CBR: Gaiman & McKean's "Mr. Punch" on Stage

[CBR News]

Playing now in L.A. is a stage adaptation of "Mr. Punch," the acclaimed Vertigo
graphic novel by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean. CBR saw the show, which
realizes McKean's visuals with masks, puppets, animation and more.


Full article here.

[Jared H.]

That's so cool.

[jeaoure]

My wife and I caught this several weeks ago.

We were expecting something that was maybe interesting and heartfelt, but technically unimpressive. I'm happy to report, though, that the visuals and props and sets were absolutely fantastic, way exceeding expectations. Incredibly ambitious and executed beautifully. Massive amounts of care and work went into the puppetry in particular, with wildly creative solutions to the problems of presenting the source work on stage.

If you happen to be in LA, I'd recommend going. It does help to have some familiarity with the source material going in, but I don't know that it's a must. The faithfulness to the book is extremely impressive.

Performance-wise, the stand out was, easily, the woman who portrayed the mermaid. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that she seemed to be the glue that held the cast together, as most of the cast seemed to be fighting the temptation to overact (understandable, given the weirdness of the story). She settled and grounded things, though, and made the whole of it a very rich experience.

Not sure if Gaiman or McKean themselves got the chance to catch it, but I think they'd be pleased.