Mb book2016

M U D D B U T T M Y S T E R Y T H E AT R E T R O U P E

3 Decades of Artful Collaboration Telluride Academy

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M U D D B U T T M Y S T E R Y T H E AT R E T R O U P E 3 Decades of Artful Collaboration

©2016 TELLURIDE ACADEMY

CONTENTS

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FOREWORD BY ART GOODTIMES

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FOREWORD BY WENDY BROOKS

5 INTRODUCTION FRONT AND BACK COVER PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN FAGO

13 INITIATION

WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

19 PROCESS 27

WHY DO THEATER?

Kim Epifano Sally Davis 39 EMBARKING ON A JOURNEY Pam Zoline Michael Stasiuk 41 THE WAY WE WORK John Fago Wendy Brooks 41 WHAT WE DO, 43 WHAT CAN HAPPEN, Mudd Butt Troupe Members and Alumnae

TRANSCRIBERS Rebecca Mayer Jessica Nelson EDITORS

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45 WHAT CAN INSPIRE US, 47 QUESTIONS WE ASK, 49 ADVENTURES, 53 BEAUTY OF MISTAKES 57 DAY BY DAY

THE TROUPE

Michelle Curry Wright 61 CHILDREN AS ARTISTS AND COLLABORATORS Carey Davis 63 TAP INTO KID POWER/GENIUS Rebecca Mayer DESIGNER

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CHILDREN’S VOICES

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CHILDREN AS TEACHERS

Barbara Kondracki

PRODUCER/PUBLISHER Telluride Academy

73 TRANSFORMATION

77 CRAFT

SOCIAL MEDIA 79 MUSIC, 81 DANCE AND MOVEMENT, 85 ACTING Lucie Weil PHOTOGRAPHY

87 SPECTACLE

105 STORYTELLING

John Fago Sally Davis 115 PERFORMANCE Kim Epifano Wendy Brooks 125 MUDD BUTT INTERNATIONAL Abby Zoline Michael Stasiuk 125 ON THE ROAD Dickon Pownall-Gray Mark Westman 144 3 DECADES OF ARTFUL COLLABORATION Rob Huber Billi Cusick 147 ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS AND FAMILY PAGES Lisa Barlow Emma Grace Messenger 167 THANK YOU

FOREWORD BY POET AND SAN MIGUEL COUNTY COMMISSIONER ART GOODTIMES Telluride, Colorado has seen wave after wave of immigrants, opportunists, cultural heroes and

others around the world.

Mudd Butts was founded to offer kids a theater

of the season. Shows to be proud of. This was serious theater, and grand fun as well.

outlaws. But it was the mid-Seventies tsunami of

experience unparalleled in formal American

Theater has always held a special place in

urban refugees that beached up on this high alpine

educational systems. Hands-on teachers who

the life of a community. It is a giant moiré screen

box canyon and turned a gold rush mining camp-

inspired their charges, not just kept them in line.

where actors could perform the puppet shows of

has-been into a cultural mecca in the mountains.

Who offered mythic stories of relevance and big

script but inject between the lines many of the

mysteries. Librettos by writers of opera. Live

pressing issues and controversies of the day. Could

hidden assets subsidizing a counter-cultural

music. Make-believe on a gigantic scale, as big

portray them in public for all to see. And hopefully

lifestyle. Others hitched into town and found open

as the Bread and Puppet Theater-style puppets

heal or at least patch up relationships and situations

arm opportunity. But almost all came with the

they wielded around the stage. Fantastic props.

where things had fallen apart.

hope of creating something unique. Something

Outrageous costumes.

Some came to town as trust-funders, their

extraordinary.

Artists were especially entranced by dropdead vistas, cheap rents and a cultural landscape enriched with developing infrastructure -- a local

Unusual locals became characters in their plays.

Now, at last, the Mudd Butt creators have gathered up their cultural mementos into a bookish

Role reversals were common. My daughter played

compendium to share with those outside our

Whispering Jim Dalpaz in one early drama.

mountain hideaway. A celebration of children’s

The community learned to come not only to see

theater like no other. An honoring of the wild

radio station, numerous local art groups, and a

their children and their friends’ children on stage,

artists who take their artistry to new levels – not of

vision of doing something different in a place that

but to enjoy the spectacle, laugh at local jokes and

personal fame and fortune, but community wealth

mattered. As daughter of the ski area founder,

ribbing endemic to an isolated community, and

and tradition.

Pamela Zoline has always said, “Telluride is a

learn from the casting of local stories as larger-

window on the world.”

than-life legends.

Bluegrass. Film Festival. Preservation of the

And the participants learned new skills, old

Valley Floor. Telluride has become famous for

songs, what it means to hold an audience in the

doing things differently. Things that have inspired

palm of your hand. Performances were high points

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Welcome to Mudd Butts. Be ready to be amazed.

– Art Goodtimes

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FOREWORD BY VISIONARY EDUCATOR WENDY BROOKS John Fago and Pamela Lifton-Zoline. A brilliant

Palm Theatre in early August with 21 young

superintendent of the Telluride Schools hired me

and peculiarly suited visual artist from Portsmouth,

actors. And thirty-five-year-old Mudd Butt

to begin a series of enrichment programs for the

New Hampshire, Michael Stasiuk, joined the team

graduates will be bringing THEIR children to see

students of the district, the offshoot of which was

in 1991.

the shows!

In the 1980’s Margaret Hatcher, the new

called Telluride Academy. At the time the School

Today, though the name has changed, Mudd

What exactly has created this crucible of

District budget did not allow for adequate history,

Butts is the oldest surviving class offering of the

magic? Probably just the right mix of creativity,

language, and the arts.

