NPF ‘09 Gallery NPF ‘09 Itinerary

This was the last show of the festival, and boy, did I wish they had chosen to finish with something else (preferably Poli Degaine). This was performed by Lone Wolf Tribe in the Ferst Centre. Billed as an expression on the transition from polytheistic beliefs to monotheistic, I would actually describe the show as a discussion on the frailty and imperfection of god trying to find a way to please humanity and going crazy with it (also a commentary on Jesus being a creature forced into performing for his father). That actually sums up the plotline pretty well; especially considering there’s not much by way of dialogue.

The puppetry itself is a weird conglomeration of foam rod puppets, paper puppets and object theatre.

Where this show combined dance and puppetry in similar themes to Angel, it is Angel that breaks the conventions, and Angel that I would call a puppet performance. Bride is less of a puppetry show than a show with puppets in it. Whilst that definition usually isn’t an insult, this time it is. I could actually imagine the entire show done using actors, or with dance… that is, the puppets are redundant. If there is no good reason to use them other than you simply want puppets in the show, then why have them? And indeed, the puppets themselves are used so sparsely as to be uninteresting to any puppeteer.

The puppetry was well performed I suppose, though I’m not sure whether it was the design or the manipulation of them that made it all seem a little mundane. There is a scene where God is teaching Jesus to dance, and the puppet did not seem to have enough flexibility to do the movements with any clarity. (Perhaps that is the point, as God is disappointed that Jesus can’t seem to get the choreography perfectly enough) A human version of a puppet appears and performs the exact same choreography - we see what God imagines the dance to look like - and I have to say, if that was done on So You Think You Can Dance, the judges would boo them off the stage. 

Then we get to the puppeteers - all dressed in black, bunraku style. This would be fine except for one thing: it’s hard for people in black costumes to camoflage themselves when the stage is completely backdropped with white plastic sheets. Although they could hide in the shadows of the dimly let stage, I found them very incongruous, especially as much of the time they were noticeably running off or moving around onstage as if they’d been told the only way to not be seen was to get off as quickly as they could. There’s a difference between moving speedily, and moving subtly, and they missed the mark on subtle. 

The only enjoyable part of this show for me was the music - oddly, a combination of pre-recorded and live music - as I could watch the band play at stage left. Indeed, by this point of the night, I was so tired and I ended up dozing at the end of the show, and probably missed a lot of things.

I’m giving this show:

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