HAND to HAND
A new outdoor
squonk spectacle
premiering in 2019
prototype staging photos…
Scale and Agency.
How big we are.
and what we do.
HAND to HAND will be propelled by a pair of giant hands, a metaphor for humanity’s scale and impact.
These puppet hands will have the visible rigging of a sailing ship or hot air balloon, and are just as massive.
These articulated hands will greedily take ownership of our event...
pointing and teasing, pushing, punching, hiding and exposing.
Thumbs up, thumbs down, applaud, poke, wag, pump,
pointing, knuckling under, hand off, hand out, mano a mano, hand to hand.
Music will rise from a single finger flicking an organ key, as natural an expression of humanity as a wave or a fist.
Squonk's original chamber rock, on drums and bass, guitar, horns, organs and synths, will drive a journey that is
spectacular, plaintive, and comic as the band runs head to head into these overwhelming hands of fate.
full scale outdoor test videos…
The Biggest hand puppets in the world!
Giants that gesture
Grabbing at a tower of babble & squonkery
opposable thumbs:
tweedle thee & tweedle thumb play guitars
we reach out…
The lilliputian & the giant
Our show will end with ropes of many colors being passed out to audiences, each moving a different finger, a web of connections.
Audience members will come together to grab the rigging, each individual powering a larger movement.
We want to encourage participation rather than consumption, dialogue rather than monologue, shared discovery,
no labels, no pre-judgment, no words, just people face to face, festive, and making a community of the imagination.
All hands on deck!
Self-contained for staging, sound, & crew
Requiring approximately 30’x50’ footprint, 30’ overhead clearance,
& access to power, and can happen on paving or lawn
Multiple half-hour shows & STEAM workshops are possible each day
Scale and Agency. How big we are. And what we do.
HAND TO HAND
Premiering in 2019
Squonkworks
2008-2018
If you present art outside, present outside art
Squonk’s outdoor public music spectacles embrace the festival and civic setting.
Squonk’s first show was performed in a Pittsburgh junkyard, with choreographed cranes,
roaring earthmovers, and screaming machine shears 25 years ago.
We focus on creating large-scale, accessible outdoor music spectacles with original music, design, and staging.
We also create STEAM workshops, and perform them for thousands of kids each year.
The New York Times has called us “a multimedia troupe of infinite jest with an imagination to match.”
Other reviews include “surreal and poetic” (USA Today), “insane majesty” (The Scotsman).
The Squonkers have received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts,
The American Theatre Wing, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Rockefeller MAP Fund,
Jim Henson Foundation, and many other generous foundations.
We have toured to 35 states in the U.S., Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Canada, China, and South Korea.
We have performed for millions, live and on TV.
Thank you for checking out our new show, HAND to HAND, set to premiere in Summer 2019.
Please contact Artistic Director Steve O'Hearn if you are interested in being a part of the project!
steve@squonkopera.org
412.496.6480
Hand to Hand rehearsal photos by John Altdorfer
Hand to Hand rehearsal video clips (except the 1st one) shot by Jason Cohn