Telluride Academy and is the longest continually

structure, improv, scripts, scores and scenes,

running theater troupe in Telluride. In a show

props and costumes of incomparable imagination,

recruited two young friend-of-a-friend thespians

of utter devotion, love, care, and endurance,

and a permanent challenge to the kids to dare to

and teachers from San Francisco, Kim and Sally,

Kim Epifano and Sally Davis have shown up

make something amazing occur. And they do.

who arrived in of 1987, ready and willing to work

every single year, growing up and older with the

Consistently. All these seasons down the road, the

with their seven girl students in the first Mystery

program, and refining it to its current state. The

program still fills up and still delivers.

Theater Troupe. Help came in the form of artists

Troupe will present its 30th annual show at the

I realized I had stumbled onto a dream job. I

– Wendy Brooks

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INTRODUCTION The Mudd Butt Mystery Theater Troupe began in 1987 as a Telluride Academy summer program for the theater arts. The purpose was to create an interdisciplinary theater troupe with an emphasis on experimentation and storytelling. It was important for us to infuse our stories with local and global issues.

From its inception the program has been a shared experience between adult professional artists and participating children ages ten to thirteen. In addition to theater arts the program promotes the development of important life skills which serve its graduates in all aspects of their school, personal and professional lives.

With the troupe we explore what constitutes the mythic foundations that make us human and give life meaning. Music, dance and theater nurture the magic of childhood and set the stage for a creative and playful adult lives.

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“It is exciting to work with this particular age group. They have one foot in kid world and one foot in teenage world. They have access to deep play and are also very interested in world issues and the grittier side of life.”

For 30 years we have created theater with children both in the U.S. and around the world. Our approach to theater honors the original ancient Greek context of the word,“ a place of seeing.”

A supportive, innovative, idiosyncratic and highly disciplined environment allows young people to learn to see themselves with greater clarity and to see each other with greater compassion. It also helps them to see the world in which they live with a healthier critical perception.

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In the Mudd Butts tradition, all members of the troupe participate in the entire monthlong collaboration. The friendships created can be long lasting.

Kim, Sally and Mike first met as art specialists in 1985 in Hillsboro, New Hampshire at an international arts camp which was then called Interlocken. “We were instantly well matched and complemented for humor, creative ideas and a desire to create memorable moments that were bigger than we could generate on our own. We were also deeply inspired there by the theater work of Roy and Maggie Nevitt of Milton Keynes, England.

We kept in touch after this chapter but wanted to work together again. In 1991 Mike volunteered a week of work helping the Mudd Butts, and the rest is history.�

PHOTOS NEXT TWO PAGES: JOHN FAGO

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PHOTO CREDITS

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INITIATION How We Got Our Name In 1987 our intimate group of all girls was called The Mystery Theatre Troupe. One day, seeking inspiration from nature we hiked up Coronet Creek to the waterfall.

Because it had rained the day before everything was covered in mud. We played around the waterfall, painted each other’s faces with rock paint, sang songs and had a picnic. On our slippery return trip we had to slide on our butts to get down.

At the bottom of the trail we were met by a reporter from the Telluride Times-Journal who was writing an article about us. He wanted to know the name of our troupe.

The kids spontaneously shouted: “We are the Mudd Butts!” The name stuck, just like the mud, and the muddy tradition at Coronet Creek Falls to this day is an initiation into Mudd Butts.

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Mudd Butts is not just a summer program but a culture. At this point the children of Telluride recognize and honor the opportunity to participate. It is gratifying to us that many graduates return to help with subsequent productions and to share with those following in their footsteps.

What do we hear most often about the benefits of the Mudd Butt experience?

Increased confidence in public speaking and performance. Awareness of the value (and fun) of collaborating in a group. The ability to make creative transformations in difficult situations (wherever they may appear in life). And a general sense that all of us can have a positive impact on the future.

For the students that have participated in Mudd Butts International, there is an added benefit of global citizenship developed through the rich experience of travel.

Young people have such strong feelings about the state of the world. Mudd Butts empowers them to voice these feelings.

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Mudd Butts found me at a crucial age where there were two paths I could have taken. The first being the path that was embarrassment free.

The second path included a lot of strange hippie dances, loud noises, bright colors and speaking from my gut. Luckily I chose the latter, without Mudd Butts in my life, I don’t know what kind of person I’d be. Kim and Sally taught me to fearlessly express myself at all times.

– Lucy Price, 1998-2000

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PROCESS Our recipe is simple: take several wellseasoned artists from a range of disciplines, mix them with a bunch of creative children and some juicy story elements, simmer for one intensive month, toss in a pinch of guest artist, add a generous amount of masking tape, paper mache, a dollop of humor, and stir constantly until it boils. Let it boil over into the community. Voila!

One gratifying part of our job is in bringing community together. We have had so many people locally and globally help us with our productions. We thank them all from the bottom of our hearts!

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PHOTO BLACK & WHITE ABOVE: JOHN FAGO; BEAR DRAWING: PAMELA LIFTON-ZOLINE

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WHY DO THEATER? Theater opens a door to the many layers of reality that are within us all. It brings soul and importance to everyday existence. It is human nature to get trapped in limited ideas of who we are, especially during adolescence. The theater experience can instill an awareness that we are not confined to a given role. Mudd Butts helps young people to feel comfortable with their inner talents so they can be shared with peers, adults, and a greater audience.

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Inspiration, creativity and spontaneity. All three came hand in hand with Mudd Butts, and all three are driving forces in what I do in my everyday life. – Meghan Fernald, 1997-2000

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EMBARKING ON A JOURNEY It’s not just a clichÊ: Process is important.

We value it as much as the spectacle that we create. Our individual work in the arts is inspired by our experiences, dreams, exposure to other cultures and a deep, vibrant connection to the natural world.

We meld cultures by using music, dance and myths from around the globe. These elements elicit the magic and mystery of life and allow a student to connect with his or her wilder and more intuitive side.

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THE WAY WE WORK What We Do We play hard and we explore our hopes, beliefs, fears and dreams. We develop skills. We practice, EXPERIMENT, create, improvise, memorize, twist, shout, move, stretch, act, sing, drum, forget, write, dance, take chances, laugh, break the rules and go where we’ve never been before.

