PERFORMANCE
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VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL #7 31 JANUARY – 8 FEBRUARY 2014
TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH THE LEMON TREE, ABERDEEN NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE
www.manipulatefestival.org
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2013
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PERFORMANCE
ticket and box office information
PERFORMANCES
SCREENINGS
FESTIVAL PASSES
TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH 0131 228 1404 www.traverse.co.uk
£16/£12/£8
£8
£20 FILM PASS
THE LEMON TREE, ABERDEEN 01224 641122 www.boxofficeaberdeen.com
£10 – –
NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE £16/£14/£12 £8 £55 PERFORMANCE PASS 01603 629921 www.puppettheatre.co.uk £160 MASTERCLASS & PERFORMANCE PASS Latecomers will not be admitted
FESTIVAL PARTNERS
Puppet Animation Scotland is pleased to be working once again with the Traverse Theatre, Scotland’s new writing theatre which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, The Lemon Tree, one of the country’s most dynamic venues and the Norwich Puppet Theatre, one of the UK’s most influential centres of puppetry of the past 40 years.
The Paper Cinema’s Odyssey: manipulate 2013 (Photo credit – Andy Catlin)
TRAVERSE THEATRE
The Traverse is proud to celebrate our successful partnership with manipulate & Puppet Animation Scotland in this, our sixth year together. manipulate continues to delight, surprise and excite our audiences with a truly international programme of theatrical excellence. As the Traverse was established in 1963 to keep the spirit of the Festival alive year round, we are thrilled that manipulate adds so much to that mission.
Welcome to our annual festival of innovative and exceptional international visual theatre and film. With two world premieres, one European premiere and four UK theatrical premieres of the highest quality from Austria, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Scotland and the USA – and a film programme from all global points in between – we present a festival designed to entertain, intrigue and inspire...
We wish a very warm welcome back to manipulate and look forward to working closely, through our combined artistic ambitions, to bring the best of new visual theatre and animation to our audiences and to inspire people from far and wide to join us in the Festival experience. Linda Crooks Chief Executive, Traverse Theatre
PRESENTS...
THE LEMON TREE
NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE
manipulate is a Scottish success story, and APA is delighted to be developing our relationship with this very exciting festival. In 2014 we will host a weekend of performances of top quality international work at The Lemon Tree immediately prior to the main part of the festival taking place in Edinburgh, contributing significantly to the repositioning of The Lemon Tree as a vibrant hub for contemporary performing arts in the north east of Scotland.
manipulate will be celebrating its third year at Norwich Puppet Theatre with a rich and challenging programme of world class visual theatre and animated film. The festival has become an important part of the Norfolk arts calendar, drawing local and national audiences to our theatre and helping significantly to maintain Norwich Puppet Theatre as a dynamic centre for the arts in the east of England.
Ben Torrie Director of Programming & Creative Projects, Aberdeen Performing Arts
Joy Haynes Director, Norwich Puppet Theatre
VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
FAY BUTLER Festivals & Projects Assistant
Over the past few years we have steadily developed manipulate’s animation programme and this year we are very pleased and proud to welcome world-renowned animator PRIIT PÄRN to the festival to present some of his imaginative and iconoclastic work. We are also looking forward to SNAPSHOTS: ANIMATION IN SCOTLAND, a day-long celebration of the work of Scottish animators. Ranging from the work of recent graduates of the Edinburgh College of Art Animation Department to that of established Scottish animation studios Axis and Red Kite Animation, this event will offer an inspiring impression of an important and dynamic part of Scotland’s film community. So leave any preconceptions at the door and enter the vibrant and colourful world of the best of innovative, international visual theatre and film.
