Puppets bring joy. They make you feel, even more than they make you think. So do the puppeteers, particularly those who have made it their goal to avoid the cerebral bend of so much of modern theater.

I met a whole bunch of them, a collective of 7 passionate, devoted, talented young people who are in town to perform their puppet show about Chilean miners. In conversation they talk about their disenchantment with too much technology and their interest in the relationship between man and nature, with a focus on how capitalistic extraction of resources damages both, people and land.

The troupe devised their play some 6 years ago, based on a novella El Chiflón del Diablo by one of Chile’s foremost authors, Baldomero Lillo, a son of miners himself. To get a sense of the people affected by the dangers of coal mining, of the silence that rules those communities within and outside of the mines, they spent 6 month in Lota, site of the last active coal mine in Chile, now closed. Talk about dedicated field research.

The puppets are made of paper and glue, with only hints at facial features, and an astounding arsenal of micro-movements. They are plain, and silent, the perfect projection screen for the interpretation of the viewers who all seem to see themselves reflected in the narrative, according to the puppeteers’ reports. They transcend cultural and language and age borders by linking directly to emotions; I certainly found myself reacting to these small personages with a sense of wonder, and that was not even within the play. I was just sitting next to a gifted puppeteer, Felipe, who held his puppet for the time of the Q&A with a lively audience at the Central Library (and who owns one of the most infectious laughs I’ve come across in a long time.) Photographing his creation felt like photographing a living thing – I can think of no better compliment for this company.

Well, maybe I can. I can compliment them for having found a cause, of having found an artistic voice, of having found a medium that matches their ideals, in an environment that is surely not easy for young theatre collectives. Can’t wait to see the play. For those of you who did not act on my earlier recommendations – alas, the performances are sold out.

And here are the players:

Dominga, one of the founders of the company, on the left, and Astrid, who recently joined after finishing her degree in theatre studies.

Felipe, with the company since its founding, also involved in the creation of their upcoming play about fishermen.

Antonio, actor, singer, sound engineer combined…

Consuelo and Rodolfo, if my recall still works – sorry if I mess up the names!  She carried the single trunk that holds their entire company of puppets….

Santiago, founder and artistic director of the company. He wants to connect to the heart, but he does have a smart head – the political themes are just delivered in silence, not with endless chatter.

Restless Ruth – never resting until she gets the next act to town…… 

Yesterday I introduced a Mexican theatre company that seeks out marginal populations, interacts with them and tells their stories. Today I want to report again on a Chilean company that does something similar and then converts it into a different kind of performance: non-verbal puppet plays.

Santiago Tobar and his puppetry troupe Silencio Blanco construct marionettes from a newspaper base and then have them perform in silence. Their goal is to show la belleza de las cosas simples y cotidianas (the beauty of simple, everyday things), telling stories about the traditional livelihoods of Chilean workers, and what is happening to them in an age where industrial exploitation, capitalistic greed and ruthless industrialization at best costs people their livelihood and at worst their lives.

Silencio Blanco (just like Teatro Linea de Sombra) has an international presence. Their stories are universal and the absence of spoken language facilitates a direct interaction with the narrative; and so it is no surprise that there are no barriers to understanding when Syrian refugee children in Denmark encounter the puppets, or the plays are presented in the US, Great Britain or Portugal.

Thanks to http://www.boomarts.org  last year Portlanders got to see “Chiflón, the silence of the coal,” a play about the hazards of working in the Chilean mines and the anticipatory fear of the women who never know if their husbands, brothers and sons will return. We learned about the working conditions in post-industrial 21st century Chile, and the traditional village life explored by the troupe’s members in their lengthy stays at Lota. The construction of the puppets, sets and their movements were exquisite, and the silence somehow gave those who were represented a real voice. 

Their current project is called Pescador; it explores the lives of artisanal fishermen. The entire company spent time in the coastal town of Constitucion to learn about the ways traditional ways of living from the sea are now affected by international companies, industrialization of fishing and international law regulation quotas, and last but not least climate change and pollution that affect the health of the ocean.

Chile, by the way, is quite aware of the threat of climate change to their country. Minister of the Environment Mena said last summer: “climate change is now regarded by most Chileans as their greatest external threat – “what was for some decades climate change alarmism is now a reality in Chile”. Therefore, he claims, “there is no climate negationism” in Chile. To counteract the problems associated with climate change and to further raise awareness, the government has implemented various policies. In June, for instance, a national policy was announced that will bring compulsory climate change classes to Chilean schools.”

Chile launches new national action plan on climate change

Pescador

The very young members of this troupe manage to convey to the viewer some important truths. They elicit a sense of empathy that extends beyond the one they themselves show by bringing their interest to the people of the communities with whom they form alliances. I found their work both poetic and political in ways that had a lasting impact.

(Photos courtesy of Lorenzo Mella)

In honor of Boom Arts’ upcoming performance of  CHIFLÓN: EL SILENCIO DEL CARBÓN (The Silence of Coal), created and performed by the Chilean group Silence Blanco, I thought I’d look at some puppet performance. (http://www.boomarts.org for details) The performances of this play about the fate of coal miners are free, by the way, but you need to make reservations. Promises to be a thought-provoking engagement, as always with this company.

Man, times have changed since I saw the traditional Kasperle Theater as it is called in Germany or Punch and Judy shows, the British version. Hand puppets are still around, as are marionettes and shadow figures, but things have become quite sophisticated.  

I am linking to some Australian shadow puppet performance.

And for my next excursion:

watch the story below (Adults only!) if you have time and inclination for a real  20 minute break;  it uses animation of clay puppets in a different fashion, and is sly and funny about a train ride. As the blurb says: Jungian thriller? Hitchcockian suspense ? Artistic tour de force ? All aboard, the night train is waiting…

Further, there is much pleasure to find in Basil Twist’s version of La bella dormente nel Bosco, an opera in three acts by Ottorino Respighi. It basically tells the story of sleeping beauty and in it he still uses puppets as actors.

Twist is a master, third generation puppeteer who is now pursuing even more complex and inventive forms of story telling. Fabric, light, moving parts have taken on the role of story teller in the link below and it all matches Stravinsky’s music perfectly. This was a true art performance, if I had to choose between them all.