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| Vampyr (FIMFA Lx9, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, 2009) |
That first moment a hand puppet is placed on my hand is for me a magical moment. It is the moment when you give the puppet life. The basic technique is quite simple. Stillness, movement and then stillness again. It sounds simple but when you start considering how long the stillness should be, what kind of movement and which direction it takes, it becomes a choreography. And with a choreography there is always rhythm with endless variations. You need to learn how to master rhythm to be able to reveal the character of the puppet and his motivations. The first skill though, is learning to look through the eyes of the puppet. The puppet comes to life when the audience sees the puppet thinking. Because when the puppet thinks, he is aware of his situation or his surroundings and this makes him human. Our eyes always follow movement and that is why we will follow the puppet as he discovers or reacts to his surroundings. And a puppet always reacts constantly to his surroundings combining movements and stillnesses.
From the moment the puppet enters the stage, the audience follows the eyes of the puppet. This single “line” that the eyes of the puppet follows is a line which stops and starts, pauses again, changes rhythm, jumps, falls, stops, thinks, and finally leaves. Every movement or non-movement is telling a story, revealing character and information in a nonstop dialogue with the audience. Creating this dialogue means selecting the images which are necessary to tell your story but leaving enough space for the audience to use their own imagination. I never realized how precise the movements of the puppet are, until I had to teach. One movement or too many can destroy a whole image. The audience when watching a good puppet show follow the puppet’s actions as if it is the most natural thing in the world. But behind the actions of the puppet is a strict choreography of movements and stillnesses, gouverned by ryhthms and timing and breathing, visualizing images on the stage to give the audience a true theatrical experience. Puppetry is for me, an art of precision.
BIO
Neville Tranter (NL): Actor, puppeteer and director. Artistic director of Stuffed Puppet Theatre.
He played in FIMFA with Vampyr (Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, 2009), Punch & Judy in Afghanistan (Museu da Marioneta, 2012), Mathilde (Museu da Marioneta, 2013). He also directed two workshops entitled The Power of the Puppet (Museu da Marioneta, 2006, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, 2009)
He played in FIMFA with Vampyr (Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, 2009), Punch & Judy in Afghanistan (Museu da Marioneta, 2012), Mathilde (Museu da Marioneta, 2013). He also directed two workshops entitled The Power of the Puppet (Museu da Marioneta, 2006, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, 2009)