REBECCA DAVIS Festivals & Projects Manager SIMON HART Artistic Director SUSIE WILSON Film Curator Design: weared8.com Cover image: GO!/Polina Borisova (Photo credit – Polina Borisova)
www.manipulatefestival.org Follow us @manipulatefest
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
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SCREENING: FEATURE FILM
PERFORMANCE
BESTIAIRES
DUDAPAIVA COMPANY/NETHERLANDS, 70’. 16+ MONDAY 3 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY, 7.00PM THE LEMON TREE, ABERDEEN
Welcome! The most popular ancient Greek gods are on tour and have arrived in town, just to entertain you! Tonight your host is Cupid, perhaps a little worn out, but still the original and best god of love! Borrowing the images of humans and beasts, our performing deities undergo astonishing transformations, both physical and emotional, but all too soon they experience the frustrations and failures of mortality – particularly that of their humble audience tonight…you!
In these harsh economic times, especially for Greek gods, magic and humour can still be theirs – and yours – as they create a magical, mythological world where beauty and ugliness, fantasy and reality, and the perceptions and expectations of our contemporary mores, are challenged and celebrated.
Over the past 15 years Duda Paiva has performed all over the world with his innovative and highly popular fusion of modern dance, puppetry and multimedia. After the success of Malediction in 2011 and Angel at the first manipulate in 2008 we are very pleased to welcome the company back to Scotland. This manipulate performance is BESTIAIRES’ UK premiere. www.dudapaiva.com www.facebook.com/DudaPaivaCompany www.facebook.com/Bestiaires
Beautiful moments and ingenious inventions THEATERKRANT
Throughout malediction dance and mime sparkle magically, and everything works fantastically DE VOLKSKRANT
IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY
DON HERZFELDT/USA 2012, 62’. CERT. 18 MONDAY 3 FEBRUARY, 9.15PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY, 9.00PM NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE
IF CINEPHILES THINK SHORTS DON’T GENERATE THE SAME HYPE AND FANBASE AS FEATURE FILMS, THEY OBVIOUSLY HAVEN’T HEARD OF DON HERZFELDT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Hertzfeldt’s three short films Everything Will Be OK, I Am So Proud of You and It’s Such a Beautiful Day are combined into a seamless, darkly comedic triptych about a troubled man named Bill, a stick figure everyman who stoically endures the pain, uncertainty and excruciating beauty of life. Born in 1976, Don Herzfeldt is one of the leading members of the USA’s younger generation of independent animators. Nominated for an Academy Award for Rejected, Herzfeldt supports himself and his work entirely with income generated – through tickets, DVD sales and TV broadcasts – from the self-distribution of his own films. To date Herzfeldt’s work has received over 200 major awards.
NOTHING SHORT OF REVELATORY VILLAGE VOICE
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
PERFORMANCE
THE SEAS OF ORGANILLO
STEPHEN MOTTRAM’S ANIMATA/ENGLAND, 55’. 16+ TUESDAY 4 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE
The ancient seas of Organillo are warm and mysterious. This is where babies are made. Enigmatic and fascinatingly weird puppet figures and creatures swim and wriggle their way through our deepest Freudian oceans as they pursue their desires in this sexy and beautiful world. Inspired by Elaine Morgan’s book The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis and Lennart Nilsson’s A Child is Born, this production features the astonishing music and soundscapes of Argentinian composer Sebastian Castagna. These have been created using multiple recordings and manipulations of the sounds of a miniature street organ – an organillo – made by Stephen himself.
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PERFORMANCE
Stephen Mottram is a magician who enchants his audiences with the uncanny la repubblica
Imagine the paintings of Max Ernst and the sexual interpretations of Freud, submerged into an aqueous realm where life bubbles through a miniature organ. draw some peephole curtains around this intimate vision, and you’re beginning to get the measure of organillo time out
FAUX THEATRE/SCOTLAND, 50’. 14+
BEAUTIFULLY STAGED, MOVING AND DARKLY COMIC. A DOWN-THE-RABBITHOLE VISUAL TREAT.
