>February Events / Art & Theatre / Events in Norfolk and Suffolk / Tourist Attractions Norfolk and Suffolk January 28, 2014
manipulate
Visual Theatre Festival
4 FEB–8 FEB 2014
Norwich Puppet Theatre
Norwich Puppet Theatre has bounded happily into the New Year, following our most successful Christmas season since ever! We are delighted that so many families came out to enjoy the magic of puppetry over the holidays and are very grateful to all our audiences who have supported NPT throughout the years. Here’s to an even more successful 2014.
2014 sees NPT continue to develop our central development programme with the return of manipulate Visual Theatre Festival. This is the third year that NPT has partnered with Puppet Animation Scotland to host manipulate, one of the most vibrant festivals of its kind.
This year’s festival features some of the most provocative puppetry companies from around the world. An evening of animated shorts hosted by Clementine the Living Fashion Doll, a particular favourite of NPT, opens the festival on 4 February. Polina Borisova arrives from Russia to perform the first ever UK showing of Go! on 5 February, which articulates with great tenderness the tendency to dwell more with the reality and comfort of memories as we reach the end of our lives. The festival also celebrates animated features, and we are delighted to include Don Hertzfeldt’s three short films which combine into the seamless, darkly comedic triptych, It’s Such a Beautiful Day, on 5 February.
One of England’s leading puppeteers, Stephen Mottram, brings The Seas of Organillo on 6 February. This unique show explores the all too mortal issues of evolution and birth to soundscapes from Argentinian composer Sebastian Castagna. We are excited to be including a new Scratch Event as part of the festival on 7 February, where upoming puppetry companies and performers who have trained at NPT can present their work to audiences. Neville Tranter, whose Schicklgruber alias Adolf Hitler was hugely popular at last year’s festival, returns to lead a three-day (6 to 8 February) Masterclass, The Power of the Puppet, and to perform another darkly hilarious one-man show, Punch & Judy in Afghanistan, 7 February.
The magnificent Figurentheater Tuebingen explore Alberto Giacommetti’s unique creative world through the virtuosic manipulation of his figures bought to life through soundscapes, music and stone in their UK premier of Hôtel de Rive on 8 February. Our last event, on 8 February, is another animated feature, Tito on Ice, by Max Andersson and Helena Ahonen. The film uses a combination of stop-motion animation and documentary scenes to take viewers on a roller coaster ride through a parallel universe where all borders are crazily disintegrating.
manipulate is a wonderful opportunity for audiences to immerse themselves in visual theatre and animation, putting aside any per-conceived notions of what traditional theatre or puppetry might encompass. All will be amazed by what can be experienced and discovered in the walls of a Medieval church on the outskirts of Norwich City Centre—the home of Norwich Puppet Theatre.
Diary of events
Go!, Polina Borisova, Wed 5 Feb, 7.30pm
We are delighted to bring Polina Borisova from Russia for the premiere English performance of Go! on 5 February. Inspired by the simplicity and speed with which extraordinary people can leave us, Go! articulates the tendency to dwell more with the reality and comfort of memories as we reach the end of our lives. Polina has been touring the show internationally to great acclaim since 2009.
The Seas of Organillo, Stephen Mottram’s Animata, Thurs 6 Feb, 7.30pm
One of the UK’s most exciting and ambitious puppetry companies, Stephen Mottram’s Animata, presents The Seas of Organillo on 6 February. Inspired by Elaine Morgan’s book The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis and Lennart Nilsson’s A Child is Born, enigmatic and fascinatingly weird puppet figures swim and wriggle to soundscapes from Argentinian composer Sebastian Castagna; created by overlaying sounds from Stephen’s handmade organillo.
Scratch Event, Fri 7 Feb, 7pm
For the first time, as part of this year’s manipulate we are also holding a Scratch Event to give local and national puppetry companies the opportunity to present their work. This will include the brilliant Under the Microscope by Club Adelphi. Inspired by a love of crime drama and developed by a team of puppeteers and forensic scientists, this highly visual piece of theatre will take audiences to places deeper than you could ever imagine.
Punch and Judy in Afghanistan, Stuffed Puppet, Fri 7 Feb, 8.30pm & The Power of the Puppet,
Thurs 6–Sat 8 Feb, 10am–5pm
Neville Tranter, whose show Schicklgruber alias Adolf Hitler was a great success at last year’s manipulate, returns with his Stuffed Puppet Theatre and a performance of Punch and Judy in Afghanistan on 7 February. Neville goes back to the roots of traditional puppetry, using a booth. Punch and Judy in Afghanistan tells the story of Nigel, a puppeteer, who has come to Afghanistan to entertain the allied troops. The show preserves the fun and directness of traditional puppet theatre, while exploring a more profound theme: what happens when naivité and cynicism meet? Neville also guides our manipulate masterclass, The Power of the Puppet, where participants will explore the potential of puppetry to create powerful and unique theatrical languages, 6–8 February.
Hôtel De Rive, Figurentheater Tuebingen, Sat 8 Feb, 7.30pm
Based on four surrealist texts by Alberto Giacometti, Figurentheater Tuebingen (Compagnie Bagages De Sable & Theater Stadelhofen Co- Production) from Germany, explore his unique creative world through the virtuosic manipulation of his figures bought to life through soundscapes music and stone in their UK premiere of Hôtel De Rive, on 8 February.
It’s Such a Beautiful Day, Don Hertzfeldt, Wed 5 Feb, 9pm
&
Tito on Ice, Max Andersson and Helena Ahonen, Sat 8 Feb, 9pm
As well as visual theatre we also present two animated feature films, as well as our shorts event on 4 February. Don Hertzfeldt’s (USA) three short films combine into the seamless, darkly comedic triptych, It’s Such a Beautiful Day, about the troubled Bill, a stick figure everyday man, who stoically endures the pain, uncertainty and excruciating beauty of life on 5 February. Our second feature Tito on Ice, 8 February, follows Swedish comics creators Max Andersson and Lars Sjunnesson as they tour the former Yugoslavia with a mummified Marshal Tito in a fridge, discovering truth may indeed be stranger than fiction. The film created by Andersson and Helena Ahonen uses a combination of stop-motion animation and documentary scenes, to take viewers on a roller coaster ride through a parallel universe where all borders are crazily disintegrating.
Ticket Prices
Opening Gala: manipulate at The Golden Clementine’s £16 / £14 Concessions, Go! £14 / £12 Concessions, The Seas Of Organillo £16 / £14 Concessions, Punch & Judy In Afghanistan £14 / £12 Concessions, Hôtel De Rive £16 / £14 Concessions, Scratch Event £5
Performance Pass £55 / £45 Concessions (all performances listed above)
The Power Of The Puppet Masterclass £125
Festival Pass £160 / £150 Concessions (all performances listed above and The Power of the Puppet Masterclass), Films £8 / £7 Concessions
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