{"id":515,"date":"2019-06-15T07:42:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T07:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/19\/?p=515"},"modified":"2023-03-19T09:50:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T09:50:41","slug":"reconfiguring-being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/19\/reconfiguring-being\/","title":{"rendered":"Reconfiguring Being: Puppetry and Perspectives on Being Human Explored Through the Work of Ilka Sch\u00f6nbein"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Janni Younge<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abstract: <\/strong>Contemporary puppetry is a powerful artistic medium for developing perspectives on being human. Using the work of solo dance-puppeteer Ilka Sch\u00f6nbein, this paper explores the depth of meaning that puppetry can bring to theatre when used in combination with the physical body. The interdependent relationship between puppet and puppeteer is examined as a source of life for both of the puppet and of the content of the work. The inherent tension between the live animator and inanimate object is played out through careful juxtaposition of naturalism and expressive movement, allowing for transformation of images and concepts. Finally the importance of materiality of the puppet and its configuration alongside the performing body are considered in assembling of a unique perspective on being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keywords<\/strong>: Abrecht Roser, transformation, pain, emotions, human experience, manipulate, dance, object and body<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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I search in the most profound reaches of the human soul. My creativity comes into being where opinions have created human suffering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ilka Sch\u00f6nbein[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Eh bien dansez Mainteant<\/em>. Photo : Marinette Delann\u00e9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary puppetry has brought a new artistic language to theatre to investigate the nature of being alive, being human. It brings with it a meta-awareness of the image of self, as it simultaneously creates and destroys the illusion of life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary western philosophies and psychology have\ncalled into question the concept of fixed personal identity or unified\nself. The metaphorical implications of the puppet object, its life, and\nthe performer-object dynamics of contemporary puppetry have become a unique\nartistic tool for the interpretation of the nature of the human being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary puppet productions are conceived with puppet figures at the center of the dramaturgy with visible live performers. Where used consciously, the combination of animate and inanimate, controlled and controller can provoke unsettling and profound questions about the nature of our existence. Ilka Sch\u00f6nbein\u2019s work draws from human experiences of pain, aging, birth, memory and loneliness.[2]<\/sup><\/a> Often inspired by figures from European fairy tales in their original, violent form, her work evokes psychological angst and carnal suffering, using images of decay, blood and wounded flesh, as well as unsettling combinations of age and proportion, human and animal bodies (see here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A scene from Sch\u00f6nbein\u2019s La vielle et la b\u00eate<\/em>. Photo: Mario Del Curto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Born in Germany, Sch\u00f6nbein first studied Eurythmy (a\nform of dance-movement developed by Rudolf Steiner) and then puppetry under\nAbrecht Roser. Both Steiner and Roser emphasize the delicacy of gesture and\nemotionally expressive movement\u2014qualities present throughout Sch\u00f6nbein\u2019s work.\nShe went on to work as a performer with various artists before starting her\ncompany, Theater Meschugge (Theatre of Fools), with which she has created and\ntoured several productions, including Metamorphoses<\/em>\n(beginning as a street performance, this production has had five different\nstage versions, including Metamorphoses\nof Metamorphoses<\/em>); Le Roi Grenouille<\/em> (The Frog King<\/em>,1998 and 2005); Voyage d\u2019hiver<\/em> (Winter\nJourney<\/em>, 2003, also revised and developed several times); Chair de ma chair<\/em> (My Own Flesh and Blood<\/em>, 2006, to be followed by four alternate versions);\nLe Veille et la B\u00eate<\/em> (The Old Lady and the Beast<\/em>, 2009); and Rumpelstiltskin <\/em>(2017) amongst others.[3]<\/sup><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sch\u00f6nbein\u2019s work is in constant evolution and\ntransformation. Working with herself as the central performer, using dance,\nmime and spoken text, she blends her body with puppet objects, masks and casts.\nTwisting into extreme positions, she turns her physical body into a platform\nfor the puppet to live on, to possess. She blends and mixes past and present,\nmyth, memory, body and object, as she plays out her achingly intense vision. As\none version of a production morphs into the next, and as her images evolve and\necho back over her body of work, she brings her whole being to bear in her\nperformance process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sch\u00f6nbein\u2019s work is a reflection of her cultural\nperception of being. Her caustic humor and dark vision are nourished by Central\nEuropean outlook[4]<\/sup><\/a> and angst. She works consciously to provoke\nextreme emotional reactions in her audience[5]<\/sup><\/a> working with images\nof abortion, castration, birth and death, she spares the audience nothing.[6]<\/sup><\/a>\nHer unique creations are particularly powerful as she brings a complete\ninvestment into the work, drawing on her own relationships, perceptions and\nsensitive emotional reflections as she generates her material. Writing about\nher creation process on Rumpelstiltskin<\/em>,\nshe says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The tale talks about art. Maybe about all forms of art, because every true artist transforms straw into gold. But I also think that every true artist is carried by a little (or big) demon. And this demon wants to be paid. And what it likes best, this type of demon, is really something alive. So one pays with one’s living soul, with one’s living body, with one’s living future (the child in the tale).[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Video 1<\/h6>\n\n\n\n