TUESDAY 4 FEBRUARY, 9.15PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
(Torn/Public work in progress showing, 2013)
FRIDAY 31 JANUARY, 7.00PM THE LEMON TREE, ABERDEEN
DAVID STUTTARD, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ACTORS OF DIONYSIS
Is it better to have loved and lost? An exploration of the power of infatuation, from fantasy and intimate attachment to loss. A poignant and powerful portrayal of one woman’s effort to find and experience love. A sensual and compelling visual theatre solo combining object theatre, kinetic art and an original live score.
TORN has been created over the past two years with financial support from Puppet Animation Scotland’s Creative Fund. This manipulate performance is TORN’s world premiere. FAUX Theatre has also created Celeste’s Circus, the successful production for children which has been presented at venues throughout Scotland, and at the Tallinn Treff Festival, Estonia, in 2013. This production has minimal spoken dialogue
TORN
Immediately following the performance Stephen will talk briefly about this musical instrument – with a demonstration of the organillo itself – and how its sound was integral to the inspiration and development of the piece. Stephen Mottram is one of the UK’s pre-eminent puppeteers, presenting his work and leading masterclasses around the world to great acclaim. Stephen presented The Seed Carriers at the first manipulate in 2008. This production has no spoken dialogue www.stephenmottram.com
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
PERFORMANCE
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SCREENING: SHORT FILMS
ONE DOUBLE BILL/ TWO COMPANIES
WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
ESTONIA’S BLACK KNIGHT:
THE LENNY BRUCE OF ANIMATION SALON
PRIIT PÄRN/ESTONIA, 90’. NO CERT, 14+ WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY, 9.15PM
SCRAP YARD
SCRAP YARD THEATRE/SCOTLAND, 50’. 14+ Scrap Yard is a place to discover the unexpected, to take risks and where the best work is often unfinished. Scrap Yard is an innovative new project which invites theatre makers of all disciplines to experiment with new ideas and collaborations.
TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
A CONVERSATION WITH PRIIT PÄRN
DIVERS IN THE RAIN
Participating artists have been placed in four teams, given a masterclass from an mystery guest artist and challenged to create a short play in two weeks, for a single performance tonight…
2010, 23’
Scrap Yard brings you an evening of tiny bursts of visual theatre alongside and partly inspired by Paper Doll Militia’s UNHINGED.
A night dentist is tired and has to sleep, but there are no silent places in her dreams. Her boyfriend is an everyday diver and he has to dive. A big ship is slowly sinking in the rain. But nobody knows when it’s time for the last cigarette.
www.scrapyardtheatre.weebly.com www.facebook.com/scrapyardtheatre @scraptheatre
NIGHT OF THE CARROTS
UNHINGED
PAPER DOLL MILITIA/USA, 10’. 14+
1998, 30’ TRULY OPERATIC MOISTURE FESTIVAL
A stunning theatre short incorporating the high skill of circus aerial arts and the vivid theatricality of two vivacious and highly talented performers. In hues of blues and whites, this piece chills as it entices.
A focus and celebration of one of the great figures of contemporary world animation, with a programme of his darkly funny, wonderfully surreal, and hugely imaginative films.
Does anyone ever spot approaching catastrophe? Diego, a man whose name can be read from his face, certainly doesn’t. But suddenly your shoes are full of water and Julia’s heels click eerily down the hallway. This is how it usually begins...
THE ARTISTS SHOW IMMENSE SKILL…WONDERFULLY POETIC THREE WEEKS
UNHINGED had its world premiere performance in New York in 2012, then toured to San Francisco and Seattle. Tonight’s performance at manipulate is the piece’s European premiere. Paper Doll Militia’s innovative approach to choreography and poignant use of theatricality captivates audiences everywhere. www.PaperDollMilitia.com www.facebook.com/paperdollmilitia @paprdollmilitia paper-doll-militia.tumblr.com www.youtube.com/user/paperdollmilitia
We are delighted that Priit Pärn will be present to introduce his work and take part in a Q & A after the screenings, chaired by Kevin Williamson, Director of Neu Reekie. Pärn’s unique and deliberately crude graphic style, characterised by playful surrealism and gleeful black humour, has inspired many of the new generation of Estonian animators - including Priit Tender, whose short THE MAGGOT FEEDER is screened on Saturday – as well as directly influencing the makers of Rugrats, Duckman and Ahhh Real Monsters.