I learned to sing, dance, shave my legs and yodel!

I learned to express myself with silly style, confidence, and a drizzle of grace. ­— Morgan Metzger, 1988-1989

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What Can Happen Through participation in theater we encounter: surprise, beauty, humor, power, transformation, education, empowerment, friendship, community awareness, personal expression, inspiration and joy.

The beauty of working with kids is that they are full of the unexpected. They take you down a road that you might not have found otherwise.

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What Can Inspire Us Places, languages, found objects, sacred objects, personal stories, family, unexpected events, meetings with animals, local and global challenges, heroes, the human body, poetry, history, sounds, music, emotions, dreams, memories, old stories, new stories, elements, earth, the cosmos, past‌ present‌future, almost anything!

Mudd Butts reinforced to me how important it is to think outside the box, be independent, and most importantly be comfortable with who you are. – Natania Crane, 1997-2000

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Questions We Ask Who are we?

Why are we here?

Where do we come from?

What is important?

Why do we make theater?

Do you have a story to tell?

(Everybody does‌) What is your body telling you?

What would our world be without art?

What do you love?

What do you fear?

What’s worth fighting for?

Who are your heroes and why?

What do you believe and why?

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Adventures Place-based improv (site-specific artistry) is the true calling of intuitive physical architecture of the body and its relationship to space. It calls upon us all to see the work we’re doing from a fresh perspective. It engages the performers and the audience to look at the investigated material with new eyes because of the setting. Student and adult collaborators then realize what material is needed and what is not.

Outside, things are more direct -- and even more 3D. If you’re under a tree or on some steps, it will change the interpretation based on the location. This new material can then be factored into process and innovation.

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I believe that playing the role of the king in Tatterhood and the Case of the Missing Head was the best part. It was so much fun because I almost fell off a table singing about being a “man.”

– Daisy Barth, 2003-2006

Beauty of Mistakes Mistakes, failures and successes are full of valuable information. In every facet of Mudd Butts’ process we showcase happy accidents as creative opportunities. Some of the best moments on stage are when things go wrong and the kids very skillfully (and sometimes hilariously) carry on navigating, improvising and finding their way out.

Mistakes can change the tempo and color of what was intended and often make it better.

What is important for kids to realize is that they can play any given scene in uniquely different ways.

PHOTO FACING PAGE: JOHN FAGO, WOMAN DRAWING: PAMELA LIFTON-ZOLINE

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ALUMNUS KATE BARTH RECOUNTS A CRISIS I suppose I was your typical 12-year-

waiting on the stage for the curtain to

old girl in 1994. I liked Nintendo,

arise on opening night. I smiled to

Absolut ads, Sprite, boys, gym, long hair,

myself; I was ready. I knew my lines

knee highs and Madonna. I didn’t like

meticulously and I could do the dances

homework, braces, shirts with collars,

with ease. Dress rehearsal that afternoon

boys, pink or Metallica. But most of all, I

had gone incredibly smoothly.

didn’t like the spotlight. The potential for

And then the crisis happened. As

humiliating myself was far too great, and

the applause died down and the curtain

at that age, embarrassment is like death.

slowly rose, I noted to my horror that a

Why, there was a boy in my class who

silver dress, my prop that had been laid

once had given a presentation with his fly

out for the first scene, was rolled up in

unzipped and all the other kids still called

the curtain. There was no time to run for

him Zippy!

another dress. The play must go on.

Now don’t get me wrong, I had no

When it came time for the bit of

problem with being on stage in a band

dialogue about the dress, I improvised…

of people, or even in a carefully scripted

badly. The audience laughed and

scene. And lord knows I certainly didn’t

momentarily I was crushed. But

mind humiliating myself in front of

somehow I pulled myself together and

friends and people I felt comfortable with.

managed to finish the scene. And when

It was just the idea of being laughed at by

I got backstage something extraordinary

strangers that sent me reeling. It kept me

happened. I laughed.

from dancing in the school talent show

I laughed until I couldn’t breathe,

or auditioning for a solo in the school

then caught my breath and laughed some

chorus.

more. I was embarrassed and it was

When I joined Mudd Butts. I sang,

ok! Heck, I was embarrassed and it was

smiled, danced, romped about, acted,

better than ok; it was funny! I laughed

wrote, slid on my butt, got the role of

periodically through the rest of the

Persephone, learned my lines, was fitted

evening. And I’m still laughing.

for my costume and finally found myself

– Kate Barth

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Day By Day Time devoted to exploration is a luxury of the Mudd Butt schedule. We work with students for one intensive month transforming them into professional collaborators. Many creative production tasks are assigned to our young people in the making of each show.

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A successful troupe requires healthy colleague-to-colleague relationships among the kids. Much time is spent getting to know each other and discovering proclivities and personalities. For one month, we become a small community within the larger one, and work at getting along and feeling safe enough around each other to experiment. Much of this doesn’t have exclusively to do with theater, but it is one of the most important aspects of what we do. Making something bigger than ourselves is always the goal.

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THE TROUPE Children as Artists And Collaborators Working alongside grown-up artists young people can witness process, problem solving, resourcefulness, spontaneity and the hard discipline required to bring an idea to fruition. Teaching is a combination of passing on craft, making a safe place, taking the lid off something that’s already there, modeling creative relationships and sharing deep stories.

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Tap Into Kid Power/Genius Young people are a boundless resource for creative ideas in writing, acting, choreography, making music and visual art.

We can trust that they will come up with solid material when given the challenge.

Physical movement before writing is a great way to loosen things up and get the creative juices flowing.

The style of teaching in the prop room mimics the old masters. It is an apprenticeship, but instead of mixing pigments with linseed oil, it is fast, on-thespot problem solving using masking tape and cardboard.

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We don’t hide mistakes while we are working, but turn them into teachable moments instead – opportunities for brainstorming and reacting with the best part of our creativity. Craftmanship and even artistry is largely about using mistakes to their best advantage.

One of the things we inherently share with children is a strong work ethic.

