"The Steadfast Tin Soldier" Comes to Life (Live Storytelling. With Paint! You Gotta See the Video - Just Amazing)

Being performed this weekend at the Sydney Opera House (in Australia) is a live storytelling - in words and paint (!) - of The Steadfast Tin Soldier by the German puppetry company Thalias Kompagnons. Instead of just using puppets though, this time around, the main storytelling medium is paint. Real, drippy, wet, squishy, live, colorful and amazing paint. This is the art of storytelling with Art!

I dearly wish I could take my son to see this. Actually, since I'm trying to incorporate a little storytelling in as I teach Art Appreciation to my son's class, this would be perfect to take all the kids to. (If we didn't have to pay for 26 return tickets to Oz, that is.) This would be a perfect introduction to the power of painting and art, as well as be an incredibly dynamic way to hear/see experience a fairy tale coming to life and discover the story of The Steadfast Tin Soldier. 

Although it's obviously a poor substitute for the live performance, there is a video, showing some of how the story is told. Take a look - it's quite amazing (and now I want to go paint!):

I get the strong feeling Hans Andersen would have LOVED this!

The promotional material about the performance reads:

In this delightful and imaginative retelling of the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale, our storyteller brings The Steadfast Tin Soldier to life with his vigorous live-painting techniques. 

On a large clear canvas, the story unfolds as a child’s nursery is sketched, coloured and painted. It’s here that the tin soldier steps out of line and falls in love with the tissue paper ballerina.  But all too soon, the peaceful scene is interrupted by the red goblin, and as the colours begin to fly, the adventure begins! 

In this unique performance, German company Thalias Kompagnons creates a joyful introduction to the creative techniques of both modern painting and live theatre. Enthralling, exciting and not always neat and tidy, The Steadfast Tin Soldier is sure to inspire the artist in all of us! 

On the company website I found this summary of the play, which explains why they chose live art-in-the-making as the medium for this performance:

On the play
	Painting is the art form which seems to be closest to children. They pick up crayons naturally and start using them, creating their own world, filled with a great variety of things. Who would not want to join them in this sphere of dreams? The fairy tale painter sketches a large nursery, decorating it with wondrous toys and figures. But as happens in painting – the image starts to develop its own life. Here a tin soldier who is the worse for wear steps out of line and falls in love with the tissue paper ballerina. The red goblin interferes. The image comes apart at the seams. Will the painter be steadfast and, together with the tin soldier, find a new path back to beauty? A joyful introduction to the creative techniques of modern painting which is not always neat and tidy. With his painted theatre productions, Joachim Torbahn has succeeded in creating an internationally admired novel synthesis between visual art and the theatre. He was invited to perform his homage to Paul Klee "What does Red do on Thursdays?" for children over four, at many festivals, including productions in Italy, Slovenia, Finland, Hungary, Russia, Corea, Japan and Australia.

As you might expect - the reviews are excellent. You can find more information about the company and the sort of shows they have HERE and read some of the reviews there too.

For those lucky enough to be local, you can find more information about times and tickets (which are very reasonably priced) HERE.

The presentation reminds me of seeing shows in shopping centers and malls when I was just beginning "big school" - a wonderful way to introduce the public to the power of storytelling and theater - and of turning up to dark mysterious theaters with no idea what I would see, only to be thoroughly entranced by what followed. Those experiences marked me for life in the best way and I wish there were more traveling and available I could take my son to experience (he's just started "big school" this year so it's very much on my mind).

Maybe one day there will be enough Once Upon A Blog readers in close proximity that we could actually put together something amazing ourselves (to be filed under "Big Dreams I Will Never Give Up On").

Bret McKenzie Developing Labyrinth-esque Comedy-Musical Fairy Tale

Bret McKenzie (left) with Flight Of the Conchords partner Jemaine Clement (right)

I stumbled across this little nugget of news yesterday...

