aesop
In honor of the Simpich's first son,
Kemper, David created his first solo show, Aesop, in 1988. It was
unique in that it
also featured David onstage as an actor as well as puppeteer. David
portrayed an escaped hunchbacked slave who hides out in the forest and
"witnesses" the mischievous escapades of the "furred and
feathered creatures therein..." At the play's centerpiece, the slave
befriends a lion after pulling a thorn from the creature's paw. The two
later meet as assumed enemies in the "Arena" after they have been
"returned" to civilization. Aesop was the first (and
only?) Simpich show to feature a puppet other
than a marionette: The life-sized lion was a hand puppet.
The voice characterizations for Aesop and all of David's solo
performances have always been performed live.