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CHILDREN’S VOICES I can’t really choose a single best memory from Mudd Butts. I suppose every opening night has to be my favorite memories. There is no feeling quite like that packed house and the frenetic energy backstage. Every would just be so excited. And with all opening nights there was always some classic mess ups that had people rolling in the aisles.

– Jared D. Gluckstern, 1995-1998

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CHILDREN AS TEACHERS If you follow the kids and you trust their logic, you will be less likely as a grown-up to fall into some hackneyed, predigested, controlled, predictable situation. There are specific ways in which kids treat, produce, and scan material – for one thing, they are able to plumb their dreams and the subconscious for fresher, wilder connections. This fades with maturity, but can be revitalized by witnessing it over and over again with kids!

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The river as metaphor: If you provide a safe place for creativity and remind the group that you are all in this raft going down the river as one, everyone is inspired to take care of each other and work together. Of course, there will be some difficult moments while making theater happen, but beneath is the deep and moving river of creativity and the desire to produce. If you can get everyone excited to be on board, everyone makes it to the shining shore.

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Transformation Theater can transform us. We see young actors become more self confident, with a greater sense of their own imaginations.

By engaging in theater arts they develop a stronger voice in the world .

At a certain critical point a culture can validate the early powerful aesthetic kids have naturally. This gives them a confidence that’s permanent rather than something they have to reconnect with down the road.

Mudd Butts shows them ways in which they can interact with the world, complex as it is.

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I learned to just let go and go with the flow. The most creative and amazing things happen when you aren’t feeling self-conscious and are just letting yourself get crazy. It also taught me to appreciate those times of unabashed creativity. Not too many people get the chance to do something so creative at such a young age and I definitely think that edge has stayed with me since.

I definitely would not be the person I am today without Mudd Butts. – Jared D. Gluckstern, 1995-1998

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Where’s Alice?

characters in order of appearance OPENING Dance of the Valley Floor – The Elements Mountain Backdrop: Trees, River, Clouds, Cows, Biker, Someone with sign “Private Property”, County Courthouse, Theatre w/ Fly Tower, People with hard hats SCENE 1 Brother Al from the Great Beyond, playing cards in Radio Space Station Brother Al: Good Morning KOTO listeners. I’m broadcasting to you from the other side … the great beyond. Today, we bring you an exciting episode of “Alice in Telluride.” It was a lovely summer day. Our lovely valley floor was a blanket of yellow dandelions, the cows had returned for the summer, the San Miguel was flowing strong with the snowmelt and the trout were jumping. And then along came Alice and her sister, Helen. They had decided to have a picnic on the River Trail …

CRAFT Craft is a skill, intuitive and learned, which can turn an impromptu play into a powerful spectacle of music, dance, language and visual art.

It’s okay to be weird. In fact, it’s boring not to be weird. I can still be found on regular occasions waving my arms around and making animal noises.

I am 100% serious.

– Ali Crockett, 1993-1996

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Music We have all written songs over the years.

Sometimes we start with words inspired by a story element and sometimes with a single note. Some songs have come from pure experimentation with the group, using sounds, rhythm, echoes and harmony.

At times, we’ve used known songs. Quite often, a character will lip sync a song for its comic impact. We have also used all kinds of musical instruments, both traditional and alternative, or made with found objects. One spring, while on a camping trip in the Utah desert we found a pile of old truck mufflers in a field. They became the instruments for a fabulous Gamelan orchestra for the opening creation dance.

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Dance and Movement Tapping into children’s physical play is a natural way to get them interested in all kinds of dance forms. The technique of different forms of movement is then easily taught once their interest is sparked. Contact Improvisation is a key movement form that helps kids feel comfortable exchanging weight. To lift one another is an exercise in truly trusting.

Aerial work can be exciting, surprising and sometimes scary for the audience. It is a way for viewers to physically identify with performers. The job of the dancer is to make the apparatus look like home – that anyone could do it, specifically anyone in the audience. This is liberating for everyone.

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I think one of the most important marks to leave on this world is to teach the gifts of magic, creativity and humanity to those young and idealistic with hearts still freshly open. You guys should be proud of doing just that. Thank you. – Josie Kovash, 1990-1993

Acting Improvisation is our passion. It is our main tool for discovering theatrical possibilities and characters, and for tapping into the intuition of young people. When a great character is suddenly born during an improv moment, we will sometimes hold onto that character and follow it to see where it wants to take us.

Young people are natural comics. Their wits and imaginations are fresh and ready for anything, and we are privileged to be constantly inspired by them.

When casting we try to connect the young actor with a character that will challenge them to grow as a performer and as a person.

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SPECTACLE For prop makers, spectacle is achieved in a variety of ways. The cartoonishly largescale rendering of objects is a trademark of our aesthetic. The oversizing of everyday objects serves to animate the stage with moveable sculpture and defines a sense of place minimizing the need for a stage backdrop or set. It makes the theater experience a fantasy.

Something very large, usually a puppet, is on the prop list for the purpose of creating spectacle. Examples include a very large skeleton for “The Myth of Persephone” and a giant Cyclops for “The Odyssey.” In the show “Alice in Pieces” a large puppet of Alice was made to come apart on stage like puzzle pieces. In addition to the spectacle, this act of puppetry served as a visual metaphor to represent the emotional journey of the main character.

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Multiples can create a spectacle of volume and movement; such was the case with the oversized bee puppets on sticks in “Fears of Your Life.”

There was a memorable moment in “The Ramayana” when six actors took the form of ten in a portrayal of the character Ravana.

The six actors wore mask/helmets that matched four rod puppets, with one of the actors riding on the shoulders of another.

The rod puppets spoke with hinged jaws controlled by a second rod.

The combination of masks and puppets with various types of movement has taken shape in many different ways throughout our history. We have incorporated many different dance forms, including aerial work, which inspired us to have Hanuman as a flying white monkey in “The Ramayana.”

