EU Contemporary Puppetry Critical Platform

21/06/2023

We invite you to read an interview with Daria Ivanova Hololobova, Ph.D., a university professor from Ukraine, prepared by Katarina Kolega.

"At the start of the war, we suggested that plays be made in the subway, in basements, but our theater director didn’t even want to hear it. That is why we launched an online project called The Guardians of Fairy Tales. We wanted our actors to read fairy tales to children in a professional way, and because they lacked a stage, they recorded short paragraphs of certain stories."

Katarina Kolega Last year in Čakovec, I met Daria Ivanova Hololobova, Ph.D., a university professor from Ukraine. She visited the 25th meeting of professional theaters for children and youth HC Assitej. Between the plays, she was often hurrying to Zoom classes and meetings because, since she moved ...

03/04/2023

“How often do you read about puppet theatre in the cultural press? It seems that today it would be inappropriate to claim that the above-mentioned type of performing arts is less “serious” than drama, opera, or ballet - after all, it has proven its autonomy and artistic importance more than once. However, the question is whether it is given enough attention.”

Dovilė Jadzevičiūtė prepared an interview with doctor of humanities, theatre expert, art critic Audronė Girdzijauskaitė, head of the Association of Performing Arts Critics, theatre expert Kristina Steiblytė, and theatre expert, head of the Vilnius theatre “Lėlė” Vilmantas Juškėnas.

Author: Dovilė Jadzevičiūtė Translated by Laima Bezginaitė How often do you read about puppet theatre in the cultural press? It seems that today it would be inappropriate to claim that the above-mentioned type of performing arts is less “serious” than drama, opera, or ballet - after all, it...

23/03/2023

The last project meeting of ECPCP took place this week at the International Puppetry Festival Lutkokaz in Osijek. Members of the partner organisations discussed the results of the project, presented them at a round table and reflected on the future development of the project and further cooperation between the four institutions.

21/03/2023

Lutkokaz 2023!

13TH LUTKOKAZ (THE PUPPET SHOW), the International Puppetry R***e, 20–23 March 2023 EVENT PROGRAM: Monday, 20 March – The World Day of Theater for Children and Young People 10:30 a.m. – Academy of Arts and CultureAcademy of Arts and Culture Show: Searching for LutkokazA special program of stud...

15/03/2023

“The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinski and Love Beyond (Act of Remembrance) are two pieces that explore the passage of time as experienced by people who have dementia.“ - Natalia Giorgi

https://www.contemppuppetry.eu/information/manipulate-2023-review/

The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinski by Vision Mechanics Runtime: approximately 60 minutes Love Beyond (Act of Remembrance) by Ramesh Meyyappan, Co-Produced by Raw Material & Vanishing Point Runtime: approximately 80 minutes By Natalia Giorgi The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinski and Love Beyond (A...

14/03/2023

“Gintarė Radvilavičiūtė’s performance “The Choice”, presented at the Vilnius “Lėlė” theatre and based on the recollections of a Holocaust survivor Edith Eger, represents the world as a storehouse of body parts. Among a vast collection of heads, legs, busts and forearms, a fierce and intense humanity that contrasts with the order of this world is howling.” - Dovilė Zavedskaitė

https://www.contemppuppetry.eu/news-ip/holocaust-toys/

Author: Dovilė Zavedskaitė Translated by Laima Bezginaitė Gintarė Radvilavičiūtė’s performance “The Choice”, presented at the Vilnius “Lėlė” theatre and based on the recollections of a Holocaust survivor Edith Eger, represents the world as a storehouse of body parts. Among a vast ...

13/03/2023

In February, our critics were finally able to attend the Manipulate Festival. In a few days, a residency in Osijek awaits us.

After a few attempts interrupted by the pandemic, our critics finally attended the wonderful Manipulate Festival this year. Critics from Scotland, Lithuania, Croatia and Slovenia attended the ECPCP Critics' Residency in Edinburgh, organised by Puppet Animation Scotland from 8 to 12 February. They sa...

15/01/2023

The opening of the main hall of the “Lėlė” theatre was accompanied by a powerful charge of energy. Hopefully, the baton of effective, modern puppet or object theatre performances started by the Slovenians will be taken over by local creators, and we will see more enchanting spectacles in the cozy, freshly painted hall.

Author: Greta Vilnelė Translated by Laima Bezginaitė On October 27, the Vilnius Theatre “Lėlė” celebrated its sixty-fourth anniversary. To celebrate this solemn anniversary, the main hall was opened after its reconstruction and the performance for adults “Session Bulgakov” (directed by M...

10/12/2022

This new, 61st issue of the 𝙇𝙐𝙏𝙆𝘼 journal offers a historical and contemporary overview of puppetry practises that embrace socially engaged theatre and, in the broadest sense, put their political nature into practise.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.

Puppetry can operate on the level of direct performance action and resistance, but also on the level of theory to dismantle established conventions of how we think about social aspects of reality. The theoretical contributions in the new issue also question the rationale of the treatment. On the theatrological level and also on the level of social spheres, they offer a new starting point for reflection. Their understanding goes beyond the binary construct (animate : inanimate, human : non-human, animated : animator) that has often been used to define puppetry. It turns to the dissolution of binarism - the possibility of a different, horizontal and more fluid approach to the puppet. This kind of starting point can also be applied to social fields, for example to rethinking the concept of gender and to a specifically distanced understanding of people, society and history.

Photo: Ajda Schmidt

09/12/2022

Alistair Maxwell wrote a piece about the performances Sand Pit (Ljubljana Puppet Theatre) and The Big Bang (Klaipeda Puppet Theatre & The Itim Ensemble)

“Both of these pieces throw their all into their desired medium: Sand Pit takes through a Nazca line style pre-history to civilisation to a great watery end and The Big Bang shows us the bookends of the reptile age and the end of the electronic age. The structure of both pieces seems to have come from a sense of play, and of stitching together scenes of play, whatever the cast enjoyed playing with, they hoped the respective audiences would enjoy equally too.”

States of Play: Media and Function within Itim Ensemble’s The Big Bang and Ljubljana Puppet Theatre’s Sand Pit by Alistair Maxwell Despite a name that conjures up images of spiralling galaxies or exploding universes, Itim Ensemble’s The Big Bang is firmly rooted on terra firma, albeit one cons...

09/12/2022

Natalia Giorgi: “The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinsky is a self-guided journey inside Minnie Rubinky’s brain, through scattered memories and visions. Minnie’s mind is a spherical, soft yet structured installation at the centre of the room, shaped precisely like a brain, big enough to accomodate a chair for one person.”

The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinsky, Vision Mechanics Runtime: approximately 60 minutes by Natalia Giorgi The Fantastic Life of Minnie Rubinsky is a self-guided journey inside Minnie Rubinky’s brain, through scattered memories and visions. Minnie’s mind is a spherical, soft yet structured inst...

08/12/2022

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 is one of the first monographic attempts to cover the broad spectrum of contemporary puppetry. It is also the first study to bring the expression of contemporary puppetry into direct connection with the critic as the public representative of the active spectator, i.e. the ultimate co-author of the performance.

Editor-in-chief Igor Tretinjak pointed out that "𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘈𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘤𝘰-𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵" - the book 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺 is designed around these various features.

So that it does not remain with mere ideas, the book is rounded off with examples of critiques produced in workshops within the Creative Europe project ECPCP, of which this book is the result. Conceived in this way, the book is a possible basis for further dialogues and the interweaving of contemporary puppetry and theory, i.e. critique.

The book is available in Croatian and English and will soon have its digital version on our platform.