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
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PERFORMANCE
HOTEL DE RIVE
FIGURENTHEATER TUEBINGEN, COMPAGNIE BAGAGES DE SABLE & THEATER STADELHOFEN COPRODUCTION/GERMANY, 65’. 18+
THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE Inspired by the singular vision and work of the seminal 20th Century Italian sculptor Alberto Giacometti, HOTEL DE RIVE creates a new space within which the visual and performing arts are united with literature. Based on four of his surrealistic texts – Yesterday, flying sand; A blind man reaches out the hand in the night; Paris without an end and The dream, the Sphinx and the death of T, HOTEL DE RIVE explores Giacometti’s unique creative world through the spoken and written word, through lines both drawn and danced, through the virtuosic manipulation of his figures brought to life, and through soundscapes, music, and stone…
GRIT
TORTOISE IN A NUTSHELL/SCOTLAND, 45’. 11+ THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY, 9.15PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
After the success of its performance of salto.lamento at manipulate in 2010 we are very pleased to welcome the return of this leading German company, whose work has been acclaimed all over the world, for HOTEL DE RIVE’s UK premiere.
Amy pores over the memories of her late father, a war photographer, travelling into his past working in conflict zones across the globe. Examining the stories behind the lens, three performers conjure up dazzling images with cardboard, sand and shadow, blending puppetry, projection and object manipulation to create an intimate and engaging piece of visual theatre.
This production has minimal spoken dialogue www.figurentheater-tuebingen.de
A BEAUTIFUL SHOW, FULL OF RICH OBJECT THEATRE IMAGINATION, DEMONSTRATING JUST WHAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE WITH LITTLE MORE THAN AN OVERHEAD PROJECTOR AND A LOT OF CARDBOARD SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
AN IMPORTANT AND IMAGINATIVE PIECE OF VISUAL THEATRE THAT IS A PURE DELIGHT TO WATCH THE SKINNY
GRIT is a poignant study inspired by the real experiences of children and young people and questions whether innocence and imagination can have any place or value within worlds of conflict.
A REFINED WORK OF ART, AS ENIMGMATIC AS THE ARTIST’S SOUL – MYSTERIOUS AND FASCINATING
A PIECE OF THEATRE WHICH HAS DRUNK FROM GIACOMETTI’S SINGULAR VISION AND INTOXICATED US.
STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG
TAGES-ANZEIGER
Tortoise in a Nutshell is an award-winning (Fringe First 2013: Feral), Edinburgh-based visual theatre company creating work which aims to stir and ignite the imagination.
www.tortoiseinanutshell.com @ TortoiseinaNut www.facebook.com/tortoiseinanutshell www.flickr.com/photos/tortoiseinanutshell
This production has minimal spoken dialogue
http://vimeo.com/tortoiseinanutshell
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
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SCREENING: FEATURE FILM
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
A MISChIEVIOUS COMBINATION OF DOCUMENTARY, FICTION, SEMI-JOURNALISM, GORE AND STOP-MOTION ANIMATION WHICH ABSOLUTELY CARNIVALIZES POSTYUGOSLAVIAN MYTHOLOGY AND SPLENDIDLY CAPTURES THE SPIRIT OF THE BALKAN UNDERGROUND ANIMATEKA
TITO ON ICE
MAX ANDERSSON, HELENA AHONEN/ SWEDEN 2012, 76’. CERT. 18 FRIDAY 7 FEBRUARY, 9.15PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY, 9.00PM NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE
To promote their book Bosnian Flat Dog, comics creators Max Andersson and Lars Sjunnesson decide to tour the former Yugoslavia with a mummified Marshal Tito in a fridge. Watching as border control checks turn into improvised snapshot sessions, admiring mutant iron-curtain Disney toys, buying souvenir grenade shell handicrafts and discovering sniper art in blown-out apartments, they find that truth may indeed be stranger than fiction. A combination of stop-motion animation and documentary scenes, a roller coaster ride through a parallel universe where all borders are crazily disintegrating, simultaneously tragic, poetic and bleakly funny. Max Andersson’s award-winning films, and his picaresque short stories of tractor children, intoxicated foetuses, homeless houses, meat trees and pet guns which have been translated into over twenty languages, have earned him a global underground cult following.