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In “Don Quixote,” lighting put the finishing touches on making the windmills a complete spectacle. In the windmill scenes, scale, movement, lighting and sound worked together to animate the stage in a simple but powerful way. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza charged through the windmills carrying their horse and donkey puppets on shoulder straps – a low-tech, but poetic way to suggest riding.

Our ability to create spectacle varies given our resources of time, space, materials and manpower. The Sheridan Opera House was our first performance space, and it was very intimate. A dance number or a twelve-foot skeleton could fill the stage, back then.

When we moved to the Palm Theatre, it seemed gigantic. A spectacle that was big in the Opera House was small in the Palm; and to this day, we still work to fill the space.

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Humor brings people together in a basic way, and so, in its own way, does art.

When humor and seriousness – two disparate things – come together, a spark is created. This can redefine reality for a viewing audience and help them see how anything can happen. Once the audience is clued in, it seems normal for a giant cardboard TV stand to walk on stage and offer up a commercial, or Dolly Parton to appear for a meeting with the Dalai Lama, Dolly the Sheep, and Salvador Dali.

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STORYTELLING Every year, we Mudd Butts talk and brood about what main story we will go with, vowing to have a lot of it written before the troupe convenes. While we have gotten somewhat more disciplined in coming up with a good chunk of the script early, we’re also getting more complex and more demanding of ourselves. So… it’s always a crunch. There’s excitement and intensity, agony and ecstasy (and everything in between) in the rush to get to the finish line.

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Looking over the shape of the plays through the years, a few things stand out: • We almost always use some unique angle on an established story, use it as the core story, and we might often mesh it with a number of community connections and topical issues and characters.

• We often use the sense of various time frames coexisting in the dramatic space, i.e. myth time, ancient time, geologic time, star time, present time, dog years, possible futures, etc.

• In Mudd Butt shows, we give animals voices, as well as human qualities, a storytelling tool used since the beginning of time. We also use the same tool with other natural elements like rocks, trees, rivers, etc.

• We often use various special zones, some concrete and some magical: the underworld, caves and tunnels underground, the earth, under the sea, space, life on other planets, mythic upper regions such as Mount Olympus, and so on.

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• We almost always present the kids with some story ideas, outline, and a certain amount of script draft, and then work to incorporate the ideas that come up in their improvs, theater games and written work.

• The fact that kids play a very serious part in shaping the tone and content of the play tremendously deepens their ownership of the whole thing.

• The list of characters might include the core story’s main players, some kid protagonists, a few local characters and heroes, and some historic or modern “celebrities” from Martha Graham to Bob Dylan or Galileo to Obama as giant puppets.

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• There are well-known stories that can be embellished – say the tale of Persephone, Alice in Wonderland, the Ramayana. These are mined for their essential shape, hugely abbreviated, then opened out, cooked and seasoned, pushed and pummeled, and larded with burning local issues, major local jokes and world scale topics. It is this blending and meshing that is most important in Mudd Butts story making. The task of making meaningful local culture is more complicated than ever in human history, but is as crucial as ever to our health as human beings. It’s more complicated of course, because each of us swims through a vast and dense experience of images and stories, week in, week out. It’s easy in this situation to lose any personal grasp on making culture, meaning, and sense, and to totally substitute what is offered through TV, movies and other mass media. This is like living mostly on junk food.

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• The Mudd Butt plays function as real culture for the community, analyzing, ridiculing, praising, making visible and illuminating some important aspects of our daily lives.

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PERFORMANCE My first Mudd Butt Production was Muddlenium and I was cast as Einstein’s Brain. A brain on roller skates. The most challenging part of the role was not maintaining my balance on stage but delivering my lines in a German accent.

– Carrie Towbin, 1999-2002

ELK DRAWING: PAMELA ZOLINE

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Thank you for all the wonderful memories. Playing Marilyn made me realize I wanted to act. – Lily Sullivan: 2001

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Axx Bxx

PHOTO CREDITS

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MUDD BUTT INTERNATIONAL On the Road It was the sadness the original Mudd Butts felt when they aged out of the program that led to the creation of Mudd Butt International in 1993. Graduating Butts were invited on a three-week international intensive where they would live and work with their peers in a selected second- or third-world village and create a masterpiece of art and music, meant to unite the two cultures.

MBI, traveling the world to bring peace and understanding, laughter and a deep creative connection between students, was an instant hit, and is still a hit at 21 years of age. We have traveled to Slovakia, Costa Rica, Cat Island, Brazil, Ireland, New Zealand, Bali,

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Guatemala, Mexico, Viet Nam, Turkey, Nicaragua, India, Ethiopia and Chile.

These trips have changed all of our lives in improbable and magical ways.

MBI, now an institution in the community, has propelled kids who have been on these international adventures to do great things as adults. Several times a year, an MBI graduate will write and say: “I would never have been able to do X or Y or Z, if I hadn’t been challenged, if I hadn’t had my horizons expanded so dramatically, at such a young age.”

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Over 500 kids have been part of one or more Mudd Butt classes, and now some of their own children are enrolled.

I know my own world view has grown and been enriched by my connection with three thespians who continue to think way outside the box and have challenged me to join them. I photograph differently; I appreciate different attributes of kids; I take more risks; I sing more loudly and freely. I dare to be more like them. Thank you for the gifts!

And let our adventures continue! – Wendy Brooks

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On international trips our improvisational skills are put to the test. One favorite example was on the Bali trip of 1999. The daily tropical rains made it impossible for the paper mache to dry. A difference in electrical voltage made hot gluing also impossible. How to make ten giant faces of Ravana with these constraints was the challenge. Eventually, the faces were painted by Balinese high school students on black umbrellas from the market. They were beautiful, individualized, and skillfully and expressively rendered. In Bali, they don’t have the word “artist” in their vocabulary because everyone is one – it’s a given.

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Sometimes, the spectacle isn’t on the stage but in the street. In Vietnam, we rode a huge elephant puppet on a tuk tuk and drew people to the theater. The elephant wouldn’t fit in a car, and we needed to advertise the show.

