REALM OF SHADOWS
The Lights of the Hungarian Shadow Players
“The
play probably also lies in the fact that the viewer receives reality not face to face, but in a double transmission. Because of this, you become more active, and your imagination is forced to work more intensively.You need to complement this view inside. You have to think of something that gives the visible symbol-shadow a suitable meaning for you as well.”
magic, excitement, and mystery of the shadow
(László Vízvári)
We like to think of shadow play as an ancient and beautiful lyrical art form. Its sophistication, its openwork or its solid silhouettes have a special charm. Light, shadows and shades lead you into the realm of the art of ephemeral transformation.
The shadow play presents the three-dimensional world in two dimensions. And with the disappearance of space, it opens our gaze to infinity, to the perspective of everything possible. The shadow play is the ideal puppet theatre. It offers the possibility for truly creative, active mimesis, and condenses the actual genre of puppetry.
The exhibition of the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute features contemporary performances where this graceful formal language has come to the fore. Our photo compilation would not have been possible without the help of national and international companies.
TRADITIONALFORMS INANEW GUISE
“When the wife of Emperor Wu of the Han family, Li, died, the emperor constantly thought of the deceased. Then there was a man from Chi, named San-Veng, who knew how to summon spirits. He unfurled a curtain lit with lamps and candles, the Emperor sat behind another curtain and caught a glimpse of his wife's faithful image. Since then, posterity has had a shadow play.” (Tan Sou)
Asian traditions of shadow play have appeared on Hungarian stages from time to time. The play of national performers, while striving to explore and preserve classical forms, steps outside the boundaries of traditional forms.
National PuppetTheatre: Ramayana (1987)
Puppet Designer: Vera Bródy
Set Designer: Iván Koós
Director: Gyula Urbán
Photography: Unknown
WayangTheatre: The Beautiful Jasmine Flower and the Rain King (2011)
Designer:Andrea Szarka
Director: Polett Dus
Photography: Máté Fülöp
WayangTheatre: The Beautiful Jasmine Flower and the Rain King (2011)
Designer:Andrea Szarka
Director: Polett Dus
Photography: Máté Fülöp
WayangTheatre:
The Beautiful Jasmine Flower and the Rain King (2011)
Designer:Andrea Szarka
Director: Polett Dus
Photography: Máté Fülöp
“The stage, on which the wayang kulit performance takes place, is the symbolic microcosm, the inner, spiritual world of man.The stretched out white canvas is the sky, the lamp illuminating the canvas – the sun; the bamboo fold, on which the dalang attaches the flat leather puppets – the earth.The disappearing shadows are people moved by the hand of the god – the dalang.”
(Ferrucio Marotti)
Vaskakas PuppetTheatre: Journey to the West, or the Legend of the Monkey King (1999)
Puppet Designer: Judit Krizbai
Set Designer:András Krizbai, Sr.
Director: Judit Krizbai
Photography: Unknown
Vaskakas PuppetTheatre: Journey to the West, or the Legend of the Monkey King (1999)
Puppet Designer: Judit Krizbai
Set Designer:András Krizbai, Sr.
Director: Judit Krizbai
Photography: Unknown
KolibriTheatre for Children andYouth:
The Emperor’s Son’s Dream (2018)
Designer: Klaudia Orosz
Director: János Novák
Photography: HSC Staff School
Csodamalom PuppetTheatre of Miskolc: Karagöz (2023)
Puppet Designer:Anna Bódiné Kövecses, Hajnalka Fekete
Set Designer: Géza Nagy Kovács
Director: Szabolcs Károlyi
Photography: Bence Grúz
THE FIELD OF EXPERIMENTATION
“We juggle with projectors, pontizzos, phone lights, foils. With aquarium, toilet paper, and food colouring. Shadow puppetry is a beautiful, masochistic puppetry technique, terribly disproportionate to the amount of work invested and the length of the scene created; five to ten hours of rehearsals to create a five-minute etude. In the dark, hunched over different light sources, we mix different chemicals - these are the kind of weird lab settings.” (Helga Lázár)
Modern materials, new technologies and the creativity of the creators are constantly expanding the toolbox of shadow play. The manipulation of space, textures, projections and movements gives new impetus to the form.
