Arm of the Sea Theater is ‘like a threedimensional live cartoon’
SAUGERTIES>> An arm of the sea is another word for an estuary, said Patrick Wadden, co-founder of Arm of the Sea Theater.
Like an estuary ecosystem, Arm of the Sea’s shows have local and universal connections, he said, noting that the name also plays off of the Hudson River’s estuary status.
Since 1982, the company has employed a unique brand of puppetry, where performers often wear large paper-mache masks over their heads.
That year, the group began performing in the Poughkeepsie area, he said. In 1987, it moved to Saugerties.
The colorful costumes, like a larger than life head for a male character named Antonio, who appeared in several productions, often make the performers appear much taller than they really are.
And while puppetry is often associated with old children’s tales, it can be a great medium to tell complex and serious stories, he said.
“Puppetry is very elastic and exciting, and capable of surprising Wadden shows off a rooster puppet, which is used in a bilingual piece called “Criss-Crossing Borders.”
Since 1982, the company has employed a unique brand of puppetry.
audiences,” he said.
Each show is set to unique music that Wadden said serves as the “voice and engine” of the performance. “It is the primary vehicle that goes right with the visuals and the action,” he said. “We always have live original music created on the spot.”
And the musicians do voiceovers for each character, he added.
“It’s like a three-dimensional live cartoon in the sense that you see it all happening,” he said. “Nothing is just coming out of a box, and nothing is just being made, including the music.”
Many of their shows touch on history, ecology and social issues, he said. Often they examine human triumph and foible.
He said local history is important because it lets people have knowledge of their area that goes deeper than just their address.
“It’s your town, how has the place come to be?” he said. “Who are the people and events whose shoulders you stand on?”
One of the history themed plays is “City That Drinks the Mountain Sky,” he said.
It tells the story of the construction of New York City’s reservoir’s throughout the Catskills, including the Ashokan Reservoir, a massive undertaking that forever transformed both the city and the Catskills, he said.
“It connects Upstate and Downstate,” he said. “It connects the forests and watersheds of Catskills to one of the most intense urban areas in the world that is home to nine million residents.”
New for this year is “Hook, Line and Sinker,” which, through the eyes of a fisherman, tells the history of the dumping of PCBs in the Hudson River by General Electric, and how it continues to impact people today, he said.
He said it looks at how the river was long viewed as a place to dump things and how the introduction of organic pollutants that don’t break down made dumping far more damaging.
“We live in the industrial and chemical age, and heavy metals in toxic concentrations are not just released into watershed rivers, but are also bio accumulated into food chains,” he said.
Wadden said rivers have always been an important part of his life.
He said he grew up in Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and in 1977 he moved to the Hudson Valley and became a sailor on the Clearwater.
He said shows like these can take quite a bit of historical research, which is conducted throughout the year.
But he said these shows are not historical dramas that try to recreate events.
Instead, he said they rely on more fictionalized accounts.
“It’s inspired by events in local history and characters from here— more like a myth,” he said,
Demonstrating a rooster puppet from the bilingual play “La Cosecha/The Harvest” at Inquiring Minds Bookstore, he said other shows take a closer work at the social issues like the treatment of migrant workers.
The main character in that production is a farm worker who is smuggled over the border from Central America.
“It’s a form of modern day slavery,” he said.
The story portrayed here is just one of 1000s of stories these folks have to say, he said.
Unique to Saugerties, is the Esopus Puppet Suite that features a show with a uniquely local twist to it, he said.
During these shows, members of the community often take part in productions, he said.
They are also a fixture at the Garlic Festival in Saugerties, which takes place in September.
He said Arm of the Sea’s performances offer a tangible experience that stands in stark contrast to today’s world, where people are living in an increasingly digitally focused world.
“It’s a purposeful anecdote to the detachment of a hyper cyber society,” he said.
Everything’s handmade, and the audience is an integral part of the experience, instead of just being passive viewers, he said.
And he said he loves the unique community a performance creates.
“It’s like gift giving,” he said. “It’s an exchange.”
He said the company has performed these shows at all kinds of places for people in all walks of life.
“We perform at cultural centers, community festivals, at colleges, at conferences and at schools,” he said.
Live theater is an important part of cultural nutrition, and should be accessible to allow anyone to be able to afford to see a show, he said.
After years of traveling all over the country, Wadden said Arm of the Sea has now settled down to focus on shows in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
During that time, he said their shows have grown better with years of practice.
“There is more depth,” he said. “And we’re able to better communicate it.”
Currently, they do approximately 50 to 80 performances a year spread out over a 10 month period, he said.
He said he can’t even estimate how many hours he spends a week on Arm of the Sea.
“It’s a combination of vocation and avocation,” he said.
For Wadden, the arts have always been a passion, and he said he’s dabbled in mediums ranging from filmmaking and performing arts to sculpture.
And he said he’s excited about future growth.
Wadden said they’re finalizing plans for a property on the Esopus Creek in Saugerties between their studios and Tina Chorvas Waterfront Park.
Formerly owned by Clearwater, it was once home to a paper mill, he said.
It will not only be a space for performances, but it will also be a center for education about local history and ecology, he said.
“We envision making it a destination for residents and visitors,” he said.
But he said climate change leaves the site with an uncertain future.
The site could be submerged by rising waters that are forecasted to raise 5 to 8 feet within 100 years, he said. “This offers a chance to see how people can adapt to changes brought forth by climate change.”
But in the meantime, he said Arm of the Sea is preparing for this year’s performances.
“We perform at cultural centers, community festivals, at colleges, at conferences and at schools.”
— Patrick Wadden