Introduction

The continuing art adventures of Doofus and the Duck and their Company of players, as created by my wonderful wife Emma during the time of quarantine: the COVID-19 pandemic, now continuing into 2021. This is the twelfth installment of works, the Company remaining at the height of their creative endeavors.

Without further ado, back to the Doofus and the Duck…

April 2021 (cont.)

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the 2775th anniversary of the founding of Rome by Romulus, their tableau of a painting of Arcadia by the French 20th Century master, and noted Fauves, Henri Émile Benoît Matisse, entitled “Le bonheur de vivre (1906),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Sasha de Lanterne-Rouge, and featuring the Purple Hippo as J.J. Cool

Another amazing production from the Company of what many would consider an impossible work for them to produce. However, once more, the design team have shown just how creative they can get in this recreation of one of the seminal works of Modernism. While not strictly accurate (Can someone please get the Purple Hippo on to the same page as the rest of the Company?!), the colour and design tell us this can be nothing but Matisse’s early masterwork. Outstanding!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going occasional series of famous movie posters, their tableau of a distribution poster for the turn-of-the-century cyberpunk classic series, created by the Wachowskis and Joel Silver (producer), entitled “The Matrix (1999-2003),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the Noble and Tragic (kick-ass) Hero Trinity, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as the Noble and Tragic (kick-ass) Boss Morpheus

Lovely work from the Lighting and Set departments, but it looks like The Blue Boys Blues Band had a heavy night (though the pills are a fine touch).

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the 483rd birthday of Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, their tableau of the famous painting by Venetian master Tiziano Vecelli, entitled “Amor Sacro e Amor Profano (c.1514),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Maria Profano, a Good Girl, featuring the Purple Hippo as Cupid, and introducing the Renaissance Dutch Dominoes as The Sarcophagus Fountain

Delightful! The Company is at their best in these descriptive allegories and this early masterpiece by Titan gives them ample scope to display their prowess. Here we find the landscape beautifully rendered and our principals (yes, even the Purple Hippo!) at their finest. A stunning achievement!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of Australian and New Zealand memorial holiday of ANZAC Day, their tableau of a watercolour by notable English-born New Zealand artist Horace Millichamp Moore-Jones, based on a photo by James Jackson of the NZ Medical Corp stretcher-bearer named Henderson, entitled “Private Simpson, D.C.M., & his donkey at Anzac (1915),” starring the Duck as Australian stretcher-bearer John Simpson, and Boxer the Stuffed Clydesdale as the Donkey Queen Elizabeth.

A lovely, if somewhat modernist, take on Moore-Jones romantic and idealized famous watercolour. It is good to see the Company principals working with one of the new members on such a piece and watching as the new cast member, Boxer in this case, rise to the occasion. Excellent work also from the set designers, and lovely lighting. Touching!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going series of famous movie posters, their interpretation of US art director Tom Martin’s distribution poster for the George Miller produced (Chris Noonan directed) masterpiece, entitled “Babe (1995),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the Nurturing and Kind Sheepdog Fly, with Shaun the Sheep as The Cow, Boxer the Stuffed Clydesdale as The Horse, the Little Sheep as Maa, and featuring the Purple Hippo as The Sheep Pig Babe

A simply fabulous production full of the saturated colours and pathos that make the original so striking (though one does feel that the Company went more for a laugh in casting the Purple Hippo in the title role, substituting gormlessness for sweet innocence, though it does work). Wonderfully done!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going series of book illustrations and in honour of the birthday of one of the keen supporters, their tableau of taken from Mara L Pratt’s book, “American History Stories,” regarding one of the most famous (and infamous) duels fought in US history (and a key point in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s critically acclaimed musical), entitled “Duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (1890),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The American Hero and Patriot Alexander Hamilton, and featuring the Purple Hippo as Dr David Hosack

Exquisite work from the Staging and Lighting departments in this colourful adaption of what is a rather ordinary etching of the famous duel. Both the Doofus and the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot are excellent, though one does have to ask if the two little spectators (the Aaron Burr Fanclub, perchance?) are somewhat surplus to requirements. Still, a very fine and atmospheric working!

May 2021

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of a work by famed 19th Century French Realist Edgar Degas of an everyday scene, entitled “Dans un Café (1875-76) (also known as L’Absinthe),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the famed model Ellen Andrée, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as the painter and etcher Marcellin Desboutin

A simply stunning realisation of the seminal work by Degas: the setting is superb; the acting first-rate; and the entire affect absolutely convincing. Epic!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of a famous Company associate recently discovering that his colleagues had named an asteroid after him (4553 Doncampbell-1992) and then forgotten to tell him, their tableau of Soviet-era Russian Symbolist painter and theater designer Konstantin Fyodorovich Yuon’s metaphor for the October Revolution, entitled “The New Planet (1921),” featuring the Little Blue Men as Heroes of the Proletariat, and introducing the Lewis Chessmen as The Fleeing Romanovs

Colourful, odd, and more than a touch perplexing.