Cimborák PuppetTheatre – MárkusZínház: The Prince Who Longed for Immortality (2018)
Designer, Director: Zsuzsanna Vajda,
Gábor Pilári
Photography:AttilaToró
Helga Lázár: Mourning Dance (2016)
Designer: Zsófia Geresdi
Director: Helga Lázár
Photography: Luca Barta
Ciróka PuppetTheatre:
Barguzin - Light of a Fallen Star (2022)
Costume Designer: Jenny Horváth
Set Designer: Ferenc Szakács
Director: Péter Fábián
Photography: Sándor Ujvári
Helga Lázár: Mourning Dance (2016)
Designer: Zsófia Geresdi
Director: Helga Lázár
Photography: Luca Barta
Ciróka PuppetTheatre: TheTales of the Winter Cricket (1998)
Designer: Mária Horváth
Director: László Rumi
Photography: Péter Walter
Vaskakas PuppetTheatre:
Tales of 1000+1 Nights (2011)
Designer: Gábor Michac
Director: Janka Ujvári
Photography: Unknown
Vojtina PuppetTheatre: The Salt (2017)
Designer: Ákos Mátravölgyi
Director: Ágnes Kuthy
Photography: Krisztina Csatáry-Nagy
Bóbita PuppetTheatre: Irijám and Jonibe (2015)
Designer: Kinga Rófusz
Director: Rita Bartal Kiss
Photography: Máté Komjáthy
Harlekin PuppetTheatre: Little Ida's Flowers (2009)
Designer, Director: Magdalena Miteva
Photography: Gábor Gál
Bóbita PuppetTheatre: Peter and the Wolf (2012)
Designer: Ákos Mátravölgyi
Director: Ágnes Kuthy
Photography: Róbert Bublik
“Due to the nature of sand animation, the image is only created for a moment and then the next one is there. Everything is in motion, it cannot be repeated.”
(Vera Surányi)
Hups! Crew: Jam Puppet Concert (2013)
Creators:Anna Spiegel, Dániel Fehér, Károly Hoffer, Dániel Nizsai,Tibor Szolár
Photography: Vera Éder
Harlekin PuppetTheatre: The Jungle Book (2014)
Designer: Erzsébet Csonka
Director: Dániel Halasi
Photography: Gábor Gál
Budapest PuppetTheatre: Decameron 2023 (2023)
Puppet Designer: Károly Hoffer
Set Designer: Gergely Zöldy Z
Costume Designer: Mónika Szelei
Director: Rémusz Szikszai
Photography: Marcell Piti
“It ruptured all illusion and brought the performers in front of the screens, casting shadows behind them.The sources of light were on the floor or carried by the performers, sometimes while dancing, sometimes kneeling or even prone.” (Penny
Francis)
Griff PuppetTheatre: Ecki, Becki,Tengerecki (2019)
Designer: Orsolya Szőts
Director: Petra Kovács
Photography: Umberto Pezzetta
Mesebolt PuppetTheatre:
Seal's Heart (2020)
Designer: Rumi Zsófia
Director: VeresAndrás
Photography: ÁdámTrifusz
Béla Kövér PuppetTheatre:
TheAll-seeing Princess (2018)
Designer: Zsófia Mihály-Geresdi
Directory: Helga Lázár
Photography: Unknown
Magamura Creators’Workshop: Space-genericTheatre Project (2017)
Photography: Unknown
Vojtina PuppetTheatre: The Salt (2017)
Designer: Ákos Mátravölgyi
Director: Ágnes Kuthy
Photography: Krisztina Csatáry-Nagy
Freeszfe – GolemTheater:
PanTheodor Mundstock (2021)
Designer: Vivien Virág
Director: Hanna Cseri
Photography: LázárTodoroff
Ciróka PuppetTheatre:
Ocher andTurquoise (2011)
Designer: Mária Horváth
Director: Rita Bartal Kiss
Photography: Péter Walter
Budapest PuppetTheatre:
Frankenstein (2022)
Puppet- and Costume Designer:
Károly Hoffer
Set Designer, Director:Tamás Keresztes
Photography:Anna Éltető
