IDENTITATS (Identities)

Synopsis

The metaphysical marionette. A string-puppet naked, faceless, born and dies on the stage. During its ephemeral existence will adopt different "larval" masks, each of which will mark the way to be and do, thus assuming the identities that are prefigured by these.

Opening the field of marionette to the contemporary research and to the young audience.
Commemorating more than forty years of career, the Marionettist Carles Cañellas proposed a non-verbal work for young people and adults, which combines the purity of Marionette, with the most accurate manipulation as possible and an exploration of the enormous dramatic capabilities of the puppet.

IDENTITATS not only is a theatrical metaphor of the actor in front of the roles he must portray throughout his career, but also of life itself.
"You will learn at your expense that in the long journey of life you will encounter many masks and a few faces" ― Luigi Pirandello (One, no one and one hundred thousand)
Pirandello theorizes that we are all characters on stage in the theatre of life. None of us is free to follow the continuous flow of life. None of us is really free. We are masks that play a part, we are marionettes without personality nor spirit. Anyone trying to take off the mask, would become a naked mask and therefore a person rather than a character. Each of us believes at first to be one, to possess a unique identity, the authentic one. But when he discovers what people think of him, he begins to discover others hundred thousand unknown identities, then finally that one becomes no one, in the perception of not having idea of what the real identity can be.

The string-puppet as a protagonist of an innovative play, with a high degree of technical complexity in manipulating a marionette 90cm/35in tall and 27 strings, animated by Carles Cañellas. The puppet plays successively the characters that mark the various masks wearing. Dramatic actions that interspersed with moments of contemporary dance, with choreographies created by ex dancer and puppeteer Susanna Rodriguez, in which the puppet moves to the rhythm of electronic music, composed and performed by InnoDB. All accompanied by video backgrounds by Giacomo Verde, which reinforce their expressiveness, and a careful design of lights, suggestive and pictorial, creator of spaces and emotional environments implemented by Quico Gutiérrez.

Is intention of the proposal, to show to an audience usually away from the puppet, a field that, not for unfamiliar, is less interesting, and that projecting to the future, it is rooted in the theories of the theatrical experimenters from the early twentieth century, that they decide, in their projects or dreams or utopias of theatre renovation, precisely use an object obsolete as the puppet. In particular the Englishman Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966), and later the Polish Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990). But we could also mention the Russian Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold (1874-1940); or the Germans George Grosz (1893-1959), who prepares satirical shows with puppets, and Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943) from the Bauhaus School; or the Swiss Adolphe Appia (1862-1928), who collaborates with the puppeteer Otto Morach (1887-1973); or the French Gaston Baty (1885-1952), who theorized about the superiority of the puppet in front of the actor flesh and blood... and we could still continue citing other. The fact is that puppets and marionettes collect some important features that, above all at the beginning of the last century were much appreciated in theatrical environments, that were pursuing renewal or subversion goals: "The flavour of the East and the maximum availability of the inventive, the satirical entertainment and a taste for the grotesque, the coarseness of the popular and primitive, and the pleasure of experiencing the most unusual materials, the utmost rigor and the improvisation." An example of this we have in Catalonia with the artists and intellectuals that, from 1897 to 1903, were meeting at the cafe Els Quatre Gats (The Four Cats) of Barcelona, who were very interested in the Teatre de Putxinel·lis (Puppet Theatre) and they wrote texts and collaborated on making scenography, or composing music for puppet theatre.
Some of these authors refer to the essay, precious and precursory, published in 1810 by the German playwright Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) "Über das Marionettentheater" ("About the Marionette Theatre"), addressing to the artists of the Performing Arts, especially the dancers, in the conviction that these should be mainly those who attend the shows of marionettes.

CREDITS

Author, Direction, Design and Construction: Carles Cañellas
Choreography and Costumes: Susanna Rodríguez
Electronic Music and Effects: InnoDB
Lighting Design: Quico Gutiérrez
Video-Art: Giacomo Verde

VIDEO PROMO

IDENTITATS 8min Extracts of the show

FULL VIDEO

IDENTITATS Full video

VIDEO DOCUMENTARY

THE IDENTITIES OF THE MARIONETTE Documentary about the show, subtitled in English

LAS IDENTIDADES DE LA MARIONETA Documentary about the show, subtitled in Spanish

LE IDENTITÀ DELLA MARIONETTA Documentary about the show, subtitled in Italian

LES IDENTITATS DE LA MARIONETA Documentary about the show in its original version in Catalan

DOSSIER

Dossier IDENTITATS Download show's dossier

DIPTYCH

Diptych IDENTITATS Download show's diptych

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Technical sheet IDENTITATS Download Technical sheet.
We can perform the show without the background video projections and without its specific lighting, or as well adjusting both to the technical possibilities of the scenic spaces, including outdoors.

PICTURES*

IDENTITATSrocamorateatre.zip Download ZIP Pictures

*These pictures may be used freely to promote Rocamora Teatre and his activities, ever inserting the necessary references. Any other use is strictly limited and subject to copyright laws.

FESTIVALS

-7th QUANZHOU INTERNATIONAL PUPPETRY FESTIVAL
QUANZHOU -FUJIAN-. CHINA
-28 FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL GALICREQUES
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (A CORUÑA). SPAIN
-TRANSVERSALS 2022
ESCALDES-ENGORDANY. ANDORRA

-47 FESTIVAL DI MORGANA. MUSEO ANTONIO PASQUALINO
PALERMO. ITALY

-3 JOURNÉES DES ARTS DE LA MARIONNETTE DE CARTHAGE - 3rd CARTHAGE PUPPETRY ART DAYS
TUNIS. TUNISIA

-5è FESTIVAL DE TITELLES DEL MOIANÈS.
CASTELLTERÇOL. CATALONIA
-XXX FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE TITELLES.
GAVÀ. CATALONIA

-3 FESTIVAL FRATELLI BURATTINI. TEATRO PUCCINI
FIRENZE. ITALY
-PENDIENTES DE UN HILO. FESTIVAL DE TÍTERES Y OBJETOS
MADRID. SPAIN
-GUANT. 14è FESTIVAL DE TEATRE DE TITELLES DE VALLS.
VALLS. CATALONIA
-43 Festival Internazionale dei Burattini e delle Figure ARRIVANO DAL MARE!.
RAVENNA. ITALY
-2n FESTIVAL DE TITELLES DEL MOIANÈS.
CALDERS. CATALONIA
-35 FESTIVAL TITIRIJAI.
TOPIC - TOLOSA (Gipuzkoa). SPAIN
-XXI FESTIVAL L'ARLECCHINO ERRANTE.
PORDENONE. ITALY
-X FESTIVALUL INTERNATIONAL DE TEATRU PENTRU PUBLICUL TANAR.
IASI. ROMANIA
-FIOS. MUSEU DA MARIONETA.
LISBON. PORTUGAL
-II FEIRA DE TEATRO DE BONECOS E FORMAS ANIMADAS.
FAFE. PORTUGAL
-2nd INTERNATIONAL PUPPET ART WEEK FESTIVAL.
NANCHONG. CHINA
-XIX FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE TEATRO DE TÍTERES, OBJETOS Y VISUAL.
GRANADA. SPAIN
-NIT TITELLAIRE D'ARTÉS.
ARTÉS. CATALONIA

CRITICISM

PRESS REVIEW