Fear and Love in the World of Puppetry
The Fanatik Figuras Festival, to be held from 28 April to 4 May 2014, will open doors into the exciting world of puppetry. Six different puppet shows and one film will address current issues.
Text: Communications Trainee Pirjetta Koivisto
Photo: Kirjeitä rintamalta (Letters from the Front), Photographer Markus Kaustell
At the festival, you will be experiencing horror, comedy, war, love and drama.
“The Fanatik Figuras Festival is approachable for everyone. The performances last approximately 30 minutes, and, at the festival, you will be served with a great variety of different works of art. The artists are close by for you to share your thoughts with them,” says TUAS Arts Academy Lecturer Jani Pihlajamaa.
The festival repertoire consists of, for the most part, graduation projects by TUAS Arts Academy students in the specialisation in puppet theatre.
War from the eyes of victims
War is dealt with from victims’ perspective and through incidents occurred on home fronts. Likka (Girl) describes war from the point of view of 15-year-old Sigrid; Vain sirpaleita (Just Fragments) is a German boy’s interpretation of the World War II (NB: Vain sirpaleita performances are carried out already before the festival); and Kirjeitä rintamalta (Letters from the Front) is a nerve-racking story about waiting during the war.
Tyvenestä kerran (From Calmness) is a mysterious but cheerful story about a situation where nothing is moving and from where another journey starts. It is an exceptional form of puppet theatre show since it is carried out alongside the museum ship Sigyn. Tyvenestä kerran is part of the SaaristoMeri2014 event, which takes place at the beginning of June. At the festival, two open practices of the show will be presented to the audience.
Fear and love with a hint of humour
Pieni sininen tapiiri (Little Blue Tapir) is a short film about an extraordinary love story. Puppets by Emma Golnick star in this short film directed by Salla Kallio. Secrets of the puppet theatre film are revealed to us at the event called Tapiiri-elokuvatähti (Tapir the Film Star) where the audience can take a peek behind the scenes of the film.
The Fanatik Figuras Festival is all about love with a touch of black humour. Jäätävä rakkaustarina (Frozen Love Story) is a story about a frozen relationship in the world of ice hockey.
Tarinoita haudan takaa (Tales Beyond the Grave) is a visual horror comedy that will not only chill you to the bone but also make you laugh. The performance, based on two-clause horror stories, questions whether fear is our friend or enemy.
Fanatik Figuras opens the curtain behind the scenes
“We have an exhibition where the audience is allowed to take a peek behind the scenes. There are a lot of props from the earlier performances by the students and examples of how puppet theatre performances have been created on display,” reveals Markus Kaustell, the producer of the event.
At the festival, there is also a diverse complementary programme including performances such as Mirdja, a woman’s monologue about an individual’s fear of surrendering to love by Erika Malk.
The Fanatik Figuras Festival takes place on 28 April 2014 at 17, on TUAS Linnankatu Campus (Linnankatu 54).