Festivals (PL) Cracow – 08.05.09 bis 10.05.09

The Shadows Festival

The Shadows Festival is the first project of the Groteska Puppet, Mask and Actor Theatre cycle, presenting puppet theatre in a broader cultural context. Brilliant international performance and workshop. Film shows, discussions, lectures, exhibition and concert. The interdisciplinary Shadows Festival.

 

PROGRAM:

▪ Theatre plays with the shadow technique

▪ Exhibition of Asian shadow puppets

▪ Concert of traditional Javanese music

▪ Lectures, discussions and film shows on the cultural role of shadow and Asian shadow theatres

▪ Masterly workshop of contemporary shadow theatre

▪ Shadow workshop for pedagogues

 

Friday, 8 May

9am – 5pm The Language of Shadows – masterly workshop [Goethe Institut]

6pm Controluce Teatro d’Ombre „Naufragi” [The Groteska Theatre – the Large Stage]

7pm Shadows of Asia – Puppets from a Collection of the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw – an exhibition vernissage

Between Dream and Reality – a Concert of Traditional Javanese music by Warsaw Gamelan Group

[The Groteska Theatre – the Café]

8pm The Okno Theatre „The Romance of Perlimplin and Belisa” [The Groteska Theatre – the Dome]

 

Saturday, 9 May

9am -5pm The Language of Shadows – masterly workshop [Goethe Institut]

10am - 1.30pm The Cultural Role of Shadow – lectures [The Groteska Theatre – the Café]

2.30pm - 5.30pm – The Cultural Role of Shadow – a film show „The World of Shadows”, discussion [The Groteska Theatre – the Café]

6pm The Groteska Puppet, Mask and Actor Theatre „Ballads and Romances. Four Stories about Love” [The Groteska Theatre – the Large Scene]

8pm Theater der Schatten – Norbert Götz „17 Sentences on Light” [The Groteska Theatre – the Dome]

 

Sunday, 10 May

9am - 4pm The Language of Shadows – masterly workshop [Goethe Institut]

10am -4pm Asian Shadow Theatres – lectures [The Groteska Theatre – the Café]

4pm - 6pm Shadow Workshop for Pedagogues [The Groteska Theatre - the Café, the Large Stage]

6pm The Figure Theatre Cracow „The Smell of Elephants after Rain” [The Groteska Theatre – the Dome]

8pm Workshop Effects Presentation – The Language of Shadows – masterly workshop [The Groteska Theatre – the Dome]

 

PERFORMANCES

 

● Controluce Teatro d’Ombre „Naufragi” (Turin, Italy)

One of the most famous and appreciated shadow theatres in the world. The artists search for the ideal combination of music, dance, animation and shadow projection. Naufragi – a play with music by Robert Schumann was created to commemorate the centenary of cinema. Beautiful pictures, romantic music, the spirit of the past and references to the early stage of cinema make the masterpiece Controluce an unforgettable experience.

→ a play for adults, 12 and over

 

● The Okno Theatre „The Romance of Perlimplin and Belisa” by F.G. Lorka (Supraśl, Poland)

We limit our perception to the sensual experience. Particularly our seeing has such an influence on our attitude to a thing that only covering the thing may enable us to get to its essence.

Old Perlimplin gives ‘a lesson of love’ to his young wife Belisa. He proves that the inside is far more important and interesting then the visible body. The action takes place within a frame of 100x90 cm, it involves 30 shadow puppets. We invite you to a show of great fun and excellent animation!

→ a play for adults, 16 and over

 

●The Groteska Puppet, Mask and Actor Theatre „Ballads and Romances. Four Stories about Love” Adam Mickiewicz (Cracow, Poland)

With this performance the Chech artists together with the Polish actors express their fascination with the Polish Romanticism, romantic love and the world of shadow theatre. Four mysterious love stories told romantically with the use of shadow theatre. Who does not dream of a great mad love, passion which lets us lose the sense of reality? The theatre of poetry and peculiarity with a pinch of humour.

→ a play for youths and adults, 12 and over

 

● Theater der Schatten – Norbert Götz „17 Sentences on Light” (Bamberg, Germany)

In the richness of its forms light goes beyond human senses. It appears in a flash, but only in a fragment of space. It is invisible, and still, reflected in everything. Being inextricably linked with darkness, it shimmers brightly. It is an unfathomable mystery. Reflections and shadows combined with short poems in the form of haiku create magical pictures. A stunning performance!

