From: mjm <mmoynihan-AT-wi.rr.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2006 18:56:58 -0600
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] About small (yet gigantic) puppet works


Thank you so for the info and link!
the pictures are great.
And the 3 minute video is extraordinary.
Very encouraging.
Thanks again!
m

On Jan 13, 2006, at 6:44 PM, Mathieu René wrote:
> Hi MJM.
>
> Two years ago, I saw a small-scale puppet show that was in fact epic in
> impact.
> It was called "Le périple", and it is by a new troup called l'Ubus 
> thé=E2tre,
> which name seems like both a re-take on the famous Ubu character in 
> French
> theatre, and a word play on "bus", which is where they play their 
> entire
> show. Yes, the founder inherited her father's schoolbus and 
> transformed it
> into a puppet performance space.  The bus is still functionnal, and 
> actually
> is used to travel from "venue to venue... The audience sits on the 
> original
> seats, and watches the show unfold at the front, where some of the 
> seats
> have been removed to make way for a very small play area. most of the 
> work
> is done on tabletop, but there is a great use of space. Some action 
> takes
> place on the ceiling, and  visits the audience from time to time.
> I would rather not tell anything about the story, besides that it is 
> the
> fascinating journey of a grain of sand.
> I wouldn't want to spoil any surprise. I have seen that show once. I 
> want to
> see it three times more at least.
> This is the kind of show I feel puppetry is all about. Possibilities 
> within
> possibilities.
> Involvement of the performers to a personal emotional level as I have 
> never
> seen before.
> The performers were only two, and they made the small bus into an 
> entire
> world.
>
> Technically, everything was kept to a strict minimum, with simple 
> puppets,
> simple lighting, simple sound.  and simpler still storytelling. A feat 
> of
> such a scale. I cannot begin to understand the level of skill the
> puppetmaker must have acquired to be able to make such simple yet 
> amazing
> puppets, especially since I have seen other equally amazing puppets of 
> his
> but in the realm of refined complexity (fully expressive and flexible
> caricature-like latex puppets).
>
> Back to this show...
> All the magic was in the way it was presented. Simple here meant 
> efficiency,
> poetry, softness, and visual beauty. As a seemingly empty and quiet 
> desert
> can be breath taking experience.
>
> see some details, including two pictures and one short video, on their
> website:
> http://lubustheatre.dynalias.com/
>
> The company is based in Canada, in the province of Quebec.
>
>
> Le Périple
> by Agn=E8s Zacharie
> Performed by Agn=E8s Zacharie and Pierre Robitaille
> Directed by : Martin Genest
> L=92Ubus Thé=E2tre
> (based in Sacré-C=9Cur de Saguenay)
>
>
> Mathieu René Créaturiste
> Marionnettes, Masques, Etcetera...
> Puppets, Masks, Etcetera...
> creaturiste-AT-magma.ca
> www.creaturiste.com
> (514) 274-8027
>
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