In Ethiopia, we sent three paper mache goat-headed characters into the village street. The cloth bodies each had two people inside. The interaction between goats and locals was a gift of laughter and a shared moment between all of us.

Through creating and collaborating we all come out changed and more prepared to live in our complicated world. We are – and are still learning to be – artful, improvisational and soulfully connected.

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Eggs Marx the Spot

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ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS

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SALLY DAVIS “Lunatic Girl,” “Sonic Luminescence” and

NC; Telluride Mountain School, Telluride, CO;

director, and arts educator in Telluride, Colorado

“Einstein’s Daughters” with Kim Epifano, S.F.,

Telluride Middle School, Telluride, CO; Bay Area

and in communities around the world. She is on

CA; and “The Mission is Not Impossible” with

Discovery Museum, San Francisco, CA; and many

the Telluride Institute Board of Trustees, is

composer Peter Whitehead, S.F., CA.

wonderful theater adventures with Mudd Butt

Sally Davis works as a musician, theater

a recipient of the Telluride Institute Visionary

Her children’s theater residencies include:

International, including Bali, Indonesia 2016.

Sally directs theater productions and conducts

Award and has received five Just for Kids

Telluride Institute’s Wild Mountain Puppet

Foundation grants.

Theater, South Western CO; George Moscone

residencies and workshops in schools around the

School/Las Americas Children Center, S.F.,

US. She is co-director of The Mudd Butt Mystery

collaborator with Bart Hopkin and Krys

CA; San Francisco Youth Theatre, S.F., CA;

Theatre Troupe and Mudd Butt International. She

Bobrowski, Center for New Music, S.F., CA; “San

Stonington Opera House, Stonington, ME; New

is the director of Circus Holus Bolus, Moving

Francisco Trolley Dances” and “Heelomali“ with

Durham School, New Durham, NH; Marsh Youth

Mountain Theater and Telluride Institute’s Wild

Epiphany Productions; “Planet Protectors,” “How

Theater, S.F., CA; The Children’s Storefront

Mountain Puppet Theater. Her collaborative video

Clowns Got Their Red Noses” and “Field Trip”

School, Harlem, NY; Norwood Elementary

works created in Telluride include: “Tomboy

with Telluride Repertory Theatre’s ACTion Tour,

School, Norwood, CO; Naturita Elementary

Bride,” ‘Who Lives Here,” “The Mountains are

“St. Adolf’s Ring,” with composer Terry Riley,

School, Naturita, CO; Wilkinson Public Library,

Calling” and “Meetings with Remarkable Kids.”

USA and Bern,Switzerland; “Body Tjak” with

Telluride, CO; The Ah Haa School, Telluride,

Keith Terry and Wayan Dibia, USA and Indonesia;

CO; Spruce Pine Montessori School, Spruce Pine,

Her performance work includes: Musical

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KIM EPIFANO and “A Gift to the city” by the audience. SF Trolley

a prestigious grant from the Gerbode Foundation

choreographer, director, performer, vocalist,

Dances received SF Weekly’s “Best Transit City

Choreography Commissioning Award: She also

educator, curator and collaborator. She is the

Ballet” award. Special projects include visioning,

created a mentorship arts program in SF with

Artistic/Executive director of the San Francisco

co-producing, curating and choreographing with

Refugee Transitions teen program. She is Artist in

Company Epiphany Productions Sonic Dance

partners ODC Theater on Walking Distance

Residence through YBCA in the SOMA district in

Theater since 1997, which creates thought-

Dance Festival, Brava! Theater for Woman in the

SF at Bessie Carmichael School where she teaches

provoking, accessible dance performances and

Arts “Baile en la Calle-The Mural Dances” and

storytelling, dance, theater and visual arts. She

educational programs, building understanding

Rhythmix Cultural Works presenting “Island City

is the co-artistic director of Mudd Butt Mystery

across cultures and ages. On the stage and in

Waterways”. Kim’s work has been presented by

Theatre Troupe and Mudd Butt International.

the street, illuminating the ordinary and the

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco,

She received her MFA in Choreography and

extraordinary, inspiring social change using art

Switzerland’s TanzOlten Festival, Mad’Art

Interdisciplinary Performance from UC Davis.

as a vehicle. Epiphany has produced and created

Carthage in Tunis,Tunisia sponsored by the

She was recently a guest and adjunct professor

“Botany’s Breath” set in the San Francisco

American Embassy, Ireland’s Croi Glan Integrated

at UC Berkeley and UC Davis among others.

Conservatory of Flowers, “Solo Lo Que Fue” in

Dance Company and others; and garnered multiple

Kim’s work has been funded by the NEA, Irvine

the border town of Mexicali, Mexico and “Fears of

Isadora Duncan Awards and nominations. YBCA

Foundation, Grants for the Arts, The Creative

Your Life” with developmentally disabled artists.

has commissioned a major new work “Last

Work Fund, The Haas Fund and The Hewlett

The annual, free San Francisco Trolley Dances was

Blue Couch in the Sky” by Epifano in honor of

Foundation, among others. For more information

founded in 2004 and is called “Art For Citizen’s”

Epiphany’s 20th anniversary in June 2017, with

go to www.epiphanydance.org.

Kim Epifano has a 30-year history as a

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MIKE STASIUK “Altered Art,” Bobby Hansson’s revised edition of

Productions. He made puppets in 2010 for “Burt

artist and art educator who lives and maintains a

“Fine Art of the Tin Can,” and Tim McCreight’s

Dow Deep Water Man,”at the Stonington Opera

studio in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He has

“Design Language,” interpretive edition. Mike

House in Stonington, Maine. In 2014 he was a

created masks and puppets for theater groups and

has taught found art assemblage at Haystack

featured artist for the New Year’s Gala for The Ah

children’s museums throughout New England

Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME and

Haa School of Art in Telluride, CO. This is Mike’s

and shows sculpture at the Clark Gallery in

at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in

26th Mudd Butts year in Telluride and his 20th as

Lincoln, MA and the George Marshall Store

Gatlinburg, TN. In 2007, Mike was an artist in

an International Butt. For 28 years, he has also

Gallery in York, ME. His work with found

residence in San Francisco at Creativity Explored,

been “Mr. Stasiuk” on a part-time basis at the New

objects has been published in Schiffer Books

working on Kim Epifano’s “Fears of your Life”

Durham Elementary School in New Hampshire.