GO! POLINA BORISOVA/RUSSIA, 50’. 10+ FRIDAY 7 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH SUNDAY 2 FEBRUARY, 7.00PM THE LEMON TREE, ABERDEEN WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE
...when I finally arrive, tired and older, I drop my luggage, I fall into the soft bed and close my eyes. But before I peacefully fall asleep, I revisit again and again the fragments of my journey.
tenderness and humour the solitude of those who, as they travel towards the end of their lives, dwell more and more within the reality and comfort of their memories.
A slight sadness comes over me, and it seems to me that this long day is over, perhaps a bit too quickly…
Growing up and working within a wellknown, multi-generational Russian theatrical family, Polina created this award-winning work in 2009 and has since performed it around the world to significant acclaim. This manipulate performance is GO!’s UK premiere.
Inspired by the simplicity and speed with which extraordinary people can leave us – be they a great artist or a granny from next door – and based on numerous travel notes scribbled down and saved from over the years, this piece articulates with great
A professional hat designer by trade, Helena Ahonen maintains her own studio and shop in Berlin. TITO ON ICE marked her debut as a cinematographer and co-director. Since 1995 Helena has collaborated regularly with Max Andersson on art projects.
This production has no spoken dialogue
THIS MASTERFUL AND MESMERIZING PERFORMANCE OF AN INTRICATE STORY OF LOST AFFECTIONS REDUCED TO MEMORIES COULD BE ANYONE’S STORY, OR ANYONE’S FUTURE STORY LIBERATION
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
PERFORMANCE
EDITTA BRAUN COMPANY/ AUSTRIA, 70’. 15+ SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY, 7.30PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH In a bubbling, blue underwater environment, the distant hoot of a steamship whistle somewhere far away is the only sign that humans may still exist. One woman, perhaps the last woman on earth, discovers an eerie world of strange, intriguing beings and begins to explore this brave new world… PLANET LUVOS is the new companion piece to LUVOS – presented with great success at manipulate in 2012 – which created a hellish vision of genetic modifications run riot and wreaking havoc with humanity.
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SCREENING: SHORT FILMS
In PLANET LUVOS new evolutions and balances between the concepts and demands of the individual and the group are explored, as dream and reality, and vision and real time, meet in a compelling piece of visual and physical dance theatre. Since its founding in 1989 the editta braun company has presented its innovative work with great success around the world. This manipulate performance is the UK premiere of PLANET LUVOS.
BODIES LOSE THEIR HUMANITY AND BECOME ENTITIES. NAKED TORSOS MOVE LIKE ALIEN BEINGS. THESE ARE FASCINATING IMAGES, CREATING BEAUTIFUL AND TOTALLY CAPTIVATING IMAGES OBERŐSTERREICHISCHE NACHRICHTEN
FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS WE HAVE BEEN AWED AND TOUCHED BY THE STUNNING WORK OF DANCER AND CHOREOGRAPHER EDITTA BRAUN TANZ AFFICHE
www.editta-braun.com
PLANET LUVOS
TILT YOUR THINKING: A MURDER OF SHORTS
73’. NO CERT, 18+ SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY, 9.15PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
MARCEL, KING OF TERVUREN
GLORIA VICTORIA
UNA FURTIVA LAGRIMA
Tom Schroeder/USA 2012, 6’
Theodor Ushev/Canada 2013, 7’
Carlo Vogele/France, USA 2011, 3’
In a Greek tragedy acted out by Belgian roosters, Marcel survives bird flu, alcohol, sleeping pills and his son, Max.