Recipe for a Comedy-Musical Fairy Tale 
by Bret McKenzie (aka half of Flight of the Conchords, aka Austenland & LOTR actor, aka Academy Award winning songwriter)

Take:
- one part Labyrinth
- one part Princess Bride
- one part Muppets
Fold into one film.
Add:
- singing dragons
- singing monsters
- live people
(Caution: do not let monsters & dragons eat people without prior clearance)
Mix with liberal doses of Flight of the Conchords style wit
Add lashings of James Bobin's** writerly-expertise
Blend well.
Set to simmer in pre-production for many months.
-- Proceed with secret baking process (signed NDA*** required to view) --
[Note: Make Jim Henson proud.]
Do NOT set aside to cool.
Share immediately with friends.
Consume with enthusiasm.

** James Bobin was co-writer and director on The Muppets.
*** NDA - non-discloure agreement
✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ (click the "Read more" link below this line) ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ 

Fairies in Lampshades & A Forest of Forks - Meet Compagnie Akselere's Sleeping Beauty

This would have to be the most unusual theatrical retelling of The Sleeping Beauty I've seen in some time. Perrault is credited as the source author while Liverpool-born, French artist and puppeteer Colette Garriger is the creator & main performer. The show is just arriving in the US now after an lengthy international tour, with performances scheduled from September 2010 on.
Here's the official blurb:

At her birth they call her "Princess." Her fate is sealed. Left to her own devices and brilliant imagination, this modern day Princess pays off her debts and takes her skeletons out of the cupboard once and for all. Now arriving in the United States after an international tour comes a creative retelling of the Briar Rose tale joining shadow puppetry, object theater, and passionate monologue into a hard-hitting story filled with dark humor.Created by Liverpool-born, French-transplant artist and puppeteer Colette Garrigan.

* Funded in part by a Jim Henson Foundation Presenter's Grant (2010)

And excerpted from a review on Australian Stage:

This version of Sleeping Beauty is closer to a nightmare than a fairytale. A girl grows up in a poor family in Liverpool, England. She is the youngest of seven. Her father dies. She gets farmed out to her grandmother who locks her in the cupboard under the stairs. She steals and thinks it is so exciting to be going in a police car that she waves to all the people she knows. She meets boys who lead her astray. And she knows she is a princess and that prince charming will arrive - even if it is in the form of a medical miracle.From the mind of creator and puppeteer Colette Garrigan comes a passionate monologue with shadow puppets about the loss of innocence and reality versus fairytale.... Garrigan is very much centre stage, and creates the shadow puppets primarily from herself and various unusual objects on the table in the centre of the stage. Forks become a forest, a toaster rack a shopping centre, all projected onto the white semi transparent screen hung at the back. This is not puppetry as most would know it, with only one brief scene using small hand operated puppets that are ingeniously fitted into a lampshade.

You can read the whole article HERE and see more performance photos from the company site HERE.

Le Cabaret Grimm

Starting today (April 8th) is a new mixed-discipline theatrical show is opening by The Performance Lab in Boston, called "Le Cabaret Grimm-a punk cabaret fairy tale (sans fairies)".

The show is unashamedly experimental with masks, puppets, circus acts, music and more thrown into the mix as they interpret some tales by the Brothers Grimm through a variety of Arts and styles, including steampunk, cabaret and burlesque. Music ranges from from R&B, to Tom Waits to Ska to the Dresden Dolls.

An article from wubr.org (which also has an interview you can listen to) explains the Director's thoughts behind melding the art forms on stage:

“There’s circus arts, and there’s burlesque and cabaret and all kinds of really fun alternative things going on in the city but people don’t really know about it — it’s all in segmented places,” Slavick explains. “And I want the Performance LAB to be a bridge between the mainstream arts community and the mainstream audience, and the fringe, experimental community in Boston. ”

Here's the blurb from the official website:

From somewhere between Paris, Berlin and the bowels of the Bowery comes Le Cabaret Grimm, a punk cabaret tale of loss, longing, and desire - with a healthy dose of irony. We've got sexy girls and boys, conjoined twins, demons, and talking chickens. We'll take you on a journey drawn from the Tales of the Brothers Grimm, with music, mask, dance, and spectacle, led by the great chanteuse Veronique du Blahblahblah.