“Found Object Art Vols. I and II”, Terry Taylor’s

project thanks to a grant awarded to Epiphany

Mike Stasiuk, Prop Master, is a sculptor, theater

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CLAYTON FROHMAN He has been a WGA member since 1974.

currently adapting “The Far Side Of The Sky”

from Washington University in St. Louis and

His film credits include “Defiance,” “Under

by Dan Kalla as an international television

worked as a journalist for the St. Louis Post-

Fire,” “The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson,”

series, and is a contributing writer for “Fretboard

Dispatch and Rolling Stone magazine before

and “The Delinquents.” He has also worked in

Journal.” Clay, father of two, also works with

moving to Los Angeles and embarking on a career

television on “Shannon’s Deal” for NBC

the Telluride Academy in the Mudd Butt Mystery

as a writer and producer for film and television.

and “Hearts Are Wild” for CBS. He is

Theater Troupe.

Clayton Frohman, born in Chicago, graduated

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WENDY BROOKS The answer turned out to be YES, then and now.

into the program each year with applications and

musicals on Broadway in the ‘40s; I wore black

I learned a lot from these two new friends and

essays. And then when the Mudd Butt family had

patent leather shoes and white socks with lace

continue to do so. My Mudd Butt role is seriously

become very strong and cohesive, my job was

around the top and we drove the Packard to

back stage. At the beginning it was convincing

helping create Mudd Butts international: so that

Manhattan for very special matinées My second

kids to take a chance and spend a month with two

13 year old graduates could continue to work

theater was El Teatro Campesino, the protest

ladies from San Francisco (and later with their

with us and so that our message of promoting

theater company Luis Valdez and Augustin Lira

male co-stars: John Fago and Mike Stasiuk).

peace and understanding through the theater arts

created for farm workers in Cesar Chavez’

And convincing the Opera House to make their

could spread far and wide: to Slovakia and New

movement in the ‘60s. I realized then that

stage affordable for children’s theater (they did!).

Zealand and Viet Nam and India; to Ethiopia and

theater could be something quite different and

When it became apparent that Mudd Butts was

Turkey and Brazil and Chile. We have seriously

extraordinary: excite and educate people to

here to stay, I tried to have the name changed

and masterfully perfected bi-lingual, bi-cultural

overcome fear and become empowered. My

to something, well, more socially acceptable,

practices and productions and have witnesses

third theater experience was Mudd Butts. To

but to no avail. When Mudd Butts grew and

around the world to support our claim.

this day I am never fully prepared for the magic

prospered, my role was recruiting and finding

that Kim and Sally dish up for us, but back then

funding for invisible kids in the community who

girls in 1987 is now a global clique of folks who

I was dumbfounded and a bit frightened by the

also needed a chance to shout out who they were

all understand what Mudd Butt means. I am

power and honesty of the scripts they proposed to

becoming. Eventually my job morphed into

honored to be one of them.

produce. Was Telluride ready for the Mudd Butts?

controlling the number of kids who were admitted

My first theater was Rogers and Hammerstein

The family that started with seven brave small

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PAMELA ZOLINE recently begun to install the ‘Clute Science Fiction

falls into the category of social practice. The three

and librettist. With her husband John Lifton, she is

Library at Telluride’ which, at 12,000 volumes,

Lifton-Zoline children, Abby, Jos and Gabe, are

co-founder of the Telluride Institute in Telluride,

is a major collection of the works in the field. It

excellent old “Butts” who bear the marks.

Colorado, and the Centre for the Future in

will serve as the core for a program of research,

Slavonice, Czech Republic. Pamela and John have

scholarship and discussion. Much of her work

Pamela Zoline is a science fiction writer, painter

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JOHN FAGO In 1948 the gypsy living down the street in

thought I could possibly feel, on my meandering

and occupied was nothing short of fantastic. For a

New York City stopped my mother to look at her

way back to Vermont I rolled over Lizard Head

while it seemed we were living in a version of the

new infant. My hair grew in five directions so I

and down into Telluride. The majority of shops

abandoned town in “The King of Hearts”... before

would travel, she said. In 1969 I took a leave from

on Colorado Avenue were boarded up and plumes

the Allied “liberators” arrived. For me, The Mudd

Marlboro College, caught a ride to Albuquerque,

of toxic dust rose hundreds of feet into a crystal

Butt Mystery Theatre Troupe came together in

bought an old BLM Dodge Power Wagon panel

blue sky surrounded by snow covered peaks. It

1987 to make sense of the inevitable intrusion of

truck, tossed in a sack of brown rice and some

was love at first sight. It took me until 1974 to

the real world. It was a dream I woke up in and for

adzuki beans and drove to southeast Utah. I’d

make it back but when I did, I did not go any

which I am deeply grateful. Big hugs to my dear

heard Lake Powell was filling but if you were

further than Montrose or Sand Canyon for the

collaborating friends and the hundreds of children

crazy you could get to and hike down into the side

next three years. For me living in Telluride was

(and their parents!) who trusted us enough to make

canyons to reach hundreds of sites once occupied

going to heaven. We were so remote and unlikely.

this improbable backflip into the realm of magic

by the Ancient Ones, soon to be underwater. A

L.O.F.T.S. – leftovers from the sixties, as Peter and

theater happen.

