Spit Shine Glisten
Spit Shine Glisten is a puppet play that portrays a charismatic preacher and the conflicted connection she has to her followers. It explores extreme rhetorical acrobatics and lush religious spectacle. The story is based very loosely on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson, an early twentieth century Los Angeles evangelist who gained celebrity status through the creation of elaborately staged spectacles, phenomenal healing sessions, and a series of fantastic scandals. There are many unreliable accounts of Aimee Semple Mc Pherson’s life, told by narrators under the spell of a cult of personality that has extended well beyond the grave. Add Spit Shine Glisten to that list. Spit Shine Glisten takes a few select details from McPherson’s life sews them together with conjecture, fantasy, and visceral reaction. Like the stories the preacher told in her lifetime it is a fragile and unreliable tale, in need of constant maintenance, tying down, and hoisting up. The play is performed with life-sized wooden puppets, human beings and fractured and warped video projection.
