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 of 2019/2020. This is the second installment of works, picking up where we left off: the expansion of the Company and the introduction of the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot (see here for more).

Without further ado, I’ll give you over to the Doofus and the Duck…

Dawning of The Company

It will take the Company a little time to get their act together, working out who is best at what. But the show needed to go on! This meant there were a number of simpler works used to tide of the transition.

Doofus and the Duck present Mister Dicksee’s masterwork: “La Belle Duck Sans Merci,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Horse.

Doofus and the Duck present Sidney Nolan’s “The Death of Constable Doofus,” once more feature the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Horse…

This work is remarkable in both its artistic vision–a modern work of representational art could be created–and the Company’s use of props. It makes another realization: the actors are not limited to a fixed stage! This will be used to great effect in later works.

Duck and The Doofus present a tableau of a detail from Raffaello’s “Sistine Madonna”

And there have been times the Company is simply happy to create crowd-pleasers, which are proving popular with their public and among the cast.

Doofus and the Duck present a tableau of M. Géricault’s most excellent and famous, “The Raft of the Medusa,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as “A Hopeful Castaway.”

This was yet another challenging project and beautifully executed by the cast. Raft as the work is simply known is where the Company’s well-deserved reputation for artistic verisimilitude was founded.

Doofus and the Duck present Senor Velázquez scandalous painting, “The Rokeby Duck” (La Pato del espejo)

Doofus and the Duck present a tableau of Rembrandt van Rijn’s masterwork, “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Duck.”

Another difficult ensemble piece brilliantly rendered by the Company. The work of Purple Hippo is particularly inspired in this piece.

Doofus and the Duck present a tableau of M. J-L David’s most famous, “The Death of Socrates,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Grief-stricken Young Man Offering Socrates the Cup of Hemlock.

Another wonderful performance from the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot provides the emotional core to this powerful rendition of David’s work. This is not the last time we see such an effort from this marvelous actor!

Doofus and the Duck present a tableau of M. Rodin’s most excellent and moving statue group, “The Burghers of Calais” (Les Bourgeois de Calais), featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the doomed burgher, Andrieu d’Andres.

A very difficult work creditably performed by the Company. The Duck is particularly outstanding in bringing to life the pathos Rodin placed in the original.

Doofus and the Duck present a study of Sir Anthony van Duck’s, “Three Views of Charles I,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Charles I’s Sinister Profile.

More whimsy, in particular in the use of costume techniques. The repertoire continues to expand!

May 2020 Grand Visions

With the arrival of May, the Company decided it could go off in all kinds of artistic directions. They had the cast, they had the crew, and finally, they had the budget!

Doofus and the Duck present a tableau entitled, “Self-portraits after Christo,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Spirit of Our Times.

One of the Company’s most important work, presaging as it did the death of the artist, Christo, by a few weeks. In keeping with Christo’s aesthetic of getting the viewer to see something new in the ordinary, the Company decided to present three interpretations of a Christo self-portrait, with the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot taking a somewhat controversial political stand. Whilst causing concern within the Company for its bold approach, the public loved it!

Doofus and the Duck present an interpretation of the most excellent tapestry from the Musée Cluny entitled, “The Duck and the Unicorn: À mon seul désir,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Unicorn.

And we have arrived: Company, props, staging, a grand cast, an elegant design, an epic realization! This work has proved to be one of the most popular of all the Company’s efforts.

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau based on a scene from that most famous of needleworks, The Bayeux Tapestry, entitled “The Death of King Harold,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as A Noble Stead

A technical tour de force from the Company making full use of their new-found capabilities: epic three level set, masterful costuming, and fantastic performances from the leads and the extras. Masterful!

Doofus and the Duck present their interpretation of the Belgian Surrealist painter René Magritte’s enigmatic vision, “The Lovers II”

Doofus and the Duck present their interpretation of the Pieter Bruegel the Elder masterpiece, “The Tower of Babel,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Failed Master Architect Prostrate Before Nimrod, King of Shinar

Another majestic work with a large cast and epic proportions. It captures the spirit of Bruegel work excellently well.

Doofus and the Duck present their “on location” tableau of French Post-Impressionist painter Henri Rousseau’s most excellent painting, “Le Rêve” (The Dream)

Another work showing the Company’s ability to improvise and innovate. In this case tackling a challenging Rousseau work in grand style.

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of Georges Seurat’s Neo-Impressionist masterwork, “Le Cirque,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Intrepid Ballerina On Horseback

The beauty of this interpretation lies in the wonderful use of false perspective. One of the under-appreciated gem from the Company.

