Sculptures and objects
Granny and Skully puppets
Andy Freer 1990
Mixed media
These giant puppets made by Andy Freer first made their appearance at the Splinters performance Mutter Courage for the 1990 National Playwrights Conference, at the Union Forecourt of the Australian National University. Basing their production on a loose reading of Bertolt Brecht’s classic, in trademark Splinters style, the group parodied the conventions of realist theatre and the expectations of Australian middle class theatre-going audiences by contrasting these concerns with the fearsome intensity of pre-war Europe. The huge, menacing puppets with human operators within were at once figures of ridicule as well as symbols for archetypal aspects of humanity, putting the audience off guard before dragging them into a chaotic, fiery bacchanal, which became a Splinters trademark.
These original puppets went on the play a major part in Splinters shows in 1991 and 1992, before Freer and fellow puppeteers Pauline Cady and Simon Terrill decided to pursue their ambitions as an independent company in Melbourne. Snuff Puppets has gone on to be one of the most successful companies that derived from the Splinters milieu, winning multiple awards and touring regularly around Australia and internationally.
Blood Dress
Penny Sands and Pauline Cady 1991
The Blood Dress was worn by key early Splinters member Pauline Cady for her mesmerising soliloquy in the production Winter of the Rutting Moon at the Performance Space, Sydney 1991, variously titled Whirled on a Fatal Floor and Roading Home to Aunty – Splinters productions were regularly reworked and retitled for different locations. The speech draws from the image of the Siren in Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but was inverted to become a powerful feminist examination of the desiring body. As Pauline spoke, the dress flowed out across the floor like a pool of blood and drawn in again..
Trike and Cannon
Adam Herbst and Stuart Vaskess c.1990
A striking feature of many Splinters performances were large chariots and tricycles made by Stuart Vaskess and Adam Herbst. They were ridden or pushed by groups of performers as centrepieces of ceremonial processions, or crashed together as part of the notorious Machine War segment which formed the climax of several productions during 1992-93. Most notable of these were Guardians of the Concourse, commissioned by Robyn Archer for the opening of the inaugural 1993 National Festival of Australian Theatre, and the commission by Chic Henry for the 1993 Summernats Street Machine Festival. The Cannon was loaded with fireworks and ignited in typically daredevil fashion. Such risk-taking in performance is simply not possible today due to increased regulation and insurance costs: injuries to performers were not uncommon but were routinely accepted as part of the job. To the company’s knowledge, no audience members were injured during Splinters performances.
