For Immediate Release: August 4, 2005
Media Contact: Jennifer A. Gonsalves, Mum Puppettheatre, 215.925.8MUM

"The desire to know is natural to good men." So proclaimed Leonardo da Vinci, the original Renaissance man responsible for hundreds of works of art and scientific discoveries, leading Mum Puppettheatre to ask: Where do science and art intersect? Daniel Stein, widely regarded as the man who changed mime into movement performance, and Robert Smythe, one of the foremost puppeteers in America, investigate the life of this ultimate master of science and art to find out.

Performing an engaging and irreverent show full of unexpected twists and turns, they playfully dissect da Vinci's writings on everything from painting to flying. Stein's masterfully expressive body language and Smythe's exceptional puppeteering create true theatrical magic. Funny, touching, and more intriguing than "The DaVinci Code," Measuring Man explores Leonardo's musings, artworks, inventions and his very mind with a dazzling combination of puppetry, dance, stand-up comedy, and compelling physicality.

Measuring Man, a co-presentation with the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, runs from September 6th to October 1st. All tickets cost $20. During the first two weeks, while the Festival is taking place, performances will be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm, and Saturdays at 2pm. Starting September 20th, performances will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Saturdays at 2pm.

Daniel Stein changed mime into movement performance with his first solo play, Timepiece. A protégé of Etienne Decroux, he has taught at institutions such as the Juilliard School of Drama and The Institute of Dramatic Arts, Tokyo. He has received numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 1990. He is the School Director of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA.

Robert Smythe is one of the most highly regarded puppeteers in the United States. The founder and Artistic Director of Mum Puppettheatre, he has created and performed over 20 productions for the company, including From the Ashes, which won the "Pick of the Fringe" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001. His work has garnered four Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre and three UNIMA Citations for Excellence (the highest award a puppet theatre can receive in the U.S.). Smythe was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 1998.

Beginning with Leonardo's apprenticeship, Measuring Man riffs on his spectacular risks and even more incredible failures—from the Adoration of the Magi to his Last Supper, Stein and Smythe reveal the humor, humanity and astonishing secret of one of the world's most creative and enigmatic thinkers.

Juxtaposing ideas and working on multiple levels, Measuring Man evokes the intricacy of da Vinci's research in which he often used maps, designs, drawings and sketches simultaneously. The performers use da Vinci's own words, object manipulation, stand-up comedy and movement to build to an astonishing and unforgettable ending full of hope. Measuring Man is no biography of a plaster saint, but rather a portrait of an artist of flesh and blood, illustrating the turns of fortune, risk, failure and sheer genius that comprised da Vinci's life.

"The show focuses mostly on not what he did as a genius, but the fact that he was a genius," reveals Stein. Smythe adds, "He wasn't really interested in selling his ideas to others. He was interested in discovery for himself, to make himself a better human being." He further explains, "Da Vinci's work as a scientist has had as profound an impact on civilization as his art has. His great struggle was that he was more recognized as a scientist in his day, and he wanted to be recognized as an artist. We recognize him as a true Renaissance man."

Measuring Man has been presented at Mum Puppettheatre once before in 2000, and has toured to Maryland, North Carolina and California, garnering critical acclaim. In a 2004 article in the Balimore Sun, writer J. Wynn Rousuck proclaimed "Da Vinci's spirit is soaring in Measuring Man" and " [Smythe and Stein's] evident delight in working together seems to parallel da Vinci's delight in his own inventiveness…[they bring a] childlike wonder…to their investigation of da Vinci's genius."

Measuring Man is the first show in Mum's 2005-2006 Evening Series of theatre for adults. As part of the Evening Series, Mum presents Coffee & Conversation nights, generously sponsored by Whole Foods Market and complete with complementary coffee and refreshments. These moderated post-show discussions, featuring guest speakers, cast members and Artistic Director Robert Smythe, allow audience members to delve deep into the world of each production. Coffee & Conversation will take place on Thursdays, September 22nd and 29th.

Subscriptions to Mum's three-show Evening Series cost $60, and are available Monday through Friday, 10am to 5pm, by calling 215-925-7MUM or by logging on to www.mumpuppet.org. Preview subscriptions are also available at 30% discount, as well as gift certificates, which make a unique, sophisticated gift for any occasion.

Mum Puppettheatre makes art that moves, creating theatre beyond the scope of human actors, often without words. We integrate the plastic, visual and performing arts by creating stunning, emotionally compelling and breathtakingly beautiful theatre, using puppets, masks and the human body. Our mission is to collaborate with artists of all disciplines and backgrounds to explore the interdisciplinary nature of puppetry, and share the results with people of all ages, independent of language or culture, on stage, on tour and in the classroom.

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