HOLYOKE — What do Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” and Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” all have in common?
Aside from being three examples of classic gothic literature, they’re also the inspirations behind Shadow, Sound, Spectacle, a Western Massachusetts-based troupe that blends songs and storytelling with shadow puppetry and video. They will perform at Wistariahurst Museum on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.
“Western education puts a lot of emphasis on studying writers of the 1800s and early 1900s. That tends to be a period of great upheaval and industrial change, and I think that resonates nicely with all the upheaval we feel in any generation,” said singer-songwriter Jess Martin who, along with puppeteer Amy West and performer and videographer Abby Hanna, make up the troupe.
So, while stories on the surface level may be about a man haunted by a talking raven, or a monster that doesn’t understand its purpose in life, they’re also about the struggles people feel in any generation.
For Martin, that meant her journey coming out as queer.
“Being someone who was closeted as a child and didn’t see a lot of people like me made me feel like ‘oh, am I the monster?’” Martin said. “That’s always resonated with me. The idea of being haunted by a bird who says ‘nevermore’ over and over again, it’s just like, ‘why is that bird here? And why is it after me?’”
Shadow, Sound, Spectacle began as a “happy surprise,” Martin said. She approached West, a puppeteer with whom she had worked with in the past, and the two worked together to create a music video called “Danger in the Deep.” That project was so much fun, Martin said, that they worked together again on a song Martin wrote called “Nevermore,” based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem “The Raven.” Hanna joined them, and the trio started performing for audiences.
The trio will bring a new song and story to their show at Wistariahurst — one inspired by “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
“This guy disappears and nobody cares, so to me, it resonated with how dangerous it is to be visible as a queer person and especially someone who’s not gender-conforming,” Martin said. “So, this song interweaves between the elements of the original story with my own experiences as a queer person potentially being a victim of a society that doesn’t want me around.”
The performance will include headless horsemen shadow puppets designed by West; a live-action video by Hanna; and a song written and performed by Martin.
“We’re excited to premiere it at Wistariahurst. Each production brings in a new piece, so the show keeps growing every time we perform it,” Martin said.
The trio also prides themselves on having an interactive show. Even the name of their troupe — Shadow, Sound, Spectacle — was decided by an audience vote.
This time, audience members will be voting on their next project. Martin will perform three new songs for the audience after the main part of the show, and people will be invited to vote for their favorite of the three.
“Amy, Abby and I all see performance as a conversation with the audience. So, how can we get them to have an opportunity to speak back to us? They let us know the direction we should move in,” Martin said.
Tickets to “Shadow, Sound, Spectacle presents: Literary Monsters” are $20 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.com.
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