Each night we are joined by special guest performers. We bring you music, burlesque, circus, drag and more, hosted by the extraordinary Johnny Blazes.

Welcome to Le Cabaret Grimm!

I can't find any information on the use of the fairy tales or even which ones are being used except for this quote which reads: "We’re using these fun, contemporary styles to draw in the audience” says Slavick, “but we’re combining them with classic tales that have a universal quality and resonate deeply.” (source: StageSource) I'm very curious as to which tales are incorporated and the few photos available don't give many clues but it's interesting to think of any fairy tales being presented this way. I wish the 'LAB' every success.

If you're interested and can get to Boston in time, the show runs through April 24th, 2010.

Blue Giant Leaves Footprints In Scotland

I have had this story in my to-blog list for ages and unfortunately have now missed the window when this amazing event was taking place (so sorry about that!) but feel I must still report on it - for you never know when he will return, and he WILL return...The 10th of November was the last day people would see a blue eight metre (twenty-six and a quarter feet) high giant walking the streets and villages of Scotland - at least for a while.

Here's where the story, the Myth of the Giant, began*:

“Many thousands of years ago when Scotland was a rough country of boulders, vast forests and wild beasts , people lived in fear of everything, even the shadows.

“Then one day the warmth of the sun was blotted out and they looked up to see two huge birds fighting in the sky. Like giant eagles they tumbled, wheeled and spun in the air until one of the creatures broke away and tumbled towards them. As it grew closer to the ground they saw it was not a bird but a giant man with great wings strapped to his back. When he hit the ground the earth trembled, his wings smashed to pieces, and the populace fled and hid in terror.

“Then, driven by curiosity, they ventured out to look at this Big Man. They saw he needed their help and they looked after him, gave him water and food.

“In return for their hospitality he helped clear the land of the giant boulders, throwing them into the sea to create islands. He carved out inlets with his bare hands so they could shelter their fishing boats and he chased the nightmare beasts from the forests.

“Gradually he recovered his strength and walked the land recovering the scattered pieces of his shattered wings to rebuild them.

“Finally he was ready, he tied his pinions to his back and with a great beat of air flew into the sky and was gone.

“At first people were sad and missed him, but when they looked around and saw their fields cleared of boulders, the forests safe to hunt in and sheltered havens for their fishing boats. They realised that this was now a land in which they could live and thrive.

“The wisest of them even suggested that the Big Man would return to see the country he had helped create. They promised that when he came back he would be welcomed with great celebrations. They wanted the communities to gather together to show him what had been achieved in his absence. These storytellers became The Guild of Watchers, who now await his return.”

The spectacular Big Man Walking street event and village tour was created by The Puppet Lab (along with Puppet Animation Scotland) thanks to support given by The National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council's Inspire Fund.

As you can see from the photos, this was an awesome feat for the designers/creators and experience for spectators. The event included parades of different kinds, large projections of people onto buildings and on windows, dancing, live music, special puppet performances (of a smaller size), gift giving and much more - each town having their own variations in greeting their giant blue visitor. The Guild of Watchers who are the 'storykeepers' and have watched for the giant's return, showed the way by guiding the big man safely from shore to forest and beyond with their lanterns and then onto the paths to various villages. I love the fact the event was based on some Scottish myths and so brought ancient local tales to life.Here are some videos of the giant in action:

The 'elevator pitch' for the event:


Greeting some school children:


This one is a little jerky but it still gives a good idea of the big man's reception:


There are booklets on the myth as well as photos and a lot more HERE at the official website. If I find out when he's due to walk again I'll let you know.* Source for the Big Man myth is the official website.

Stage Adaptation of "Ashputtel" Begins Touring in the UK

Forest Forge Theatre Company in Hampshire (UK) has created an adaptation of Grimm's Ashputtel for the stage just in time for Christmas.

