At the historic Cameo Theater at 1013 East Colonial Drive, Tamara Marke–Lares set up an astounding, mysterious and strange collection of life sized Marionettes. I went to see Macabre Vignettes on Halloween day to see the “Lights Up” family friendly version of the show. Playful kid friendly puppet shows were going on all day while the sinister large marionettes watched and waited. One puppet show was about trying to find a Pumpkin. It is fun to watch the kids who are totally engrossed in the performances. When the kids realized that the puppet wasn’t holding a pumpkin but instead had an orange they stood up and shouted waving their hands. The puppet would insist it looked like a pumpkin but the kids would shout “No. No! That’s an Orange!” When the puppet asked for the orange back, a boy hurled it back hitting the puppet. All the kids laughed with delight.
I sat in the evil animatronics lab doing this sketch. One woman walked up to me and said “Oh, I thought you were part of the display.” Periodically a puppeteer would go up to one of the giant marionettes and start manipulating the strings. Children were invited to try working the puppets. The walls were covered with dark sinister paintings and scattered about were strange and unexpected sculptures. I suspect this cheerful environment must become a very scary place once the lights go down. This is without a doubt the most creative and exciting Halloween display in town.
