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 Golemanual
Golemanual
is a story about a man and his hands, their way from slavery to
freedom and back...
The
hands of a sign language speaking ant researcher escape his body
in the middle of a lecture. The hands flee to their own
subconscious space. This fantasy world is like an anthill where a
civilized team of hand-scientists is in a process of creating a
wild hand. Is the wild hand able to stay untamed in the civilized
crowd? What happens to the hands on their journey back to the
researcher's body?
Strong,
dream-like pictures of life and death are being drawn to the
darkness of the theatre, and the small stage is filled with
constantly changing hand creatures. Golemanual discusses the
relationship between the wild individual and civilized society.
The performance is also an artistic research on the possibility
of parts of our body to perform in their "own roles" as
concrete and independent characters.
The
team:
Direction:
Ishmael Falke
Script: the collective
subconscious
Puppets: Elina Putkinen, Maiju Tainio,
Hanna Hietala and Ishmael Falke
Stage design: Ishmael
Falke
Light and sound design: Ishmael Falke
G olemanual
had it´s premiere at the Fanatik Figuras puppet theatre
festival in Turku, Finland, in May 2005. Since that it has been
performed in many international puppet theatre festivals, among
others: Mustan ja Valkoisen theatre festival in Imatra, Finland;
Arrivano Dal Mare puppet theatre festival in Italy; Barents
puppetry festival in Kalix, Sweden; Baltic Cities Culture
festival in St. Petersburg, Russia; international puppetry
festivals in Bialystok and Wroclaw in Poland, Versuchung puppetry
festival in Berlin; Gegen über neben an puppet theatre
festival in Munich; Hangö Teaterträff in Hanko, Finland
and Galicreques puppet theatre festival in Santiago del
Compostela, Spain.
Golemanual
has won the awards of the best show of the year and the most
interesting debut of the year in the world's most significant
international competition for professional puppetry shows in
Wroclaw, Poland.
Duration
of the show is 40 minutes, and it suits all spectators from the
age of 10 and up.
Extracts
from a review in Turun Sanomat (11.05.2005):
"Golemanual
is an abundance of imagination."
"The
performance grows to be a breathtaking play on the circle of
mythicism. The performance combines hand theatre and light design
and baffles with its richness of ideas."
"I was
spellbound by the performance."
Erkki
Kanerva, Turun Sanomat
Extract
from the Fanatic Figuras festival's evaluator's review
(14.05.2005):
"Golemanual
is puppetry and visual multi-form theatre of most readable kind,
open to personal interpretations of any spectator, young or old,
here or elsewhere in the world. An intense tempo and quick
variations of the arm-hand-puppets, materials sizes and scales
form a little universe of images about the struggle for life in
different levels.
The
simple stage with its pit is as metaphoric as is the very
conscious choices made on acting, puppets, materials and
lightning. Proportions and rhythmic are well balanced in an
impressive performance."
Margareta
Sörensson
 Extract
from a review in Imatra's Uutisvuoksi (11.06.2005):
"Golemanual
has shown, how expressive hands can be (...) on the small stage
of the Imatra theatre the scales and sizes are forgotten (...)
even the smallest, finest movements of the hand is enough to
create a living illusion"
Asko
Jaakonaho, Uutisvuoksi
Extract
from review in the Polish puppetry magazine Teatr Lalek (July
2006):
"The
jury did not have any problem with granting the prize (...) in
the beautiful and rare poetic of the theatre of hands, and with a
perfect mastery of techniques and theatrical skills as well as
picturesque sets, this tale, translated into another tongue,
achieved the merits of a universal parable about freedom,
alienation, and relations between the individual and society"
Extract
from review in Munich :
”An
abstract, existentialistic battle wages in the breath-taking
fingertheatre performance Golemanual. The Finnish-Israeli
sixfingers theatre proves it is worth its name with rapic,
seemingly unlimited movements of the fingers, under a strict
light design.”
Von
Teresa Grenzmann
Extract
from review in Nytid ( 24/2007)
”The
entity is highly suggestive, carrying sharply focused
existentialistic emotion, dealing with the fundaments of our
social relations, the question about freedom and slavery. Themes
of tyranny and straight oppression are also dealt with. Both
theme and form express great artistic courage.”
”This
form of theatre has a poetical touch to all thematical
brutality.”
Monika
Homström
Extract
from review in Hufvudstadsbladet (July 11th, 2007)
”Golemanual
is an extremely visual story of the battle between good and evil,
oppression and emancipation, in which the hands and fingers are
moving magically and rhythmically, expressing varying emotions
and actions.”
Elisabeth
Nordgren
Photos
taken by Kari Vainio
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