In a season when fractured fairy tales and 'panto' Cinderellas take over the stage (at least until Nutcracker season starts) it's refreshing to see the very different "Ashputtel - A Cinderella Story", based on the the Grimm's fairy tale, on offer as a Christmas family show. This one, doesn't have the extreme characters (ie. ugly sisters, often in drag) found in the panto versions but offers a different type of family-friendly story. In this production, as in the tale it's adapted from, Ashputtel has no godmother, fairy or otherwise, but there's plenty of magic...

From Salisbury Journal:

“I think Ashputtel is the best Christmas story there is and the one that fascinates me the most,” she says. “It is about identity and growing up, a real coming of age, following the seasons of the year and beginning and ending in wintertime. The story makes for a lovely family show.” (says Kristie, Artistic Director of Forest Forge)

Aschenputtel by Janaschi

Kirstie uses five actor musicians to tell Ashputtel’s story, and there isn’t a fairy in sight. Ashputtel plants a twig by her mother’s grave that grows to become a magic tree that cannot be chopped down (Edit FTNH: and showers Ashputtel with marvelous ball dresses). “The magic of the story is that the tree is her mother looking out for her,” says Kirstie. “It really is a beautifully inventive tale.”

You can read the whole article HERE.

I'm curious to see the response to this version of Cinderella (did I read about puppet knives, toes and heels in the Director's blog? The knives, toes and heels are probably just props, but still, not your average prop list for a family show!) and I'd love to see how the seasons work in. Unfortunately I don't think Forest Forge have enough funding to attempt overseas tours (yet). Perhaps I'll get lucky and someone will film it...

The Forest Forge Theatre Company website HERE also has the interesting Director's blog I mentioned, in which she writes/reflects on the development of "Ashputtel - The Cinderella Story" and the rehearsal process. You can read the blog HERE.Forest Forge started their tour this week on the 12th of November and will continue touring until January 16th, 2010. You can find more information about where they will be performing HERE.

Award Winning Tanglewood Marionettes Touring With Fairy Tales

The award winning Tanglewood Marionettes company will be traveling to a number of different US states with their fairy tale marionettes over the next few months.

The first offering will be at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum, where they will be performing their newest production, Hansel and Gretel" on Monday October 12, 2009.

From the Tangelwood Marionettes WEBSITE:

Founded in 1993 by Anne Ware and Peter Schaefer, Tanglewood Marionettes is a nationally touring marionette theater based in New England. Our repertoire consists primarily of classic tales performed by skilled puppeteers who have spent many years perfecting their art.

Each of our productions runs approximately 45 minutes, which may include a lively puppetry demonstration prior to the show and an optional question-and-answer period following the performance. The program is presented with the marionettes in full view, so that the audience can witness firsthand the mechanics of puppet manipulation.

Upcoming public performance details in various states over the next few months can be found HERE. Their current repertoire includes "Hansel and Gretel", "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "An Arabian Adventure", "The Fairy Circus" and the award winning "The Dragon King".

Here's a movie showing some wonderful excerpts from their production of The Dragon King:


You can see some more of their lovely puppets and get information on their performance set-up HERE.

Giants Cast Their Steampunk Fairy Tale Magic in Berlin

Ready for a larger-than-life steampunk fairy tale?

Today the giants (and their handlers) that have walked the streets (and rivers) of Berlin for 4 days are taking a well deserved rest after a happy reunion that mirrors the story of the city itself.

It's been almost 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell and this year, as part of the 19th annual unification celebration, the giant marionettes of French contemporary street arts/theater company Royal de Luxe staged a special performance, the story of which took place over 4 days.