→ a play for adults, 12 and over

 

● The Figure Theatre Cracow „The Smell of Elephants after Rain” (Cracow, Poland)

A shadow theatre play, based on the motifs of Italo Calvino’s ‘Invisible cities’. Diverse, little-known in Poland techniques of shadow theatre have been employed in the performance. It is a poetic journey to the world of imagination, accompanied by sounds of exotic live music. A romantic and humorous play, surprising pictures, a poetic world built of almost, and of as much as, nothing.

→ a play for children and adults, 8 and over

 

 

 

MASTERLY WORKSHOP

The Language of Shadows – introduction to the contemporary shadow theatre – lead by Norbert Götz (Germany)

During an intensive three-day workshop session the participants will get familiar with a wide range of animation techniques and styles used in the contemporary shadow theatre, giving extraordinary and stunning visual effects.

→ workshop conducted in English, the price of the workshop includes entries to all performances of the Festival

 

SHADOW WORKSHOP FOR PEDAGOGUES

– Workshop of Shadow Theatre Animation – conducted by Lech Walicki, Bartosz Watemborski, actors of the Groteska Theatre

– Shadow in Psychodrama – meeting with a psychologist – lead by Tomasz Stoma

 

EXHIBITION

● Shadows of Asia – Puppets from a Collection of the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw

 

8 May – 31 May

 

The exhibitions will include about 50 intricately cut out, colourful, leathern puppets from Indonesia, China, Thailand and Malaysia. They prove the high importance of shadow theatre in many Asian cultures. Sophisticated, complex and independent artistic forms, still deeply ingrained in the spiritual culture.

co-organizer: The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw

 

CONCERT

● Between Dream and Reality – a Concert of Traditional Javanese Music by Warsaw Gamelan Group

 

co-organizer: The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Warsaw

 

LECTURES, DISCUSSIONS, FILM SHOWS

 

THE CULTURAL ROLE OF SHADOW

9 May (Saturday) 10am – 1.30pm & 2.30pm – 5.30pm

● themes: painting, architecture, photography, film, advertisement

literature, philosophy, psychology

traditional eastern shadow theatre and contemporary theatre

● lectures

- Prof. dr hab. Henryk Jurkowski (Poland) „The Cultural Function of Shadow Theatre”

- dr Lothar Binger and Susann Hellemann (Germany) „Shadows in the History of Culture”

● documentary film

„The World of Shadows” – 30 years of the development of contemporary shadow theatre – production International Shadow Theatre Centre (Germany)

● discussion

„The Cultural Role of Shadow”

Prof. dr hab. Henryk Jurkowski – leader (Poland), dr Lothar Binger and Susann Hellemann (Germany), Hartmut Topf (Germany), Norbert Götz (Germany), Alberto Jona (Italy)

 

ASIAN SHADOW THEATRES

10 May (Sunday) 10am – 4pm

 

● themes: traditions of shadow theatres of India, Indonesia, China, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

 

● lectures

leader: dr Joanna Wasilewska

 

● dr Przemysław Piekarski – „The Shadows of Indian Heroes”

● dr Janusz Kamocki – „Shadow Theatre in Indonesia”

● dr Joanna Wasilewska – „Shadows Vanishing for Good. The Chinese Piying Theatre”

● Zuzanna Głowacka – „Karagöz – Turkish Shadow Theatre. Master’s Play”.

● Magdalena Nycz-Waller –„The Contemporary Shadow Theatre of Syria and Lebanon”

 

co-organizer: The Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw

 

 

ORGANIZER

The Groteska Puppet, Mask and Actor Theatre

Skarbowa str. 2, 31-121 Cracow

www.groteska.pl; groteskaspamfilter@groteskaspamfilter.pl

 

Reservation of tickets for performances and workshop registration

tel. 012 633 37 62, 012 633 48 22, tel./fax 012 632 92 00 e-mail:mailto:rezerwacja@groteska.pl

 

The Festival Curator: Zuzanna Głowacka e-mail: z.glowackaspamfilter@groteskaspamfilter.pl

 

→ Prices of tickets for performances during the Shadow Festival

full price ticket: 15zł; reduced-fare ticket: 10zł; full price festival pass: 55zł; reduced-fare festival pass: 40 zł

→ Exhibition, concert, lectures, discussions, films, presentation of workshop results – free admission

→ Masterly workshop – The language of shadows 300 zł

→ Shadows workshop for pedagogues – free participation

 

Co-operating institutions:

Goethe Instytut in Cracow, the Italian Institute in Cracow, the Foundation for Polish-German Co-operation, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Warsaw, the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw, International Shadow Theater Center (Germany), Theater der Schatten