Re-Member

(2023)

“Maybe I’m made of lime wood,” says the little marionette as she introduces herself. She is blind and naked. “I don’t have knees, only legs, but I can swing them,” she says and starts swinging. Then more marionettes rustle in their bags on the stage ceiling. Each figure is unique in its movements – made possible by the materials and puppet construction. They dance a twitching ceremony that becomes an ecstatic enchantment.” (fidena.de)

Inspired by the writings of contemporary thinkers such as Vinciane Despret, Donna Haraway, Anna Tsing, and Tim Ingold, the play questions our relationship to the world of the living and the non-living, the place of humans in the organic world.

Inspired by Donna Haraway’s theory of thread games, Élise Vigneron from the Théâtre de l’Entrouvert, Erlangen-born puppeteer, director, and professor of puppetry Julika Mayer, and the ensemble of the Magdeburg Puppet Theater engage in a collective attempt to explore what it means to be part of something. They explore connectedness, the longing for it, and the effort to remain connected. Tree trunks, branches, bark, grass, moss, a flock of marionettes, and the five performers bring memories of nature to life.

With historical marionettes from the Magdeburg Puppet Theater, the five performers invite the audience to a grand celebration of the living and the dead. In an open rehearsal process between Germany and France, in which everyone was able to participate on an equal footing, an ode to nature and life was created.