The presentation was called "The Giants Arrive - A Fairy Tale for Berlin" and will no doubt remain in the memory of everyone fortunate enough to see them (estimated to be around 1 million lucky people) for the rest of their lives. The larger giant marionette, stands around 31 feet tall and weighs in at 2.5 tons - seeing it in person is not something you're likely to forget!First seen in 1993, the company has continued adding 'chapters' to their giant story over the years, including such wonders as a giant Sultan's Elephant (very steampunk in style and pictured below) that sprayed water over the watching crowds. The technical feats required for building, moving, manipulating and most of all, telling an emotional story with these puppets is awe inspiring. These are the largest fully-functional, traveling puppets in the world.Here's a wonderful video from an older show which captures a little of how incredible these street performances are:


From Spiegel Online International reporting the day before Royal de Luxe began their show in Berlin:

The company is bringing two puppets to Berlin. One is 9.5 meters (31 feet) tall and weighs 2.5 tons. It is a deep-sea diver and will be wearing an atmospheric diving suit made out of truck tarpaulins as it makes its way through the city and its waterways, aided by 31 helpers decked out in red livery. The helpers are called the "Lilliputians," after the little people in Swift's book. The smaller puppet -- at 5.5 meters (18 feet) and 800 kilograms (1,750 pounds) -- won't just be walking around; it will also be driving a scooter and a boat with the help of 22 Lilliputians.

Regarding the fairy tale of the title, here's what the creative head of Royal de Luxe, Jean-Luc Courcoult, said about the actual story (again from Spiegel Online International):

"It's a family story; it won't be political," Courcoult said... He went on to explain, his company will be telling a fairy tale about a long separation with the following plot: Terrible events have torn a city in two and caused one part of the city to be walled in. The big puppet is stuck in the west of the city, and the smaller one in the east. The big puppet drags a dormant geyser along the riverbed and places it under a wall. Then it wakes up the geyser to let it break down the city's barrier and allow the puppets to reunite.

You can read the rest of the article, which also details some of the amazing technical specifications as well as a lovely photo gallery of the event, HERE.

I found more details on the backstory of the tale HERE (reported by R.J. Evans for Socyberty - a website that publishes articles exploring social issues and how society changes/has changed - in June this year). I've put together the essential points in a collection of quotes below but there's a lot more information and detail in the article - I recommend clicking over to read it. The story is basically about a giant deep-sea diver who has been searching the world-over for his missing giantesse niece:

In 1912 the Titanic went down to the bottom of the ocean. Unknown to us, however, was that in its hold a giantess was held captive, the mother of the Little Giantess.

The enormous diver is the scouring the earth for the Little Giantesse. She was captured in Iceland which was at the time the home of the giants, each having his or her own particular task. The Little Giantess was to wake up the geysers of Iceland when a message needed to be sent. You may wonder what on earth geysers and messages have in common but little known to the outside world the geysers were used to transmit signals between the giants, much like the smoke signals of American natives.

But where does the deep-sea diver properly come in to the story? He is the brother of the giantess who drowned on the Titanic. Originally he had been busy doing his own job – sawing up icebergs – to realize that his sister and her daughter were missing.

In his past he has travelled the seabed for years and eventually he found the wreck of the Titanic. He buried his sister near the sunken ship. While there he discovered a mysterious box full of mail from the Titanic. He now had two new goals in life – the task of finding his niece and to deliver the mail. Since then he has wandered the earth in search of the Little Giantess.

And, as you may infer from the photos, all obstacles are conquered and the happy reunion occurred, fittingly, in Berlin near where the Wall once stood.Royal de Luxe apparently has no website and does no ordinary PR (the city of London put together a beautiful web presentation - including an extensive gallery - for the famed 2006 appearance which included the Sultan's Elephant. You can see that HERE ) but this website HERE has a long, fantastically detailed, yet easy-to-navigate article on the company.

The fact that Royal de Luxe make these extraordinary characters out of discarded items and what is essentially junk, is part of the magic - transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Fairy tales do the same thing by putting just a little magic into a tale, creating Märchen or 'Wonder Tales'. It is very fitting that these puppets have become part of the world and story of fairy tales. I sincerely hope I one day have the opportunity to experience one of the 'chapters' of these giant stories in person.

"The Nightingale" Opera. With Puppets. In Water.

There's a new opera about to debut on October 17th in Toronto called "The Nightingale and Other Short Fables". The creator is Robert Lepage (a well known and honored 'theater artist' in Canada) and while an opera based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale" is no great surprise (the story was,after all, inspired by opera singer Jenny Lind), this production is a little different.

