Our Verdict: 3/5 STARS
Visiting the Puppet Theatre Barge on its annual summer season in Richmond is always a delight. From the moment you step off the towpath onto the rickety metal bridge and cross over to the old, converted Dutch river barge, you enter a floating world of fantasy, where nothing is quite what it seems.
Descending carefully into the foggy atmosphere of the foyer (MIND YOUR HEAD!), your eyes gradually readjust in the gloom to find a jam of people around the tiny serving area where a whistling kettle blows steam from a gas stove. You may already be standing in the queue for the loo, a single cubicle with a Wild West saloon door guarded by a giant, sleeping puppet cat. (Remember your specs, if you need them, to read the instructions on working the pump action loo flush.)
If by now you look lost and befuddled, you will be led along a narrow aisle (MIND YOUR HEAD!) to the theatre itself – a tardis-like space with nine rows of tiered seating, surprisingly comfy cushions and more legroom than some West End theatres. All around you, hanging from nails on the walls of the boat, are the dormant puppet casts of past productions, waiting for their moment to return to the limelight. With their lifeless bodies and distended limbs, the effect is distinctly creepy, especially when the eyes seem to stare in your direction. (Anyone with pupaphobia tendencies should be warned, this is not for you; you may never recover.) And then the magic begins…
The latest production is ‘The Butterfly’s spell’ by Federico García Lorca, or in its slightly more poetic Spanish original title, ‘El Maleficio de la Mariposa’. From the programme notes, I learned that Lorca was, in fact, a great puppetry enthusiast, following an early encounter with a troupe of travelling puppeteers. This makes total sense, given Lorca’s love of symbolism and allegory – and when you think about it, Yerma is perfectly made for marionettes.
With a hint perhaps of autobiography, this play tells the story of a pet cockroach who rejects the love of a female cockroach because he is in love with a beautiful, broken butterfly that has fallen to earth. Originally written as a poem, Lorca was commissioned to create a full-length verse play when his recital reduced the mistress of a theatre impresario to tears.
The puppets are, as ever, beautifully made. If an ordinary puppet isn’t complicated enough, imagine an insect puppet with its extra set of legs, not to mention the wing cases. The star of the show is, without a doubt, the Scorpion, a terrifying and drunken incarnation of insatiable appetite that constantly threatens to eat the entire cast. I also liked the old mother cockroach who, as well as missing a limb, walks with the aid of a spindly little stick.
Although the butterfly’s poem is still very beautiful, I suspect that much of the poetry is lost in translation. That said, the voices on the soundtrack are rich and mellifluous, accompanied by beautiful strains of guitar, violin, and clarinet, even if at times it sounds a bit clicky and hissy – perhaps that all adds to the atmosphere.
Much as I enjoyed this production, it is not for everyone. As we discussed the play on the way home, my other half and reviewing partner declared that the ‘best part of the evening was the walk there and the meal afterwards’. This echoed the reaction of the play’s first audience in 1920 at Madrid’s Teatro Eslava who were so appalled by the idea of a play about cockroaches that they booed it off the stage. (Lucky they didn’t live to watch ‘A Bug’s Life’.)
So yes, I suspect this is one of those ‘Marmite’ productions. But love it or hate it, I believe the world is greatly enriched by having these travelling puppet theatre baristas come to visit.
Details
Venue: Puppet Theatre Barge
Upcoming Shows & Times: 29th September 19:30
Tickets: puppetbarge.com
Check out Theatre/Arts Section for more great local artistic news, reviews and interviews
- You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates on all our latest articles
- Sign up to our Weekly Newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers, and stories
- Looking to advertise your business in Surrey or SW London? Check out our 11 different lifestyle magazines with a combined monthly distribution of over 210,000 AB1 homes