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the birthday of one of the Company’s long-time supporters, their version of a manuscript drawing by an unknown artist, taken from an early French rabbinical text, entitled “Daniel in the Lions’ Den Saved by Habakuk (15th C.),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Angel of the Lord, and featuring the Purple Hippo as The Mighty Prophet Habakuk Bringing Succor to the Infected, and introducing the Fearsome Lions: Shaun the Sheep; Fluffy the Three-Headed Dog; the Little Sheep; and, making its debut, the Shady Jake’s (416 8th Ave, NYC) Memorial Pig

A delightful tableau, exceedingly well produced, with wonderful acting by the staff. Well done!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the 592nd anniversary of Joan of Arc lifting the Siege of Orléans and single-handedly turning the tide of the Hundred Years’ War, their tableau of a painting by the young Cremona-born court painter Sofonisba Anguissola, entitled “The Chess Game (1555),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the Fearsome Chessista Minerva Anguissola, and featuring the Purple Hippo as The Very Lovely Europa Anguissola

A delightful portrait of a family playing, beautifully presented by the Company (the Purple Hippo does very fine work as the youngest sibling), by the hand of one the most significant, and well respected, female painters of her day (though now largely forgotten). She influenced Rubens and Caravaggio, and Michelangelo held her in high esteem, as did van Dyck. It is wonderful to see one of her early, vibrant works being recreated so well!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of Mothers Around the World Day and as part of their on-going series of solo works, their tableau of a large-scale sculpture (the version of which is located in Ottawa) by French-American surrealist Louise Joséphine Bourgeois which she referred to as “an ode to her mother,” entitled “Maman (1999),” starring Shaun the Sheep as The Mighty Spider Mother, and featuring the Little Blue Men as Citroyens d’Ottawa

A stunning piece of acting from Shaun the Sheep depicting a ten meter tall bronze spider, and lovely work from the Props Department in recreating the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica and the Byward Market Square. A fantastic effort!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the Feast of Eid al-Fitr, their tableau of French 19th Century academic painter and member of the Legion of Honor Luc-Olivier Merson’s atmospheric painting, entitled “Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1879),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Mary, Mother of Baby Jesus, featuring the Little Sheep as The Watchful Ass, and introducing Cyril the Outdoor Leopard as The Never-Sleeping Sphinx

A wonderfully moody work by the Company in recreating an undeservedly unfashionable work from an artist most known today for his work on bank notes and postage stamps. Fashion is a fickle thing and it is excellent to see such a wonderful work with our modern eyes, able to appreciated its subtleties without having to wonder why its is not done in the latest “avant-garde” style. Excellent!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honor of the 640th anniversary of the Great Rising, their tableau of a work by an unknown master of the International Gothic style, entitled “The Wilton Diptych (Left Panel) (c.1395),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Misunderstood King of All England, Scotland, Ireland, and France Richard II Rex, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as The Saint John the Baptist

A bold attempt by the Company to recreate a late-14th C masterpiece that ultimately, while beautifully played and portrayed, doesn’t quite work. There is an essential flatness to the original that actors simply can’t encompass regardless of their efforts. Still a quite remarkable vision for everyone involved.

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the Christian holy day known as the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, their tableau of early 16th Century German master Hans Suess von Kulmbach’s panel painting, entitled “The Ascension of Christ (1513),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the Beloved Apostle John, and featuring China Baby as Jesus’ Mum, the Purple Hippo as A Bearded Religious Guy, and Shaun the Sheep as Another Religious Guy, possibly Peter

A very fine and fun interpretation of a forgotten masterpiece from a less well-known southern German master and student of Dürer’s. Oddly composed, with the Ascension being represented by the feet of Jesus at the top of the frame, it concentrates on the gritty worldliness of the Apostles, ably performed by the Company. The colour are rich, and the textures lush: A very fine tableau!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the 278th anniversary of Jean-Pierre Christin developing the centigrade temperature scale, their tableau of a work by 19th Century German Romanticist painter, and leader of the Biedermeier Movement, Carl Spitzweg, entitled “The Bookworm (c. 1850).”

A beautiful and touching work that absolutely captures the self-deprecating humour the Biedermeier Movement, and Spitzweg in particular, were famed for. While it is a mostly forgotten period of art history, it is a delight to see the Company bringing some of these lovely works to our attention. A delight!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, their tableau of Swedish photographer Olle Lindeborg’s photo of that year’s winner, entitled “ABBA Winning the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Waterloo” (1974),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the Great Guitarist Bjorn Ulvaeus, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as Benny Andersson and China Baby as Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and introducing the Purple Hippo as the Fabulous Ukranian Verka Serduchka (runner-up Eurovision 2007)

Outstanding! Odd, yet strangely compelling.

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going series of solo works as well as in honour of the 23rd anniversary of Australia’s National Sorry Day, their tableau of Ottoman administrator, artist and intellectual Osman Hamdi Bey’s famed satirical anachronistic portrait, entitled “The Tortoise Trainer (1906),” featuring Trevor the Trilobite as A Recalcitrant Tortoise.

A wonderful work of political satire brilliantly performed by Doofus, the Book, and some smaller members of the Company that creates a convincing reenactment of Osman Bey’s original. Exquisite!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their solo series and in honor of the 361st anniversary of the Restoration of Charles II King of England etc., their tableau of a portrait by Flemish Baroque painter and printmaker Jan Thomas van Ieperen of a noble at one of the masque conducted at the court of Leopold I and the Infanta Margaret Theresa, entitled “Gundakar, Prince Dietrichstein, in a Fantastical Costume (1667),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Most Noble Prince Gundakar, Master of Libochovice Chateau, and featuring the Black Horse as The Prince’s Noble Steed

An exceptionally fine reenactment of an excellent portrait from one of the most ostentatious and ridiculous periods of Hapsburg history (which is saying a lot). Regardless, the players are superb and the Costuming Dept has rather outdone itself in the sheer magnificence of this work. A delight!