FAUST LIVES AGAIN IN MONACO

            Part One of the story of Goethe’s FAUST came to life again on the stage of the Princesse Grace Theatre in Monaco last summer. Puppets, puppeteers, actor-stagehands and human actors performed with great success under the co-direction of Eva Bodingbauer and Johanna Horcicka. The artists and the production hailed from Theater Kirchdorf, in Kirchdorf, Austria.

            The group was formed in 1972 under the leadership of Franz Horcicka , and for decades Theater Kirchdorf developed a varied repertoire: Aristophanes, Brecht, Tirso de Molina, Chekhov and Tardieu alternated with familiar Austrian classics by writers such as Watsinger and Butterweck. In 1992, the town converted an old factory into a training and rehearsal space for the group, called “the workshop” (pictured at right). Today the theatre lists 39 staff and acting group members on its website, and it’s widely recognized for its success with puppet theatre–particularly the use of puppets alongside live actors in many of its adaptations and devised plays.

            Theater Kirchdorf is the only theater in the small town–apart from the school’s theater.  But it is very popular, especially with young audiences. Members of the troupe occasionally offer workshops and short theatrical entertainment for children. One focus of this theatre’s work has been the development of adaptations.  Their current production of FAUST is a compelling example of this, as Monaco audiences realized. For example, Faust (pictured below. right) is portrayed as a respected contemporary researcher and teacher. In Goethe’s familiar tale, he takes stock of his life and comes to a shattering conclusion: as a scientist, he lacks deeper insight and useful results, and as a person he is incapable of life and unable to enjoy wealth. 

            In this desperate situation, he promises his soul to the devil ( a puppet), if Satan can free him from dissatisfaction and restlessness. Satan, of course, turns Faust back into a young man and takes him on a journey through the world: comically helping Faust arranging an affair with the young Margaret (called Gretchen in this version), and observing and playing pranks on members of the under

world (also puppets) in bars and taverns.  The scenes are set and the properties are introduced/removed by ensemble members dressed in black who add another eerie layer to an already strange and grotesque ancient story. The entire production,in fact, was highly visual and easily understood by international audiences in Monaco. And the ensemble developed much of the play together. For example, editing the original story: “Oh, yes!” declared actress Carmen Steinert.  “We did change it a lot! Our first version of FAUST was two hours long, and we had to bring it down to one hour….Some scenes were completely cut, and other scenes were cut internally. That was a little problem, because everybody knows the old text.”

The puppetry, however,took center stage in the Monaco production.  Single puppets, puppet crowds, supernatural puppets, hand puppets, body puppets, puppets of all sizes were used throughout.  Steinert pointed out that she loved working with the puppets who “can look like anything you want. And they can speak and talk like they want. There is no limit. For example, the witches. Me personally, I can scream and shout as loud as I want, and the others can do a special voice or movement…. And as an audience, you can’t foresee any of that. I really think our puppets are overwhelming.”

            The theater members are all amateurs and come from many different occupations. The group finds this a useful and valuable asset since everyone can bring a new perspective to the work.  In addition, the Austrian press has praised the group for the high quality of its work: the “stupendous precision” of its choral movement and speaking (Christian Hanna in Blickpunkt Folge Nr. 4/2012); “an excellent, colorful production” (Kronen Zeitung, 13. Mai 2009): or “a major challenge for actors and audiences” (Nachrichten vom 26. März 2008).

            The troupe is currently performing their longer version of FAUST in Austria, and the piece is still developing. For example, some of the French phrases inserted by the cast for the Mondial audiences have been retained for Austrian audiences, and lines from earlier versions are occasionally to be heard from one performance to another.

            For more information on this Austrian theater troupe, visit them on their website: http://www.theater-kirchdorf.at.

