Have neighborhood walks lost their appeal? Keep an eye out for the space lizards
There are some mighty weird things going on lately. There’s the coronavirus, of course, and the constantly evolving changes to our lives to combat it.
There are murder hornets (and if you’ve missed hearing about those, well, maybe you don’t want to look them up).
And then there are lizards from outer space.
Fortunately, the lizards, first sighted in Olympia on April 21, aren’t attacking human beings. Instead, they’re entertaining them — playing old-time music, dancing and telling jokes on walking tours of Olympia neighborhoods and for birthdays and other special occasions.
The alien reptiles are the creations and alter egos of String and Shadow Puppet Theater’s Emily McHugh (who plays the gecko-inspired one) and Donald Palardy III (as the multihorned one).
“We’re lizards from outer space who’ve been quarantined on Earth,” McHugh told The Olympian. “We pantomime the story of how we got here, and we ask (audiences) if they’d like to hear some human Earth music.”
As aliens, the creatures don’t speak English — they communicate via gestures and cardboard speech bubbles that translate their squawks — but they do know how to play the fiddle and the banjo, and the horned one even does a flatfoot dance, a traditional Appalachian form in which the dancer’s feet provide percussion.
How did the visitors from outer space learn these skills?
“This is not in the show,” McHugh said, “but I’ve worked out a back story. These are college-student lizards who were on Earth doing an anthropology project on human music. Then they got stuck here during COVID-19, and that’s why they play old-time music.”
McHugh and Palardy, partners in life as well as puppetry, have been very much enjoying the opportunity to take a show on the road while people are staying at home — and Facebook posts about the performances indicate that the feeling is mutual.
“We’ve pretty much been out doing at least one or two of these every day that it hasn’t been raining,” McHugh said. “It’s been really good for both of us.”
She’s been thinking about the state’s definition of which workers and businesses are essential.
“I would make a case that the arts are essential, especially at a time when people are confused and experiencing hardship, and there’s a lot of unknowns,” she said. “The arts give us a moment to laugh. They give us a moment to reflect.”
Space lizards
- What: String and Shadow Puppet Theater’s space lizards are bringing music and laughter to Olympia from a safe social distance. The duo is setting up neighborhood walking tours and will do pop-up performances upon request.
- Cost: By donation
- More information: http://www.facebook.com/stringandshadow/, http://www.instagram.com/stringandshadow/, stringandshadow@gmail.com
- Also: The company is working on a drive-in puppet show set to open in June. Check http://stringandshadow.com for updates.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 5:45 AM.