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of the Finnish artist Hugo Simberg’s most beloved work, “The Wounded Angel” (of 1903), featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Angel

A superb performance by The ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot is the highlight of this interpretation of Finland’s most famous, and powerful, work. The pathos and anguish of the angel is plainly evident and beautifully captured. Another masterwork!

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau interpretation of Karl Brullov’s epic painting, “The Last Day of Pompeii,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as A Doomed Citizen of the Town

Chaotic brilliance combined with technical mastery turn a rather kitsch original into a mountain of fun! Bravo!

Doofus and the Duck present, at the request of one of the Company, their tableau of Peter-Paul Ruben’s epic hunting canvas, “The Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as A Valet in Desperate Straights

The Purple Hippo stars in this whimsical interpretation of a Rubens lesser work. As usual, the composition is excellent and the work of the cast top tier.

Introduction of Solo Works

With their new found skills (and budget), the Company Board encouraged their lead members to expand their horizons to encompass solo, or cast limited, works. While causing a certain degree of friction within the Company, the public loved seeing new interpretations of some of their favorite artworks.

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their series of solo works from the Company’s principals, Jan Vermeer van Delft’s exquisite “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” as realised by the Duck

Choosing the most famous and loved of Vermeer’s works was a stroke of genius and ensured the popularity of this new idea. As always, the Duck was completely up to the task.

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their series of solo projects, their interpretation of James McNeill Whistler’s most famous painting, “Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1,” featuring Doofus as Whistler’s Mother

Doofus’s performance in this work cemented in everyones’ minds what a great, and versatile, performer he is. He perfectly captures the spirit of Whistler’s work with effortless grace and beauty. The use of an appropriate Company promotional picture adds a slight touch of levity, beautifully balancing the composition.

Doofus and the Duck present another in their series of solo projects, this time from the unsung founding member of the Company, Hilary Mantel’s latest book, “The Mirror and the Light,” presenting its rendition of Andy Warhol’s classic “Campbell’s Soup Can,” specifically the “Beef” canvas

The Book is one of the unsung and underappreciated heroes of the Company. Often choosing to stay in the background, The Book has a wicked, almost surreal, sense of humor. When asked to come up with a solo work this was its response, a brilliant and subtle interpretation of an Andy Warhol pop art icon. Fantastic!

Doofus and the Duck present another in their series of solo projects, this time the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot recreates Henri Rousseau’s most excellent canvas, “Surpris!,” featuring the ABC Dance Bandicoot as The Tiger

Never afraid of a challenge, the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot took us back to the wild with a delightful interpretation of Henri Rousseau’s masterwork, capturing the essence of the work flawlessly.

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their solo project series, an epic work from one of the unsung members of the Company, the Purple Hippo, who has boldly trod where no hippo of colour has trod before in recreating Neil Armstrong’s iconic photo of Buzz Aldrin (on the moon)

Ever willing to push the Company into new arenas, the Purple Hippo decided to recreate an iconic photo from the 1969 moon landing. Luckily for all the props and special effects departments were well up to the job and they produced this wonderful work that captures the sense, if not all the details, of the original photograph.

Doofus and the Duck present, in honor of the day, their dramatic interpretation of Senor Goya’s moving painting, “El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid,” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as A Simple Laborer (The Embodiment of Resistance)

Once again the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot leads the Company in a powerful political piece by Goya. It is another “first” in being a work dedicated to a specific calendar day, an opening for what is to follow…

Doofus and the Duck present, in recognition of the day, a movie poster tableau entitled, “May the Force,” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as “A Galactic Princess (soon to be in Distress)

A rather silly, yet strangely touching, tableau based on the iconic, original Star Wars movies poster by the Brothers Hildebrandt, it shows the Company letting off some steam and reveling in popular culture. A crowd favorite!

Doofus and the Duck present a tableau of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s masterpiece, “Adam and Eve,” introducing Nessie the Loch Ness Monster as The Serpent.

Another piece of whimsy, taking an expressionistic approach to a piece of iconic Renaissance Northern German Realism. A simple delight!

Doofus and the Duck present a tableau of Senor Bernini’s exquisite statuary, “Apollo and Duck”

Statuary presents unique challenges, made harder by the choice of medium used by the Company. Like their earlier “Burghers,” Bernini’s masterwork provides a difficult work owing to the beauty of its stark simplicity. Here the Company principals play to their strengths, using color to enhance the drama of the nymph turning into a laurel tree. It is as powerful as it is evocative.