From the Russian front to Dresden to Guernica, great black birds fly over graves while vampires and reapers keep moving.
The last journey of a fish from market to frying pan as it sings its own moving requiem.
THE BANQUET OF THE CONCUBINE
LIKE RABBITS
THE MAGGOT FEEDER
Hefang Wei/Switzerland 2012, 13’
Osman Cerfon/France 2012, 8’
Priit Tender/Estonia 2012, 16’
It’s the year 746 and the emperor Li decides to host a banquet for his most precious concubine Yang.
A fish-headed man pursues his gloomy ride in a funfair, randomly distributing his bubbles of doom.
An ancient Chukchi folk tale explores the darkest alleys of the most rotten human minds.
LONELY BONES
SUBCONCIOUS PASSWORD
Rosto/France 2013, 10’
Chris Landreth/Canada 2013, 11’
Hail to all the souls hiding under rotting floors and wandering about wondering what to do.
The misadventures of Charles, a friendly guy who meets up with someone whose name completely escapes him.
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
ARTIST SHARING
SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY 11.30AM - 5.00PM TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
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ARTIST SHARING
SNAPSHOTS: ANIMATION IN SCOTLAND
SNAPSHOTS: 6.05 TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
£20 DAY TICKET
Following the success last year of our first series of Snapshots artist-focused events we are pleased to present three new 6.05s.
A day-long event of animated films and discussion which will provide a vivid insight into the variety and depth of Scotland’s animation community.
CLUB ADELPHI
This event will be hosted by world renowned British animator JOANNA QUINN. Since her first film, Girl’s Night Out, which won three prizes at the Annecy Film Festival in 1987, Joanna’s work has gained worldwide acclaim, including two Oscar nominations, as well as Emmy, Bafta and numerous other prestigious awards.
ENGLAND, 30’ WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY, 6.05PM
ECA ANIMATION: THE BEST OF…
A scratch performance of part of UNDER THE MICROSCOPE, Club Adelphi’s production inspired by forensic science and criminology, followed by a Q & A led by Elspeth Murray, theatre practitioner and Chair Person of Puppet Animation Scotland. This piece will also be seen during manipulate at the Norwich Puppet Theatre on 7th February.
SCOTLAND, 75’. 11.30AM A wide-ranging selection of short films created by recent Edinburgh College of Art Animation Department graduates will be followed by a Q & A with course leaders Neil Kempsell and Jared Taylor. Over recent years ECA graduates have reaped a significant haul of trophies and plaudits - including Baftas, and Royal Television Society Awards - helping to maintain the Department’s pre-eminence for the quality of its training and preparation for the profession.
WILL BECHER: FREELANCE ANIMATOR UK, 75’. 2.00PM Since graduating from ECA in 2002, Will has established a significant reputation as a multiaward winning feature animator and filmmaker, working with the likes of Aardman, Laika and Passion Pictures. Discussing the journey from his graduation to the present, and using examples from his career, Will aims to give an insider’s view of working in the UK animation industry today.
AXIS & RED KITE ANIMATION: SUCCESSFUL STUDIOS
IAIN CRAIG SCOTLAND, 30’ FRIDAY 7 FEBRUARY, 6.05PM Introduced by independent animator Iain Gardner, Iain Craig premieres and discusses his new film, Bellag AguS Beauty. Already a successful illustrator and graphic designer by profession, Iain received a Puppet Animation Scotland Creative Fund award in 2012 to create this, his first animated short film.
ROSS HOGG SCOTLAND, 30’ SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY, 6.05PM
SCOTLAND, 75’. 3.30PM These leading, award-winning companies will present examples of their work, followed by a joint Q & A in which they and other participants from the day will discuss the challenges and rewards of developing and sustaining a career in animation.
Introduced by independent animator Iain Gardner, Ross Hogg, a graduate of Glasgow School of Art and a successful member of Scotland’s younger vanguard of professional animators, presents and discusses his short film, Spectators.
