Puppet and object theatre don't command they place they deserve in our culture, but the Manipulate festival is trying to change that.
By Mark Brown
Puppetry, historically speaking, has not enjoyed the highest status in the theatre cultures of the UK. From Punch and Judy (not a British innovation, but one borrowed from Italian commedia dell'arte) to Spitting Image, puppets have been considered either child's play or the stuff of satirical comedy.
The idea that puppet theatre or its cousin, object theatre, could be seriously artistic has been largely foreign to us. This came home to me particularly strongly a little over four years ago, when I visited the prestigious new puppet theatre in the Russian city of Omsk in Siberia, a venue which towers over the extremely modest Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre in the west end of Glasgow.
It's true that Scottish puppet and object theatre has come on leaps and bounds in recent times, with shows such as The Curious Scrapbook Of Josephine Bean by Shona Reppe, White by Andy Manley and Catherine Wheels, and A Christmas Carol by Graham McLaren (with puppets by Gavin Glover) for the National Theatre of Scotland. Nevertheless, we still have a long way to go before these fascinating genres enjoy the kind of esteem they command in many other countries around the world.
All of which makes the annual Manipulate festival of puppetry, object theatre, visual theatre and animation, which has just begun and at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, an important event in the Scottish theatrical calendar. Produced by Puppet Animation Scotland, the programme showcases the work of some of the most innovative theatre artists and animators working in Scotland and internationally.
Take, for example, the British premiere of [bold]And Then He Ate Me[endbold] (Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, tonight; Traverse, Tuesday) by acclaimed Vélo Théatre of France. Combining text, movement and object theatre, it grows from the timeless narrative of humanity's uneasy relationship with the wolf. The company's poetic, witty and visually captivating form of storytelling has been compared with the works of the great French writer Charles Perrault (creator of Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella) and Tim Burton. The work evokes the fragility of the human household in the face of the threats, real or imagined, actual or metaphorical, which lurk outside.
In [bold]Autumn Portraits[endbold] (Traverse, Wednesday), puppet and mask artist Eric Bass, from the United States, offers a solo performance representing a series of characters who are in their "autumn years" and are casting their minds back over their lives. Drawing on the techniques of Japanese Bunraku puppetry, which date back to the 17th century, the piece brings to the fore the deeply emotive possibilities of puppet and mask theatre.
The beauty of Scotland's many international theatre and performance festivals is that they create opportunities for Scottish artists to collaborate with colleagues elsewhere in the world. [bold]Butterfly[endbold] (Traverse, Thursday; Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, Saturday), a Scottish/Singaporean co-production between Gavin Glover and Ramesh Meyyappan, is an exciting case in point. Inspired by the story of Madam Butterfly (itself a meeting of East and West), its wordless combination of puppetry, visual theatre and dance has already led to critical acclaim in Singapore.
Enticing though the entire Manipulate programme is, many visual theatre fans will feel that the festival has left the best until last. [bold]Mr Carmen[endbold] (Traverse, Saturday) is an extraordinary, moving, witty, dream-like work by Russian "engineering theatre" company Akhe.
The show, which travels beautifully through love, rivalry, jealousy and death, was deservedly showered with critical bouquets when it played at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012. For my money, Akhe are simply one of the greatest companies in world theatre today.
For full details of the Manipulate programme, visit www.manipulatefestival.org
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article