{"id":14289,"date":"2011-08-23T03:35:38","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T10:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=14289"},"modified":"2011-08-27T21:28:21","modified_gmt":"2011-08-28T04:28:21","slug":"international-festival-of-puppet-theater-jerusalem-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=14289","title":{"rendered":"International Festival of Puppet Theater, Jerusalem, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Dream Trackers in action\/Photo: Ayelet Dekel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Puppetry is one of the most radical forms of theatre I have seen in recent years in Israel. Without fanfare, often working with the simplest of materials, they easily vanquish the demonic assumptions of popular theatre and \u201cwhat works.\u201d Creating theatrical worlds \u2013 beautiful, funny, subversive and sometimes all three at once \u2013 imbued with a sense of wonder, they speak to audiences of all ages.<\/p>\n

The International Festival of Puppet Theater took place in Jerusalem last week from August 14 \u2013 19, 2011. The festival included 38 different productions, Israeli and international. Had there been \u201cworld enough and time\u201d I would have been delighted to see more, the selection of Train Theater productions I saw revealed different approaches and use of stage and materials, yet all five shows had one trait in common: the audiences were spellbound. From the four year olds and their parents in the intimate setting of the Train Theater in the Koret Liberty Bell Park (Gan HaPa\u2019amon) to the artsy crowd that gathered for the late-night adults only performance, and the 60-strong multi-age group that wandered through the picturesque passages of the Yemin Moshe neighborhood, the air shimmered with the hush of rapt attention.<\/p>\n

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Shahar Marom in Far Over the Sea\/Photo: Ayelet Dekel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My journey began on the first day of the festival at the Train Theater, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, with Far Over the Sea<\/em>, directed by Alina Ashbel. The set recreates a Tel Aviv street scene with recycled materials, the sign saying \u201cBialik Street\u201d lets us know where we are, geographically and conceptually. Both the look and text of this piece reflect a very contemporary sensibility. Although Haim Nachman Bialik (1873 \u2013 1934), is recognized as Israel\u2019s national poet, most Israeli schoolchildren would not recognize his works, beyond a few songs that have become part of the playground folk tradition. His poetry and short stories have traditionally been part of the high school literature curriculum, but literature has all but disappeared from schools. Bialik, while a founding pillar in the Israeli literary canon, has become less of a writer whose works are actually read, and more of a cultural marker or sign post.<\/p>\n

The disarming lack of pretense caught my attention as Shahar Marom greeted the audience from amid the set, explaining that it was constructed from discarded objects he had found on the streets, and then announced: \u201cNow I am going to enter my show.\u201d Like the set, magic is constructed, not found. He began by pushing a cart on the tiny stage, calling out \u201ccupboards, drawers, old refrigerators,\u201d like the ubiquitous alte-zachen (roughly: old stuff) peddlars who can still be sighted even in the urban chaos of Tel Aviv. Giving the Hebrew words Bialik\u2019s Ashkenaz intonation, Marom gently led the audience on a search for the poems, acknowledging the distance between Bialik\u2019s Hebrew and their everyday speech with explanations woven into the fabric of the story. Reviving the children\u2019s poems of yesterday with loving attention, and creating endearing creatures from an unlikely collection of objects including dial telephones and hot water bottles, inviting reflection on what we choose to discard.<\/p>\n

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Naomi Yoeli in Rose-bud\/Photo: Eldad Maestro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rose-bud<\/em>, by Amalia Hoffman and Naomi Yoeli, is a confection from the enchanted realm of bedtime stories, paper dolls and pop-up books, sweet and light as a fairy kiss.\u00a0 Retelling the tale of the beloved daughter of the King and Queen and the uninvited fairy\u2019s revenge in pink and white; connecting the tale to the nighttime rituals of three sisters who loved drawing, stories and fairies. From the rather helpless queen who cries big blue paper tears, to the rather wickedly amusing angry fairy and the gallant prince and his horse onstage (no spoilers here, I won\u2019t tell how she did it, but it did elicit an amazed whisper from a young audience member \u201coh, a real horse\u201d), there is a nice mix of humor, music and magic with a large, illustrated book at the center of the story. Hoffman\u2019s delicate drawings come to life in Yoeli\u2019s hands, and the traditional storytelling is enhanced by consultations with the audience who are eager participants in the story.<\/p>\n