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
PERFORMANCE MASTERCLASS
NEVILLE TRANTER/NETHERLANDS SUNDAY 2 – TUESDAY 4 FEBRUARY, 10.00AM - 5.00PM SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH £120, £200 FOR BOTH EDINBURGH MASTERCLASSES THURSDAY 6 – SATURDAY 8 FEBRUARY, 10.00AM - 5.00PM NORWICH PUPPET THEATRE £125
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MASTERCLASS
Participants will be guided to explore the potential of puppetry to create powerful and unique theatrical languages. There will be a strong emphasis on the role of the puppeteer as a performing actor. A puppeteer never disappears behind a puppet. The puppeteer’s presence on stage is an integral element of any performance and central to the audience’s theatrical experience. Each participant will work with a puppet and bring it to “life”. Short scenes will be developed, within which the puppet and its manipulator articulate and respond to dramatic situations. As well as interacting with their own puppets, participants will also work together, creating and performing short dramatic scenes. Over the past thirty years Neville Tranter’s combination of wicked, down to earth humour, deadly seriousness and virtuoso puppetry has won him international acclaim throughout the world. His company, Stuffed Puppet, appeared at manipulate last year, presenting its highly successful production, Schikelgruber, Alias Adolf Hitler.
THE POWER OF THE PUPPET
Neville will also be presenting his production of Punch & Judy in Afghanistan at Norwich Puppet Theatre on 8th February. www.stuffedpuppet.nl
Participants of this workshop will explore different creative devising and directing techniques. Working from a situation, an emotion, a character or prop or a combination of some or all of these things, short, improvised puppet and object theatre pieces will be created. With group discussion and debate inspiring reflection and experimentation these scenes will then be re-worked and developed further. What are we aiming for when we direct puppets and their actions? During the process a piece may very well move away from its original intentions. Fundamental questions will be asked, and new discoveries will be made, always framed within the most elementary creative query of all: why do we make the artistic choices which we make? The textual influences underpinning this workshop will be Incidences by Daniil Kharms and Act Without Words by Samuel Becket. Liz Walker has worked as an inspirational deviser, performer and director of her own innovative work all over the world for the past 25 years, most notably with her former company Faulty Optic and presently with her new company Invisible Thread, which appeared at manipulate in 2012 with her production, Plucked. Puppeteer and director Mervyn Millar has worked extensively in theatre and opera with many companies including the RSC, theatre-rites, Opera National du Rhin and Residenz Theater Munich. Mervyn has also enjoyed a long association with Handspring Puppet Company, including directing the puppetry in the world-wide successful National Theatre production of War Horse, working in London, New York, Toronto and Berlin. www.invisiblethread.co.uk www.significantobject.com @invisthread www.facebook.com/themervynmillar
PUPPETS, PERFORMERS & DIRECTION
MERVYN MILLAR & LIZ WALKER/ENGLAND WEDNESDAY 5 – FRIDAY 7 FEBRUARY, 10.00AM - 5.00PM SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH £120, £200 FOR BOTH EDINBURGH MASTERCLASSES
MANIPULATE VISUAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2014
PERFORMANCE
champions visual theatre, puppetry and animation in Scotland. Through our manipulate festival Scottish visual theatre artists, puppeteers and animators have the opportunity to engage meaningfully with creativity of the highest quality from around the world. In the seven years since our first festival in Dundee manipulate has presented the theatre and film of international artists from: Armenia, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and the USA.
www.puppetanimation.org www.manipulatefestival.org @puppetanimascot @manipulatefest www.facebook.com/puppetanimationscotland +44(0)131 5601298 info@puppetanimation.org
During 2014 Puppet Animation Scotland will be working in partnership with the Tallinn Treff Festival in Estonia and the Lutke International Puppet Festival in Slovenia, to present the work of leading Scottish artists in these countries, as well as starting to plan for a Scottish showcase of work in 2015 at the Festival Mondial Des Theatres De Marionettes in France.
manipulate Visual Theatre Festival and our visiting companies gratefully acknowledge the support of our partners:
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