THEATRE GROWTH IN BANGLADESH
 

             The new President of aita/iata’s Asian region (ARC) is Mr. Liaquat Ali Lucky, Director General of the Bangladesh Shilpakala National Academy of Fine & Performing Arts. Ali Lucky, however, is not a newcomer to aita/iata. He hasbeen working in Bangladeshi theatre for more than forty-two years, and he was first introduced to aita/iata in 1988.
              Born in a small village in the 1950s, Ali Lucky began his artistic career as an actor, inspired by the role of his older brother, a successful theatre director. Since then, Ali Lucky has directed 78 plays in Bangladesh, 30 of which have been plays for children and youth. And even with all his present responsibilities he still is an actor, performing every month onstage.

              What is the most popular play that Ali Lucky has directed done in Bangladesh?  It must certainly be Moliére’s The Miser, that his group has presented more than 618 times! But the most popular writer of plays, songs and poetry performed throughout Bangladesh is not a European at all. It is, of course, Rabinadrath Tagore, who was Asia’s first recipient of the Nobel Prize in the 1930s.  Last year, Bangladesh and Ali Lucky’s National Academy celebrated the 150th anniversary of Tagore’s death.

            Bangladesh has a long tradition of artistic expression and performance, deriving largely from its religious heritage. “Yes, this is what we stress in the way we train actors,” remarked Dr. Mohammad Israfil, Professor of Theatre at the University of Dhaka.  Dr. Israfil teaches undergraduate and graduate students there, directing them in plays (especially Shakespearean plays) and leading them on tours throughout the country. “And many plays that we present,” he continues, “are adapted for our performance style here in Bangladesh that has so much music and dance.” 

            In the past, performing arts in Bangladesh were strongly connected to Buddhism. Ali Lucky explains that “one of Buddhism’s central ideas is to honor and bow-down before the human being.” Hence in Bangladesh, the major art forms were music, dance and theatre. But before Ali Lucky began his work with young students in 1990, there existed only the National Academy’s main center in Dhaka. Moreover, there was no theatre for children and youth at all until he established his own youth troupe, The People’s Little Theatre.                                                                                                                                                                          

           Today, the National Academy under Ali Lucky employs more than 4,000 people, most of whom are trainers and coaches. There are sixty-four district branches of the National Academy for Fine and Performing Arts, and 456 sub-district branches, serving a half-million students. Classes take place in theatre, film, dance, music and the visual arts. It is Mr. Lucky’s goal to grow this number so that the nation’s arts programs can serve all of Bangladesh’s 160 million citizens. “Ali Lucky has done much for theatre in Bangladesh, “ Dr. Israfil remarked. “He is a very important theatre artist in my country.”

            “Only in art and theatre can we hope to save the world,” Ali Lucky remarked in a recent interview. “You and I are small, but culture is not small–it is big! After I became active with aita/iata, I was able to meet other directors and share ideas with them.” And he has taken his youth troupes to a number of aita/iata festivals in order to inspire them as well.  Ali Lucky’s ideas have resonated strongly in Bangladesh, where the Dhaka English-language newspaper, The Daily Star, has dubbed him “an articulate observer on Bangladeshi art.” As President of ARC, Ali Lucky hopes to reach out to many nations in South Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia and others, and involve them in aita/iata activities. He sees too few of these far-flung performance traditions reflected on our festival stages: religious drama, puppet theatre, dance-drama and other theatrical styles. 

        What’s next on Ali Lucky’s plate? These days he keeps his staff extra-busy organizing DHAKA ART SUMMIT ’14 in the capitol city. The event, referred to as the “Asian Art Biennale,” is now in its second edition.  Together with the Samdani Art Foundation, Ali Lucky’s Shilpakala Academy will bring together more than 250 artists from across the South Asian region. “The summit aims to be an exposure,” Lucky commented, “and also a platform for communication among artists, curators, critics and art enthusiasts…we are heading in the right direction.”

           In a recent speech inaugurating a two-day drama festival in Dhaka, Ali Lucky remarked: “Drama is no longer a mere entertainment medium but a leading ‘creative therapy’ tool of learning and a popular way to help children to identify their needs and their creativity. . . We need to enhance and integrate the scattered children’s theatrical activities throughout the country and ultimately give rise to a proper shape of a theatre movement in Bangladesh.”