Dragonfly Hunter: In the Shadows
Samples from the soundtrack:
1) The Dragonfly Hunter
2) Jabu’s Theme/The Darshadkolo
3) Bickersong
4) Hill-san
5) Sejhehii
6) Riidopo
7) The Wingless Flier
8) The Tehii Orchard
9) The Voice of Behei
10) Chameleon’s Theme
Bonus Tracks:
11) Jabu’s Theme (on piano)
12) The Dragonfly Hunter (on guitar)
In 2007, J Roth adapted part of his epic fantasy The Dragonfly Hunter into a shadow puppet play. Performed at In the Heart of the Beast, the show also included an original soundtrack. That score is performed largely upon Japanese shamisen, but also includes Cambodian jaw harp, tablas, and keyboard/synth.
This adapted version of The Dragonfly Hunter tells the story of Jabu, a young boy who is convinced that all he has to do to help the hot-headed, quarrelsome people cool down is reach up and take a piece of the sun.
He manages to take hold of the sun, but in the process drops it and it’s eaten by a hill. With the help of his trusty dragonfly companion named Httt, Jabu journeys to the underworld in a desperate effort to recover the sun.
The show features intriguing shadow puppets, backdrops and an incredible prehistoric-sized dragonfly puppet created by local puppet-artist extraordinaire Malia Burkhart.
For the performance, the puppet troupe Puppetenacity was formed.
Cast of the Show:
Malia Burkhart as Jabu, Hothead 1
Karen Haselmann as Sejhehii, Lenad
Fiza Jaafar-Tribbett as Kendha, Riidopo, Qen-am
J Roth as Chameleon, Hill, Hothead 2
Musicker’s Gazette No. 12 tells more about the show and its performers.