Rumpelstiltskin
"Spin straw into gold ? That is an art which pleases me well." says the king.
"Something alive is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world." says the little man. These are the two essential sentences of this fairytale. Between them unfolds the whole story. These words have sounded in my ears for a long time and two years ago I decided to turn them into a little show. It took me only three weeks to build the puppets and get the show down on paper… a work that usually takes about one to two years. Shortly after this, I had a breakdown, a complete physical and psychological crisis. This was not because of the work on Rumpelstiltskin. That was only the straw that broke the camel's back. I had to cancel our tour of "Sinon je te mange..." And I haven't touched puppets since (almost).
Is there life after puppets?
I've been searching for it, this life without puppets, and I still search for it - so I can live, survive. Something alive is dearer to me than all the puppets in the world.
Why do I want to tell this fairy tale?
Why am I telling you this very personal story?
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).
Why is one ready to pay such a high price?
Because every true artist feels like she or he is in the same situation as the miller's daughter, emprisoned in a room full of straw that absolutely needs to be transformed into gold. The door won't be opened unless the work is accomplished. When the door opens, it opens to life. What bliss! But it lasts only a few moments, and then one finds oneself in another room, always bigger, full of straw... Which means for the artist: after the creation is always before the creation.
And nobody will convince the true artist that there is a real life outside his golden cage.
They are strange creatures, these artists, aren't they...?
View tour dates
"Rumpelstiltskin"
Directed by : Ilka Schönbein
Music composed by : Alexandra Lupidi
Performance & Puppetry : Pauline Drünert
Performance & Music : Alexandra Lupidi
Puppetry built by : Ilka Schönbein
Assistant director : Anja Schimanski, Britta Arste
Lighting design and technician : Anja Schimanski
Set : Suska Kanzler
Production / Co-production
Producer: Theater Meschugge / Management : K Samka.Co-producer and residencies : FMTM - Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes de Charleville-Mézières, France, Scène Nationale of Sète, L’Agora of Billère. Theater Fadenschein, Braunschweig, Germany.
With the support of the DRAC Ile-de-France.
Downloads
Presentation pack (pdf)
Presentation pack (Deutsch pdf)
Rumpelstiltskin and Creatures Technical rider (English zip)
Creatures Technical rider (English zip)
Creatures Technical rider (Deutsch zip)
Photos high-resolution (zip)
Press review FR (zip)
Ask for the file of production with the Financial Terms
