About Mary Jane

Baltimore County

        Mary Jane Oelke is a musician, puppet master, actress, artist, theatre artist and has performed and designed  sets, props, masks and puppets for numerous theatres. Her puppetry performances have been seen at venues including The Walters Art Gallery, Towson University, Spotlighters Theatre, Fells Point Corner Theater, The Vagabond Theatre, and more. Oelke combines original music, scripts, set design, acting/voiceover, marionette performance and scene painting skills to create original… more

HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS

    A centuries old tradition is for puppeteers to mock the aristocracy  and elite through veiled innuendo and thinly disguised social and political satire and allegory using puppets (and often slapstick humor.....think "Punch and Judy").

 HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS will be episodic shorts using marionettes portraying actual past events, produced to be performed live and on video


  The First part of this project will be to spoof the debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during which they actually called each other puppets. The title of this short will be "Puppets of Puppets that Called Each Other Puppets". Then I am adding Bernie Sanders and his pal, "Burdie" and a few other characters including "Joe the Woodcutter"  and some of his friends, Melania and Putin marionettes have been finished for this project and also Elizabeth Warren. 

   I attended some SAG-AFTRA workshops with the goal of producing a signatory  video short of this project under a SAG-AFTRA short projects agreement.  I also attended a workshop on production with Marc and Maria Unger, local actor/producers of , THESPIANS, a wonderfull independent series, also a SAG-AFTRA signatory project which is shot locally in and around Baltimore. I am currently working on sets, finalizing a budget and etc, etc, etc...

  • Burdie Scene demo

            This is a taped preliminary rehearsal of the BURDIE SCENE, for the project:

                              HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS

     

     

  • Melania marionette for HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS
    Melania marionette for HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS

    "Melania" mixed media marionette created for HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS awaits costuming.

    Artist, M. J. Oelke

  • 20161027_151753 (1).jpg
    20161027_151753 (1).jpg
    "sHillary" and "Trumpster" , mixed media marionettes by M. J. Oelke c 2016
  • 20161003_151958.jpg
    20161003_151958.jpg
    Mixed media Marionette, "Trumpster", By M.J.Oelke. This marionette has a flexing jaw for voice-over performance.
  • 20161001_120555 (1).jpg
    20161001_120555 (1).jpg
    "Trumpster", mixed media marionette
  • Burnie Sanders marionette for HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS
    Burnie Sanders marionette for HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS

    This is a mixed media marionette, "Senator Burnie Sanders",

    created for HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS

    artist, Mary Jane Oelke

  • Burdie, marionette
    Burdie, marionette

    "Burdie", mixed media marionette by M.J.Oelke. This puppet accompanies "Senator Sanders" during the second vignette, "Bernie and the Bird" (from HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS)

  • DONKEY
    DONKEY

    DONKEY, mixed media marionette, by M.J.Oelke

    portrays the Democratic Party in an episode of HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS

     

  • BUBBLES the ELEPHANT
    BUBBLES the ELEPHANT

    BUBBLES THE ELEPHANT, mixed media marionette by M J Oelke

    "Bubbles" portrays the Republican Party in an episode of

    HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS

     

  • ELIZABETH WARREN,  marionette
    ELIZABETH WARREN, marionette

    Elizabeth Warren caricature, mixed media marionnette by, M.J. Oelke, for "HYSTERICAL HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS" . This puppet can lift her eyeglasses.