Out the Box Festival - African Puppetry Hit

Having just wrapped up the biggest festival of Puppetry and Visual Theatre on the African continent, Out of the Box continues to inspire and attract new puppeteers. Not only does UNIMA South Africa host the festival but it also ensures there is a developmental aspect - such as ongoing education in the field of puppetry.

At the opening, The Handspring Puppet Company, made the unprecedented announcement that they would be handing out annual awards for productions at Out the Box at the end of the festival.

The festival included an adult and a family programme bursting with local productions and international offerings from Israel, the Netherlands, Mozambique and Belgium.

Highlights included Inua, a production by Jori Snell from Denmark and the Netherlands. Snell's physicality is astounding, as is the production's magical realism in its storytelling and use of music as she looks for the essence, the 'Inua' of things, through creative use of light and shadows. Out the Box 2010 provides an inspiring journey into the rich world of puppetry and visual performance that South Africa has to offer. I'm only sorry I couldn't be there for it this year!

Sand Animation takes Ukraine by storm

Ukraine sand animation artist, twenty-four year old Kseniya Simonova, has won both the hearts and Ukraine's Got Talent 2009 competition and has spread her work as a viral video propelling Simonova to overnight world acclaim. In the short film piece above, Simonova takes us back to the war-torn Europe of 1944, when the concentration camps killed off many millions of its inhabitants. She recounts Germany conquering Ukraine in the second world war. She brings calm, then conflict. A couple on a bench become a woman's face; a peaceful walkway becomes a conflagration; a weeping widow morphs into an obelisk for an unknown soldier. Simonova looks like some vengeful Old Testament deity as she destroys then recreates her scenes - with deft strokes, sprinkles and sweeps she keeps the narrative going. She moves the judges to tears as she subtitles the final scene "you are always near".
You can also see some of Simonova's other work on You Tube here and here!

Calanchi International Theatre Festival looking for Puppetry

The Calanchi International Theatre Festival invite performers to present their work in the 7th edition of the Festival, which will take place in San Marino from 8th to 18th October 2009.

The organisers are looking for specifically non-verbal or visual theatre performances. Although San Marino is an independant republic in the Apennine Mountains , it is still situated in northern Italy, where English is not widely understood. Independent performers are being offered technical equipment for the productions, as well as promotional material and a marketing campaign. The festival will cover expenses for food and accommodation, and pay Euro 800 for artist/company fees. The deadline for participation and DVD submissions is 30 April 2009.

If you are interested in participating in this festival, you can find their website with all information here, or you can email them by clicking here.

New Visual Theatre Production from Israel

Three Desires and Silence - I was invited by a friend to check out a new visual theatre production performing in a theatre in Tel Aviv this week. Three different episodes were woven together to create a mad, sensitive show. In each episode, the actress-puppet relationship is used to powerfully reveal an inner conflicted reality, that is concealed. From amongst objects and furniture emerges an internal force that can no longer be restrained. In the depth of a wardrobe, a shy, suppressed woman, unexpectedly meets a rude, inhibited character who drives her beyond herself. Seated in front of a letter desk, are a puppeteer and her "shoulder puppet". Two woman at a deadlock . For all their physical proximity and attempts to connect, they are doomed to fail.
A childhood memory unravels through personal objects and a human – doll. An autobiographical nightmare, a circle not broken, a music lesson, all come to life as beneath the sweet tale another story emerges and a secret is whispered. The production was created and performed by Yaara Goldring, Maayan Resnick and Yael Rasooly in English. I would strongly recommend this to any festival producer. For further information, you can contact the company here!