Smith Special Exhibition Gallery from February 12 through May 17.
1404 Spring St. NW.

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Susana Hills is an Atlanta-based writer with a background in theatre and performance studies. She covers local theater with a curiosity about craft, collaboration and how theater responds to the moment in which it is created.