From The Canadian Press:

...Lepage plans to fill a partially raised orchestra pit at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts with roughly 30 tonnes of water. His singers will wade in, waist-deep, to manipulate puppets while they perform. The orchestra will play onstage behind them. (Ed. FTNH: Michael Curry, the Puppet Master for the production explains in the video shown near the end of the post, that while the majority of the puppets will be operated by the completely visible singers themselves there will also be black costumed puppeteers manipulating other pieces throughout too.)

...Its unconventional features include acrobats, shadow play and Asian puppetry, all woven into a program of pieces by composer Igor Stravinsky.

Lepage says he has been interested in the idea of combining opera and puppetry since he saw a production of "Oedipus Rex" by JulieTaymor (Creator of Disney's award winning Broadway production of "The Lion King") who's well known for her use of puppets, and the puppeteer Michael Curry who helped him execute his vision for a puppetry-opera meld, and believes he's found the right subject in Hans Christian Andersen's "Nightingale". He's using a libretto written by Stepan Mitussov in 1914 and, because the tale is a short one, is including other small 'animal subject' pieces by composer Stravinsky to round out the program.

Lepage said he especially enjoys working with puppets, which he says is drawing a totally different sort of performance out of his singers.

"It's a pity we can't do all operas like this," he said.

You can see a video of Lepage talking about his inspiration and the making of "The Nightingale and Other Short Fables" below. It's very interesting as he discusses HCA's story construction and storytelling, specifically with regard to puppetry, around the world:


You can see a demonstration of Michael Curry's puppetry for the opera below (this video is a little longer - almost 10 minutes):


The opera sounds very ambitious for both the performers and from a technical standpoint, not to mention quite intriguing. I'm curious to see if it's a success and is staged elsewhere. You can read the rest of the article on the opera and Lepage's philosophy and thoughts on creating the multimedia production HERE.

"The Nightingale & Other Short Fables" will play at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from October 17 to November 5, 2009.

The lovely paintings in this post are by multi-faceted Canadian artist and illustrator Deborah Morriss (who also, incidentally, is involved in opera, though not at all related to this production. You can find more of her work, which includes other fairy tale illustrations HERE.)

"The Brave Tin Soldier" Multimedia Shadow Theater Production

This German production from Meininger Puppentheater has been touring festivals for a few years now, most recently playing in Korea and Taiwan in July and August, but it's so unusual- both in the tale it uses and in the manner of the production - that I have to mention it.

"The Brave Tin Soldier", based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name (a.k.a. "The Steadfast Tin Soldier") is a multimedia shadow play for children six years and older and asks an important question: "How much strength do people who don’t come up to our standards require to stand up to society?" (source)The Germans are known for their love and respect for fairy tales and puppet and/or theatrical productions of a wide variety of tales take place around the country (and outside it) every year. This 45 minute production appears to still be going strong at close to the ten year mark.Here's a description and review from livingscotsman.com a few years ago:

The Brave Tin Soldier, from the German Puppentheater am Meininger, also deals with the big themes of love and death and - given the intense, sad sentimentality of Hans Christian Andersen's original story - the performer Stefan Wey, a lonely-looking giant in ghostly white frock coat and top hat, is slightly less successful in avoiding mawkish self-pity and Victorian schmaltz.That doesn't, though, prevent this show from scoring a fantastic coup de théâtre by first inflating a giant tent in the middle of the floor, and then inviting the audience inside to witness a most amazing shadow-play, with all the images radiating from a giant pop-up book on a lectern in the middle of the tent. The effect is dazzling: Wey varies the scale of the images from miniature to giant by simply shifting his light-source a few inches; evokes a sea-storm by making the whole structure of the tent creak and heave around us; and signals the end of the story by making our tent-world world disappear with a twitch of a few zips. It's a slightly messy show, emotionally and physically, but the experience is unforgettable.

This sounds like something not to be missed! While you're waiting for the production to tour near you, why not try casting your own characters from the tale? Click HERE to find out more.