Wo? Wenn nicht alle da! / That’s the Way to do it!
This was a festival dedicated to a true European.
He pops up all across the continent, and possesses such an extraordinary ability to absorb distinctive regional traits that everyone claims “He’s one of us!” But actually, he’s a very widely traveled master of amusing mayhem whose roots extend throughout Europe and beyond. His name is Kasperl (Austria), Kasper (Germany), Mr. Punch (UK), Pulcinella (Italy), Vitéz Lázló (Hungary), Guignol (France) and Don Cristobal (Spain), to cite just a few.
This cheeky little headbanger is actually a centuries-old theatrical tradition. But because long traditions have a tendency to get venerable, stiff and awkward, Linz09 commissioned four companies—maschek (Austria), Guyla Molnàr (Hungary/Italy), Hans-Jochen Menzel (Germany) and Neville Tranter (Australia/Netherlands)—to each design a Punch & Judy Show expressly for the Capital of Culture. You might say that the intention was to put the quarrelsome cudgel-swinger to the test and find out whether he can still dish it out, or if his brand of lusty anarchy just doesn’t strike the right note anymore.
These four productions were the core of the festival. Arrayed about them was an interesting selection of plays, each with its own take on the fascinating tradition of this genre and each bringing in it own fresh, poetic, critical, contemporary approach to theatrics.
Almost 2,000 theatergoers came to enjoy the funny, bizarre and occasionally morbid antics of this chameleon-like grand old man of the theater.
WHAT // Theater festival
WHEN // November 11-21, 2009
WHERE // Hafenhalle09
maschek (AT): 09.09.09
maschek (AT): 09.09.09
Television manipulates the world. maschek manipulate television. Therefore maschek manipulate the world. At least for a day.09/09/09, the ninth of September 2009, provides the starting point for this ...
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Thomas Ettl (AT): THE PUNCH MACHINE
Thomas Ettl (AT): Die Kasperlmaschine
THE PUNCH MACHINE: How come the characters which television or the newspapers bring into our homes increasingly remind us of grotesques like Hanswurst, Bernardon or Punch? Why do the politics of state...
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CHRISTOPH BOCHDANSKY (AT): KASPERL, DU DEPP!
Christoph Bochdansky (AT): Kasperl, du Depp!
PUNCH, You IDIOT! AMAZING!!!!The central characters of the play are raised up before the audience’s eyes from their primitive state as blocks of wood into living Punch & Judy figures –...
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Gianluca di Matteo (IT): 85, LE ANIME DEL PURGATORIO
Gianluca di Matteo (IT): 85, le anime del purgatorio
In the Neapolitan Cabala, number 85 stands for the souls in Purgatory. These anime pezzentelle (poor souls), these spirits in pain that haunt the city’s underground are the object of an ancient ...
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Gyula Molnàr (HU/IT): KASPERL’S ROOTS
Gyula Molnàr (HU/IT): Kasperls Wurzeln
Kasperl’s ROOTS: Kasperl’s grandmother has died. Kasperl is inconsolable, loses his appetite and wants to die too. He travels to the underworld to bring his grandmother back so that she ca...
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Christoph Bochdansky (AT): PUNCH – THIS MAN IS A FAKE
Christoph Bochdansky (AT): Kasperl - Dieser Mann ist eine Fälschung
PUNCH – THIS MAN IS A FAKE: A play about a genuine identity crisis of Christoph Bochdansky, who believes that he is Punch. Christoph Bochdansky claims to be Punch. People demand proof. But how c...
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Gianluca di Matteo (IT): LE GUARATELLE DI PULCINELLA
Gianluca di Matteo (IT): Le Guaratelle di Pulcinella
The main puppet characters of Le Guarattelle Di Pulcinella are Pulcinella and classic figures from the theatre and popular culture, who create amusing, ironic and sometimes irreverent situations. They...
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TRISTAN VOGT (DE): MACBETH FOR BEGINNERS
Tristan Vogt (DE): Macbeth für Anfänger
The puppeteer, overcome with ambition, plans a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. When his old Punch and Judy puppets learn that there are no parts for them, they start a rebellion: behind the...
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Christoph Bochdansky (AT): I JUST ATE A WOMAN
Christoph Bochdansky (AT): Ich habe gerade eine Frau gegessen
I JUST ATE A WOMAN: A Punch & Judy play about a man according to a woman played by a crocodile. Can all the questions about relationships between men and women be answered in a Punch & Judy pl...
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Lutz Großmann (DE): PUNCH DEAD – THE END OF HUMOUR?
Lutz Großmann (DE): Kasper tot - Schluss mit lustig?
PUNCH DEAD – THE END OF HUMOUR? A hand puppet play on the border between life and death.Tritratrallala – Is everybody there? That’s how good old Punch & Judy plays used to begin ...
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HANS-JOCHEN MENZEL (DE): WOMEN’S PUNCH
Hans-Jochen Menzel (DE): Weiberkasper
WOMEN’S PUNCH: Once there was a militant Punch – all very well. But Mr Stenzel, who always performed him and the other puppets all by himself, forgot himself so much in his role as a leche...
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Pelele Marionettes (ES): LA MUERTE DE DON CRISTOBAL (THE DEATH OF DON CRISTOBAL)
Pelele Marionettes (ES): La muerte de Don Christobal ( Der Tod Don Christobal)
THE DEATH OF DON CRISTOBAL: Miserly, ugly, vicious and unscrupulous, Don Cristobal lives only to increase his already generous fortune. However, he has a servant, an old woman, whose heart is even dar...
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CIE. LA PENDUE (FR): POLI DÉGAINE
CIE. LA PENDUE (FR): POLI DÉGAINE
poli dégaine: Two puppeteers have a particularly effective weapon of hilarity at their disposal: they draw Polichinelle, the most famous puppet in the world and, with unbridled enthusiasm, get ready t...
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Rod Burnett (UK): THE PUNCH & JUDY SHOW
Rod Burnett (UK): THE PUNCH & JUDY SHOW
Mr Punch lives with his wife Judy in a theatre called ‘The Punch and Judy Theatre’. Mr. Punch is a crazy puppet, a very bad man and an anarchist who likes to carry a big stick to hit anyth...
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Neville Tranter (NL): PUNCH & JUDY IN AFGHANISTAN
Neville Tranter (NL): Punch & Judy in Afghanistan
When East meets West, who will be laughing in the End?Two Westerners in Afghanistan: Brian and his best friend, Emil. Emil hires a camel for a bit of sightseeing. The camel runs away in the direc...
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