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The Dartmouth
November 10, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
Arts
The Phantom Limb gave audiences a behind-the-scenes peek at its marionette production,
Arts

Puppeteer Sanko brings sinister marionettes to the Hop

January 12, 2009

Zach Ingbretsen / The Dartmouth Staff While many marionette shows call to mind the innocent, Bavarian "The Lonely Goatherd" scene from "The Sound of Music," "The Fortune Teller" -- a puppet show which played at the Hopkins Center on Friday and Saturday -- expelled this notion from the minds of its audience with its sinister overtones. According to the show's director, Erik Sanko, the view that marionettes can only be used to tell upbeat stories kept him a closet puppetmaker for many years. "It wasn't very punk rock to tell your friends that you made dolls," he explained. Sanko, along with his theater company, The Phantom Limb, used the rare medium of puppetry to preach against the seven deadly sins while astounding audiences with an exhaustively detailed set in "The Fortune Teller." A demonstration Saturday afternoon gave audience members a chance to peek behind the scenes at the technically impressive production.

Puppets take on a new meaning in The Phantom Limb's
Arts

'Fortune Teller' marionette show to string along audiences

January 8, 2009

Courtesy of NYTimes.com When Erik Sanko and his puppet theater company, The Phantom Limb, performed at the University of California, Los Angeles last year, their 11 shows sold out faster than a production of "King Lear" headlined by Sir Ian McKellan.

Arts

HEAR AND NOW: Spears, Take That share album title, not glory

By Rebecca Wall | January 6, 2009

Two words suffice to describe Britney Spears' newest album, "Circus" (2008). A masterpiece. Spears, however, is not the only multi-platinum artist to release an album named after the big top. Take That, the British supergroup best known for 1993 track "Relight my Fire," released "The Circus" (2008) in the United States just days after the release of Spears' album. Unlike Spears, who because the center of a frenzied buzz in anticipation of her release, Take That, which has sold over 30 million albums during its career, saw little excitement when "The Circus" hit the United States. Take That's unfortunate predicament is understandable; on the album, the band sounds like a drunken imitation of Coldplay's Chris Martin , if that imitation were done by the bastard child of Five for Fighting and U2. Take That singer Gary Barlow chucks in clichs like "the science of faith" and "If love is a game / then I've played all my cards" on the song "What is Love." Innovative stuff. "The Garden" and the album's title track are similarly hackneyed.

Greven has three other
Arts

Kid pens keen, funny dating guide

By Lauren Dowling | January 6, 2009

Courtesy of HarperCollins.com Dartmouth boys, take note -- a new dating guru is on the scene to help you win over girls of all ages with his new guide, "How to Talk to Girls." Clearly, starting young is part of the strategy because author Alec Greven is only nine years old. The book, which began as a project for Greven's third grade class, offers simple, specific advice to help boys of all ages "win victory" with girls.

Romantic scenes between the Drover (Hugh Jackman) and Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) lighten up Kidman's stiff performance in
Arts

Epic "Australia" fails to impress

January 5, 2009

Courtesy of MovieWeb.com Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" earned its place in musical canon as a result of the songstress' overflowing charm.

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