Mary Mae is played by Jane Ackermann, and the video was made by CuriousCityBooks.
Archive for the ‘Art’ Category
Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth Video
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010Brian Greene’s Musical, Icarus at the Edge of Time
Sunday, June 27th, 2010At the beginning of Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth I quote from scientist Brian Greene’s This I Believe essay: “I believe that the breathtaking ideas of science can nourish not only the mind but also the soul.” So naturally I was interested in learning of a multi-media musical he has written, “Icarus at the Edge of Time.” in which he re-invisions the Icarus myth. Icarus, who is defying his father by flying too close to the sun, finds that his wax wings are melting, and plunges into the sea. Greene gives this a modern twist by putting Icarus in a space ship and defying his father by flying too close to a black hole. But rather than having him disappear for ever, Greene has him re-emerging, though many years later, learning of all that has happened during the time he was gone.
Greene, on the closing night of the musical, told the audience he always disliked stories that told children if they disobeyed their parents they would die. “People laughed. Children squealed,” says Robert Leslie, writer of the article.
If you would like to read more about this production, and a brief interview with Greene, click here.
On “Read the Spirit”
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Just wanted my readers to see this wonderful review of “Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth” on ReadtheSpirit.com:
“TODAY, we’ve got a great book for the entire family, especially if your family is related to evangelical Christianity. I can’t imagine a more engaging and compassionate slice of American life than the 129-page “Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth”—a novella for young readers by Sandra Dutton. Anytime we recommend books for “young readers,” we’ve selected them deliberately because we know adults will enjoy them as well. (If you don’t have a child at home right now, get this book and give it to a family that does—after . . . “ [Click here to read the rest of the review: ReadtheSpirit.com]
Noah’s Ark Puppet Show
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Mrs. Noah and Noah
One doesn’t hear much about Noah’s wife in Genesis, but writers of the medieval miracle plays dug deep into the story and came up with a feisty Mrs. Noah who speaks her mind. In “Noah and His Sons,” by the Wakefield master, Mrs. Noah sits and spins, refusing to board the boat, saying there won’t be enough food and that she’ll miss her friends. In “Noah’s Flood” of the Chester Pageant, she refuses to board, saying to Noah:
Yea, sir, set up your sail,
And row forth with evil hail,
For, without any fail,
I will not out of this town.
Finally, when she does board, she boxes Noah on the ear. (In both plays they’re constantly hitting each other.) Of course this is all a bit of a comedy. The miracle plays were performed not only to dramatize the stories of the Bible but to entertain.
In Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth, Mary Mae’s “Mrs. Noah” is feisty. She’s concerned that dangerous animals are running loose, that they won’t be able keep the boat clean. “Now we got some mighty big animals,” she says, “and they’s using their cage for a litter box.”
Since I have both puppets and theatre (I describe making those in earlier blogs), I decided to try and perform the play, taking both Mary Mae and Chester’s parts (Noah and Mrs. Noah). The puppets are rather fragile, being made of florists’ foam, but I think if kids were doing this with wooden puppets, some butting of heads would be in order.
If you hit the link, you can see the video.
Mary Mae’s Puppet Stage
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Sandra Dutton with Mary Mae's Mrs. Noah
I made the puppets that appear in Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth and had such fun (see the April 14 entry) that I decided to make the puppet theatre. I wanted it to be portable (it’s now against a wall in the dining room) and to be able to fit in the back of my Corolla with the seats down, so I was limited to three feet wide by six feet tall. I also wanted it to be lightweight. So after looking at many puppet theatres, I decided to make a three-sided one of wood and fabric, three “canvases” hinged together. Below are diagrams and a list of supplies, if you would like to make one yourself.
Here’s what I used:
11 six-foot 1x2s
fabric for the outside, 7-8 yards
fabric to line (optional, but I wanted it to be strong and opaque), another 7-8 yards
four hinges (with removable pins) so that the theatre can easily be disassembled
12 flat corner braces
8 flat T braces
a staple gun
1 yard 60” fabric for curtains (or 2 yards 45”)
1 ¼ yard black cotton or gauze for backdrop
6 taps for chair legs
1. Build the frames first.
2. Lay out the fabric, wrong sides together. Cut pieces to cover, allowing enough fabric to wrap around the fames.
3. Staple fabric to frame, starting at the top middle, then bottom middle, then the middle of each side, working your way from middles to ends.
4. Add hinges.
5. Make a triangular pediment using cardboard for stiffener. Add a layer of quilting and use scraps to cover. (I sewed a triangle, then stuffed the cardboard inside it.
6. Add ties to hold pediment (pinned to frame).
7. Make curtains. They can hang from a string or a rod.
8. Attach backdrop. (I fasten the backdrop with pushpins but may eventually do something more permanent.)
9. Hammer in 2 taps per side on the bottom of each frame—this will protect the fabric.
Now you’re ready for a puppet show!
Diagram, Outside of Puppet Theatre
Diagram, Inside of Puppet Theatre
Inside the Puppet Theatre
Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth Puppets
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
The Serpent, Eve, Adam, Noah, and Mrs. Noah
Just for fun, I decided to make the puppets that appear in Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth. The kids in Mary Mae’s Sunday School class used balsa wood for heads, but you can’t get balsa wood any more—except in strips (the story takes place in 1988), so I used big blocks of florist foam. It carves easily with a kitchen knife. I sliced off all the hard edges, making it rounder, and dug out a finger hole with the point of the knife. I didn’t want to carve too much because the kids in the story had no tools to do good carving and basically painted their characters’ faces onto a flat side. I used what I carved away to make noses and ears, gluing them on, and then painting—first two coats of white latex, then the face, using acrylic paint.
You’ll notice Mrs. Noah has blue hair. That’s because it was the only color of yarn Mary Mae’s mother had.
Early Sketches by Kelly Murphy
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010Here’s an early sketch by artist Kelly Murphy for the cover of “Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth.” I like the way she’s captured the conflict between Mary Mae and her mother, and the way the rain is coming down in a music score pattern. As you can see, the book was once called “Mrs. Noah.”
First Rough
The Finished Cover
Isn’t the cover great? You can see more of Kelly’s work on her website, http://www.kelmurphy.com/. Below is another rough sketch, but all of us, including the artist, liked the first better.
Second Rough