Puppet Theatre Highlights – At Home and Abroad - Nina Malíková

Anniversaries

In January, puppeteers in the Czech Republic and from around the world were reminded of the 50th anniversary of the death of outstanding Czech puppeteer and former president of UNIMA (founded in 1933) – Josef Skupa (1892-1957, pictured left). Skupa was the creator of the Czech Republic’s most popular father and son comedy puppet duo – Spejbl and Hurvínek.

 

In 2007, the Loutkář (Puppeteer) Magazine celebrates its 95 years of existence. World famous promoter of Czech puppetry Dr. Jindřich Veselý was the personality behind the publication founded in 1912. The magazine is the oldest of its kind devoted to the art of puppetry and changed its name several times over its lifetime – Loutkář (Puppeteer), Český loutkář (Czech Puppeteer), Československý loutkář (Czechoslovak Puppeteer), and back to its current form Loutkář (Puppeteer). In spite of the evolution of its name, the magazine has continued to bring valuable information about the history and current trends of puppet theatre in the Czech Republic and abroad. The magazine also publishes theoretical and historical studies, puppet theatre plays (in Czech) and an overview of puppet theatre activities and festivals at home in the Czech Republic and around the world. The magazine is published six times a year, and now has a new format – including some full-colour photographs.

 

Founder and continuer of the tradition of puppet characters Spejbl and Hurvínek, Miloš Kirschner (pictured right), would have celebrated his 80th birthday in March 2007. The development of the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre in Prague is associated to his name. This exceptional performer brought his characters to life in countries throughout Europe as well as overseas. The voice of Miloš Kirschner was used for both characters, and is known by audiences and those who have copies of the audio and television recordings.

 

 

Mark these Dates on Your Calendar:

March 21st - World Puppetry Day and the Day of UNIMA

THE DAY OF UNIMA

The Czech Centre of UNIMA, in cooperation with the Centre of Czech Puppeteers and Realm of Puppets (Říše loutek), are preparing the 2nd Annual event entitled The Day of UNIMA, which will take place in May in the historical space of the Realm of Puppets (Říše loutek) in Prague. UNIMA was founded here in 1929, and this year will be the place where new puppet works from professional and amateur companies will be presented. The Day of UNIMA will end with a social event – a puppet cabaret dedicated not only to founding of UNIMA, but also to the 95th anniversary of the first Loutkář magazine that has been serving the history of modern Czech puppetry for almost a century. The Day of UNIMA will take place on May 20, 2007.

 

March 18th to the 23rd – Showcase of the International Day of Theatre for Children and Young People

The rich showcase of puppet performances, organized by the Czech Centre ASSITEJ, will take place at the Theatre on Celetna and the Klub Mlejn. Award-winning Czech puppet theatre companies participating in the event include: Alfa Theatre, Naive Theatre Liberec and the Lampion Theatre.

More information: http://www.theatre.cz/assitej/en_default.asp.

 

Exhibitions:

This year, the Museum of Puppets in Chrudim, a unique museum dedicated to the world of puppetry, presents its visitors with two new exhibits. In addition to the permanent exposition, one can find:

The Old Trouper and his Puppets – is dedicated to the work of scenographer Pavel Kalfus.

20 Years of the Diversity - celebrates the jubilee of the puppet theatre stage from the Municipal Theatre in the city of Most. The exhibition includes the works from various notable Czech artists who have worked with the theatre over the past twenty years (Kalfus, Milfajt, Hejmovský, Marečková, Doležal and Bauer).

More information: www.puppets.cz

 

Awards for Puppeteers

Even though Czech puppeteers don’t have their own special category in the Alfred Radok Awards nor the Thalie Awards, the Naïve Theatre Liberec again received an award during the showcase of Czech Theatre. The theatre received the prestigious Spectator’s Choice Award for their production of The Handsome Fire Chief (Krásný nadhasič).

 

 

Award Winning Three Musketeers

The production of The Three Musketeers, staged by the Alfa Theatre in Pilsen, received yet another award. The production continues to collect awards wherever it participates - during Czech and international festivals: two awards at the Bábkárska Bystrice in Slovakia, five awards at the Skupa Festival in Pilsen and one award during the One Flew over the Puppeteer’s Nest in Prague. The company has recently received first prize for the Production of the Year in the survey of the Theatre Newspaper (Divadelní noviny).

 

What the critics say:

“The hand puppet grotesque of The Three Musketeers is one of the theatre events of this past year. The playful comedy is charged with flawlessly constructed gags, whose creative ideas are carried out to the most minor details… Such as the scene with Rochefort who cuts the heads off the poor chickens, or the scene when one puppet creates his own performance with mini-puppets… As the adventures of D´Artagnon and his friends has been adapted for the screen and theatres numerous times, but the puppeteers from Pilsen have created their own version in an unusually witty and original way.” (Zdeněk A. Tichý)

 

The 16^th annual One Flew Over the Puppeteer's Nest (Přelet nad loutkářským hnízdem) festival took place and featured, among others the performance, Autumn Portraits, by American puppeteer Eric Bass. (Together with his wife Inez, Eric Bass led a workshop with students from DAMU´s Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre in Prague.) The festival's grand prize, the Erik (named after prominent Czech theatre practitioner Erik Kolár), was given to the Theatre Alfa from Plzeň for its production of The Three Musketeers. This production has received recent great acclaim – both with spectators and critics – as is indicated by the number of awards it has already received (the Henryk Jurkowský Award during the Skupa´s Pilsen festival in June 2006, and the Spectator´s Choice at the international puppet festival at Banská Bystrice, Slovakia).  The production has also been nominated for the Theatre Critics Award conducted by the World and Theatre Magazine (Svět a divadlo) and the Divadelní noviny theatre newspaper.

More info: http://prelet.scena.cz/index.php