Susan Simpson’s new serialized puppet plays offer a snapshot of L.A.’s LGBT history.

by Jamie Wetherbe

In an effort to connect Angelenos to Los Angeles, a new puppet noir tells the tale of the city’s gay folklore and history. Set in the lesbian bars, cop shops and streetcars of McCarthy-era Los Angeles, Concrete Folk Variations is a serialized puppet drama written, directed and designed by Susan Simpson, who for the last decade has specialized in experimental puppet plays in Los Angeles.

Presented in three installments throughout 2008, the first episode, Chapter One: Death of a Sugar Daddy, opens March 6 at the Manual Archives in Silver Lake for a three-week run through March 22. The story is told through Simpson's intricately crafted, small-scale puppets, projections, live music and a minimalist mid-century Los Angeles cityscape. Death of a Sugar Daddy depicts the murder of a prominent society maven and philanthropist who secretly slums at lesbian dives. As an LAPD beat (and butch) cop investigates the crime, she steps into a swamp of corruption and brutality.

Simpson first got her inspiration after seeing a video documenting Los Angeles lesbian bars, past and present, and how these meeting spots have declined over the years. “The more I learned about it, the more excited I became about the rich history here,” she says. “I was inspired by history, by the original gay and lesbian organizers in the city and [by] the politics of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, and I wanted to explore that in a fun and fictional way.”

While Simpson aims to entertain, she also wanted to depict folk heroes normally invisible to most people, and to connect audiences to the city itself. “There’s always a sense that Los Angeles doesn’t have a core or core culture,” she says. “The stories are a way of really causing people to look more closely [at] the city and feel more at home … and have a sense of local folklore.”

In June 2007, Simpson opened the Manual Archives, a micro-theater and exhibition space devoted to the presentation of Los Angeles folklore. “The aim of the Manual Archives is to show puppet theater and film to collect narratives that have to do with the city itself,” says Simpson. “It’s sort of an unusual venue, a small, intimate performance space.” The inaugural production, Lead Feet and Nothing Upstairs: A History of the Lifelike, which told the creation myth of Los Angeles, received acclaim from critics and audiences alike. “Puppet theater is really a niche, and people have really responded to that,” Simpson says.

In addition to receiving numerous awards and grants, Simpson is on the faculty of the CalArts School of Theater, and is the co-director of Automata, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of puppet theater and experimental film.

Her puppet plays have been presented in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles, including numerous showings at the Museum of Jurassic Technology and the Velaslavasay Panorama. Frankenstein: Mortal Toys, which Simpson co-directed and designed, recently played in Los Angeles and New York and was praised by the New York Times.

Concrete Folk Variations, Chapter One: Death of a Sugar Daddy runs Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., March 6-22. Tickets are $15; students and seniors are $12. The next installments are slated for June and October. For reservations and information, visit www.manualarchives.org or call (323) 667-0156.