Israeli puppeteers, Nir landa and Renana Ophir, spoke to Prerna Sharma about the dramatics of their current show that had one parent chewing his collar and biting his nails!
How many cubes can a princess wearIJ Is the clown’s nose round or squareIJ And how do you train a cubical dogIJ Cubes spread out, fold in, divide into different and strange animals. The actors, themselves wear cube and dance with them. They train the animals and enchant them, creating magical worlds through the pictures on their cube.
Israeli group, The Train Theatre, are in the city these days, to participate at the 11th Ishara International Puppet Festival. The actors, Nir landa and Renana Ophir did some multitasking, handling the lights, music and changing cube clothes at one time.
They had a CD player — like instrument through which they operated music and lighting. They both started working together three years ago. Renana is also a medical clown. Nir leant theatre from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is associated with other social theatre groups like Masha Masha. “I entertain children who are in hospital because of trauma. Parents accompanying the child are always stressed out. So it’s about being there for each other through fear,” explained Renana. Both entered the group via auditions. “Our directors Galia levy-Grad and Marit Benisrael wanted a tall girl and short guy. They felt we were funny enough to make others laugh.”
The concept of cubes is new and was invented by Galia. “Galia wanted a different concept to work on. She saw a piece of cardboard. It featured polyester that was thin and flexible. She immediately had an idea to create something with it, and thought of using puppetry. She wanted to create shapes, transforming them into different objects. There’s improvisation,” she said.
Artists use simple forms to conjure figures and props that accompany them. Their stories are innovative and unpretentious. The scenes of circus animals are mixed with dance sequences. “We don’t tell any particular story. Some people call the girl a princess. Some imagine she’s the performer’s sister, some his wife. She can be anything and the message could be anything. It depends on imagination. But, we do have a message — of peace, love and harmony,” said Renana.
Their performance received the main prize for at the New Puppet Theatre Festival ‘Bábkarská Bystrica’ in Slovakia.
The Train Theatre is a highly acclaimed puppet theatre in Israel. It was established 30 years ago, composed of artists seeking interesting forms of theatre expression. “It formed with four people who wanted to do something different. They took a train compartment and converted it into a theatre with seats and lighting arrangements. They all belonged to visual theatre. They travelled together and imparted different social messages. Eventually, they became popular and now have many groups performing different art forms,” said Nir.
Nir shared, “We have performed in many schools. Once, we were at a school function. When the stage darkened after a scene, a child told his father, ‘I want to go home. This is scary.’ But his father shushed him and said, ‘I want to see it!’ The parent was so mesmerised, he chewed his shirt collar and bit his nails!” Dov is a freelance designer who also teaches the history and superstitions of theatre. He shared, “In 18th century Europe, a theatre group was performing in white. One guy in green, cursed the show. Son those in white died mysteriously. So people stopped wearing or using green while performing. Until the 20th century, nobody used green in theatre-even for lighting or curtains. Even now, people its not used in the lighting. My job is to tell people its all in the mind.”