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Yael Rasooly in Paper Cut\/Photo: Ayelet Dekel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Employing similar materials \u2013 a book with pop-up art and paper-doll like figures and masks \u2013 Yael Rasooly creates an entirely different effect in Paper Cut<\/em>, a puppet show with a retro touch that is most definitely for mature audiences. Paper Cut<\/em> harks back to the golden days of black and white cinema fantasies, when men were men and women were\u2026secretaries, submissive second wives, all those who live to serve. Rasooly is actress and puppeteer, setting the scene with her pre-show: buttoned up and decked out in checked jacket, obligatory bun and black plastic framed glasses, she is already on the job, making sure her pencils are all perfectly sharp, with only her red lipstick to hint at the fires that burn within. It\u2019s a fun frolic, especially for film buffs. Rasooly takes the fantasy all the way and then some, on an imaginative tour that stops at all the iconic vintage cinema scenes before taking a detour to its somewhat surprising d\u00e9nouement.<\/p>\n

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Patricia O'Donovan - A Touch of Light\/Photo: Ayelet Dekel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Patricia O\u2019Donovan\u2019s A Touch of Light<\/em> is a moving work that pierces the heart to fill it with radiance. A candle glowing in the darkness illuminates shadow puppets, drawings, and figures made of paper, as O\u2019Donovan\u2019s artistry imbues the story of Louis Braille with the playful laughter, the pleasure that can be found in books, and the joy of insight. Without attempting to deny the pain and frustration of losing his eyesight, Louis\u2019 story is told using simple words and creative methods. O\u2019Donovan conveys even complex concepts such as echolocation in a way that even the youngest audience members can immediately grasp. As the young Louis sits in the village square, each person that passes is accompanied by a different sound, without saying a word, O\u2019Donovan has explained that Louis knows the world around him through sound.\u00a0 Giving voice to the different characters with warmth, mischief and sensitivity to intonation that many stage actresses would do well to emulate, O\u2019Donovan brings the story to life.\u00a0 Ultimately, however, it is the visual brilliance of this work that takes the breath away, especially in one pivotal scene that translates Louis\u2019 moment of epiphany into visual expression, creating onstage magic that is real and makes the spirit soar.<\/p>\n

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Jack Shvili and Avraham Cohen in The Dream Trackers\/Photo: Ayelet Dekel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Dream Trackers<\/em> is at once the most ephemeral and most physical of the shows I saw, part of the Public Works project of the Train Theater, taking place in the Yemin Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem. A delightful feat of the imagination, up to 60 people can sign up for the course taught by the two eminent dream trackers Jack Shvili and Avraham Cohen, both students of the famous Professor Pyjama. While I cannot reveal the secrets of the trade acquired en route, the exceptional experience not only enchanted the participants (ranging in age from about 3 to 63), but attracted people passing by who stopped to listen, drawn into the fantasy created through words, song, movement and creative props. \u201cWhat is a dream without a dreamer?\u201d sang the two dream trackers, suggesting the most radical statement of all: magic is in us and all around us, available always in our minds and hands, waiting to be found.<\/p>\n

Far Over the Sea
\nDirection: Alina Ashbel
\nSet design, objects, light and performance: Shahar Marom
\nMusic: Igor Krutogolov
\nArtistic consultation: Naomi Yoeli, Marit Benisrael, Shirly Marom<\/p>\n

Paper Cut
\nCreation and performance: Yael Rasooly
\nWriting: Yael Rasooly, Lior Lerman
\nDesign: Yaara Nirel, Lior Lerman
\nSound design: Binya Reches
\nLighting design: Adam Yakin<\/p>\n

A Touch of Light
\nWriting, direction and design: Patricia O\u2019Donovan
\nPerformance: Patricia O\u2019Donovan
\nMusic: Rachel Yatzkan<\/p>\n

Rose-bud (based on The Sleeping Beauty)
\nDesign and illustration: Amalia Hoffman
\nAdaptation and story-telling: Naomi Yoeli
\nCostume design: Einat Amir, Hagit Karkovski
\nMusic: Mike Dani
\nThird eye: Marit Benisrael<\/p>\n

The Dream Trackers \u2013 Public Works Tour Shows Yemin Moshe
\nDirection and design: Amit Drori
\nWriting: Shmil Maayan
\nPerformance and Manipulation: Jack Shvili, Avraham Cohen
\nCostume design: Valia Piratinoff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Puppetry is one of the most radical forms of theatre I have seen in recent years in Israel. Without fanfare, often working with the simplest of materials, they easily vanquish the demonic assumptions of popular theatre and \u201cwhat works.\u201d Creating theatrical worlds \u2013 beautiful, funny, subversive and sometimes all three at once \u2013 imbued with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}