couple of months later, feeling about as good as I

Ellen Shelton dubbed us all. The culture we built

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GUEST ARTISTS Ashley Boling, Richard Kittle, Valerie Madonia, Andre’ Gregory, Jos Lifton Zoline, Jeb Berrier, Paul “Magic”Distesfano, Angela Watkins, Deb Gesmundo, Maisy Cooper, Tree Priest, Sara Doerhman, Jeremy Baron, Elaine Buckholtz, Nikki Schiedt, Kelsey Trottier, Jane Goren, Marc Froehlich, Erica Czajka, Lynn Davis, Judy Kohin, Emily Klion,

Karen “Lulu” Ezekiel, Megan Bierman,

TELLURIDE ACADEMY STAFF & ARTISTIC SUPPORT

Roland McCook, James Moody, Eli Burke,

Elaine Demas

Barbara Kondracki, Michael Bernard Loggins, Jeannie McKenzie, Lucy Reeve, Suzan Beraza, Buff Hooper, O’Shane Farquson,

Carlin Power, Annette Brown

Luke Brown Ashley Smith Larry Rosen Kelly Sheedy

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GLUCKSTERN FAMILY

The muddy initiation and 8 consecutive years of Mudd Butts ... improv, contact dancing, the free box, paper mache, and paint and hot glue and glitter ... cross dressing ... beards and being Andrew Weil ... being Aphrodite and Dalai Lama and Dolly Parton and the shil ... Slovakia, Costa Rica and Brazil ... the Opera House ... knowing that opening night was the best night of the year ... We love you all. — Sarah, JD, Judy and Steven

HODES FAMILY

FROM ETHIOPIA TO VIETNAM TO CHILE TO TURKEY ... MUDD BUTTS INTERNATIONAL IS THE BEST! WE LOVE YOU SALLY, KIM AND MIKE! 165

MCMANEMIN FAMILY

THREE GIRLS EIGHT VENUES Seventeen Scripts 83,532 Frequent Flyer Miles

55 Dozen Pigs in a Blanket COUNTLESS O LE LE’s

One Amputation

PRICELESS! With Love and Gratitude

Megan, Casey, Ryan, Hayes and Audrey McManemin

THANK YOU Ah Haa School for the Arts

Elaine Demas

Hodes Family

Nugget Theater

Dawn Taylor

Emma Anderson

Xanthe Demas

Buff Hooper

Dat Nguyen

TCTV

Tor Anderson

Krista DeNio

Robin Hope

Northrup-LaBarge Family

Telluride Academy Staff

Arena Energy

Maria Dillon

Michael Isaacs

Jennifer Nyman-Julia

Telluride Commission for the Arts

Zach Aronson

Jacqui Distefano

Craig Jackman

O’Shane “The Dancer”

Telluride Eco Cleaners

Art Goodtimes

Deborah Duffield

Kathy Jepson

Ken Olson

Telluride Elks Club

Azadi Fine Rugs

Miles Duffield

Johansson Family

Ronnie Palamar

Telluride Film Festival

Ken Bailey

Mary Egleston

Just for Kids Foundation

Nancy Parkinson

Telluride Gallery of Fine Arts

Baked in Telluride

Brian Ensor

Kanner Family

Tina Peterson

Telluride Foundation

Ed & Frances Barlow

El Pomar Foundation

Kenworthy Family

Tran Phan

Telluride Free Box

Carol Barnett

Epifano Family

Megan Keever

Samantha Pitts

Telluride Inside and Out

Barth Family

Epiphany Productions

Barbara Kondracki

Plum TV

Telluride Properties

Daisy Barth

Tim & Mary Erdman

Olivia Kunda

Cindy Plumber

Telluride School District

Scott Ray Becker

Erik & Josephine Fallenius

KOTO Radio

R-word.org

Telluride Theater

Between the Covers Bookstore

Faraway Ranch

La Cocina de Luz

Raynier Institute & Foundation

The Daily Planet

Suzan Beraza

Megan Fernald

Lifton-Zoline Family

Francis Raley MD

Fiona Thompson

Thomas Blake

Finger Family

Lucky Star Foundation

James Ray

Towbin-Barlow Family

Wendy Brooks

Franks-Price Family

Alpine Lumber

Rehnborg Family

Kelsey Trottier

Luke Brown

Franz Klammer Lodge

Matamoras Family

River Club

Van Der Steen-Mizel Family

Tanya Calamoneri

Alan Gerstle

Walter C. McClennan

Dean Rolley & Dragonfire

Vanhille-Fahnestock Family

Sandra Carradine

Elisabeth Gick

McManemin Family

Productions

Anton Viditz-Ward

Will Carrell

Gluckstern Family

Suzanne Metzger

Rose Russell Family

Village Market

Trisha Clement

Kate Grace

Dalton Metz

Rustico Restaurante

Susan & Clint Viebrock

Scott Cohen

Ciara Green

Michael D. Palm Theatre

Matt Ryan

Craig Wasserman

Coll Family

Groner Family

Minarovic Family

Jane Salem

Watch Newspaper

Lillian Corbin

Charlotte Hacke

Brittany Miller

San Miguel County

Weisel Family

Cosmopolitan Restaurant

Abby Hamblin

David Miller

Nikki Scheidt

Kimberley Williams

Creativity Explored & Amy Taub

Steve Hand

Gloria Miller

Kelly Sheedy

Hep Witzel

Cucciniello-Sullivan Family

Dan Hanley

Karen Moore

Sheridan Opera House

Allen Wilner

Rosie Cusack

Doug and Joan Hansen

Leslie and Ned Mulford

Ashley Smith

Michael Wingfield

Ericka Czajka

Margaret Hatcher

Lucas Myerson

John & Bunny Steel

Paul Yoo

Davis Family

Marcus Henchen

Myerson Family

Antonella Hidalgo

National Inclusion Project

Jeannie Stewart Steven & Monica Spencer

Zia Sun

Dawn Davis Mona de Alva

Keith Hill

Nevasca Realty

Sweet Life

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Naming every person over 30 years who contributed to the Mudd Butt miracle is nearly impossible. The volunteers who have never taken a bow on stage are the true angels who have made the success of this program possible.

Thank you all.