WILKES-BARRE — Have you ever read “L’illusion Comique?”
Director Sheileen Godwin chuckled a bit as she asked that question, correctly suspecting the answer for most people, is no, they haven’t read Pierre Corneille’s somewhat ponderous 17th-century play.
“I’d never read it again,” she admitted.
But where Corneille’s 1636 script might seem dense and flowery to modern readers and theater-goers, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner’s 20-century adaptation is lighter and easier to understand.
That’s the version the King’s Players will present at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12-14 and 19-21, and Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. in the George P. Maffei II Theatre at King’s College, where a creation fashioned by puppeteer James Godwin, who happens to be Sheileen Godwin’s brother, will join the cast.
“See how light it is,” James Godwin said, passing around a puppet hand crafted from a foam called L200. “This is the kind of material you can use to make something large look like it’s heavy, but it’s not.”
After it’s completed, James Godwin will manipulate the puppet to portray “The Amanuensis,” one of the characters in a fanciful tale about a father who consults a conjuror to find out what happened to a son he hasn’t seen for 15 years.
“The play doesn’t work if the twists and turns are given away,” Sheileen Godwin said, clearly wanting audience members to enjoy some surprises. She will say Corneille, the original playwright, inserted two plays-within-the-play to show what may have happened to the son, and Kusher added a third.
Including a puppet in the cast was her idea.
“It was a concept I had, influenced by James’ work,” she said, glancing at a younger brother whose childhood projects included building a model rocket and making an astronaut suit for himself. “I thought, what a great way to present the character.”
As the creation process continues, James Godwin said he expects the puppet will reveal its personality and the nuances it can bring to its role.
“The amazing thing to me is that process is the same (with the puppet) as it is for a real live actor,” Sheileen Godwin added.
Siblings Sheileen and James are daughter and son of the late J. Gerald Godwin, long-time chairman of the theater department at King’s College.
James Godwin’s appearance in “The Illusion” will mark the first time a professional actor appeared in a show during the 65-year history of King’s theater, the college noted in a news release.
Based in New York City, James Godwin is a founding member of the puppet troupe the Elementals, which has performed at the Jim Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater. His work has been presented throughout New York City, including venues such as P.S.122, Dixon Place, DTW, Franklin Furnace, LaMama and the Walker Art Center.
He has worked with Julie Taymor, Dave Chappelle, David Bowie and Aerosmith. His film and T.V. credits include “I Sell the Dead,” “Ice Age 2,” “It’s a Big, Big World” for PBS, “Saturday Night Live” and the forthcoming “StakeLand.” Godwin was the puppeteer Wyatt Cenac for “The Daily Show” and also co-wrote and starred in the adult puppet variety stage show “Uncle Jimmy’s Dirty Basement.”
Because of some adult content in the script, Sheileen Godwin said, “The Illusion” is not recommended for children younger than 13.
And it’s not a puppet show, she added.
The puppet is outnumbered by humans in the cast, including Jarret Stagen of Lord’s Valley, Lester Hartwell of Altoona, Nicholas Klem of South Williamsport, Amanda Kotch of Dallas, Skyler Makuch of Mountain Top, John Hizny of West Wyoming, A.J. Krier of Maple Shade, New Jersey and Andrew Martinez of Wilkes-Barre.
