Titanic - The Marionette Show

Titanic - The Marionette Show

Strings Attached Puppet Theatre (Wellington) and Musicisthelanguage have celebrated the opening night of their latest production TITANIC THE MARIONETTE SHOW at the BATS theatre in Wellington June 4, 2013. The TITANIC season in Wellington continues until Saturday June 8, 2013.

For details about show times and bookings please continue to www.musicisthelanguage.com/titanic.

For photos go to our Dropbox on https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nh67d1gexgmdcke/Y39Ki7kcgv

The Titanic is symbol and inspiration for over a hundred years. What does she stand for? For this Marionette show she is sign of the ongoing drive of humans to go higher wider faster lower than ever before. Though sometimes these desires end up, as the Titanic, in despair.

It is the boom and bust mentality of our global capitalism, spoken about so frequently, that inspired this production. Within this, the Titanic stands as a beacon of remembrance. One hundred years before this mighty ship vanished in the seas, in the year 1812, the Brothers Grimm published a collection of Fairytales. One of these stories, The Fisherman and his Wife, deals with the same aspect of our human existence. Today we look at the economy and our own behaviour, the house prices always rise and the resources of our planet are without end...wait wait wait, doesn’t this sound familiar?!

This Marionette show is performed within the confines of a traditional Marionette stage. Only the performing figures are seen and the people manipulating them are behind a screen. Certainly a symbol of our time as the ‘backdoor dealings’ are rarely exposed. We see but is it all real?

In the play, this “idyllic” situation is frequently interrupted and we start to wonder who is in control of what and who controls whom.

The play works on different timeframes. Starting with the memory flashback of the main character and working through the wishful drive for more (of what?) by his wife, with a predictable end .... or?

The boom and bust mentality of the worldwide capitalism is spoken about frequently. Now it is a Marionette show.

The Marionettes are expertly carved, assembled, dressed, painted and hung by Norbert Hausberg, who since 1984 performs Marionette shows with his Strings Attached Puppet Theatre here in New Zealand. Usually performing on his own, he is this time assisted by his daughter Java Katzur, acting and some Marionette manipulation.

The interaction between the Marionettes and their environment is a critical aspect of the whole performance and filled with surprises all along. Who are they really and why do they have a mind on their own?

There is the obvious German marionette tradition Norbert Hausberg originates from, but he has been working for nearly 30 years in New Zealand. Through numerous tours and festival representations around the world, his viewpoint got enlarged. We find there are references to puppet traditions in Japan and those of the Czech Republic that broaden the play. On a sidenote, both those countries have a very long tradition in puppetry and are an inspiration to everybody interested in this art.

These wooden carved individuals, that are created with them as individuals in mind, join together to give you this production. This means there is no fixed blueprint to each of them, an important aspect in Norbert’s work.

Marionettes are first mentioned in Europe in the early middle ages. Two people are seen working figures on strings, that look like knights. Traditional societies in the Americas, Asia, Africa and here in New Zealand used strings and carved figures to create .... well, we can’t be too certain: magic, education, transmission of knowledge. What is left today is a fascinating art form appreciated around the world on numerous festivals, TV, film and live performances, that is as enduring and captivating as in the beginning of cultural creation.

We hope you will be as fascinated and taken away on an interesting magical journey, as people are around the world every day.

ENDS

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