manipulate Visual Theatre Festival 2009
With support from the Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre is hosting manipulate Visual Theatre Festival 2009 between Tuesday 3 February and Saturday 7 February.
Razor sharp political satire is not normally associated with puppetry but manipulate is set to blow any misconceptions audiences may hold regarding puppet theatre away. |
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manipulate describe their programme as ‘object theatre and animation for consenting adults’ which would suggest explicit content, however this is really only a humorous way of explaining that its programme is not aimed specifically at children.
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Political puppetry and satire are the driving forces behind the festival’s star act: Paul Zaloom. Throughout his 40 year career his animated films and theatre productions have adopted the strong visual style of graphic novels and Victorian toy theatre to express hard hitting social commentary. |
Imagine Frank Miller’s unrelentingly corrupt Sin City meets Lemony Snicket’s sinister Series of Unfortunate Events and you enter a realm that is neither adult nor child oriented but somewhere undefined between the two.
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Catalonian Poemes Visuales, as the name would suggest form improvised poetry from puppetry. This show, which has been seen all over the world, has been created by one of Spain’s master puppeteers, Jordi Bertran and is inspired by the magic of Catalan playwright, poet, graphic designer and artist Joan Brossa’s visual poems. |
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Now in its second year and in partnership with the Projector Animation Festival and in association with the Traverse Theatre manipulate’s programme explores and celebrates the relationship between puppet theatre and animation.
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Presenting productions from Belgium, England, Germany, Scotland, Spain and the USA manipulate presents a varied programme of performances, master classes and seminars designed to entertain, to challenge, and to inspire. |
Created with the support of the Scottish Arts Council, the manipulate Visual Theatre Festival is all about bringing great theatre from around the world to Scotland, offering audiences alternatives to the norm and providing Scottish puppeteers with opportunities to interact with their peers in master classes developing their creativity, skills and expertise. |