“Utterly captivating and completely charmed”
While Puppetry may not be everyone’s cup of tea, this piece is truly a delight in performative storytelling. Greg Doran and Steve Tiplady have put together a truly wonderful piece that has been lovingly crafted into a perfectly charming show.
We are greeted to a small Parthenon styled set that the puppets use as their stage along with a chair on either side, one for the narrator and the other the musician. The piece was reminiscent of works by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin with its strangely nostalgic feel. Simon Beale’s voice as the narrator is faultless, engaging enough to drive the story and giving some excellent comedy and appropriate lewdness to the lines without pulling focus from the puppets. Nick Lee’s guitar skills brought light and shade to the piece while also providing brief interludes and moments of calm reflection on the story.
We are introduced to the piece by The Bard himself (Shakespeare), in puppet form, writing the poem of Venus and Adonis and giving us a taster of the skill in puppetry the audience is about to be treated to. The set has versatile bag of tricks to enhance the show. A gauze curtain that is used for a multitude of effects, with the use of shadow puppets being the most memorable, beautifully crafted pieces of set that bring further character to each scene as well as a fantastic opportunity to display some marionette work.
The entire puppetry team are to be commended for the work, to be so in sync with each other, to find all those clever moments of comedy and humanity within each puppet that brings them to life in such a truly magical way. The Bunraku puppets are crafted perfectly and blend the gap between reality and imagination so well. There are times where the audience becomes so lost in the story that a moment of fantasy, such as Venus hovering in the air, elicits laughter as the laws of physics are defied. Added to this the scattering of sounds from the puppeteers when expressing the emotions of the puppets add an additional layer of realism that pulls the audience further in.
The variety of puppets through the show is impressive, The Hare was a particularly adorable piece, its movements being utterly enchanting to watch as it flitted around the stage. Without spoiling too much, the reveal of Death was both chilling and completely unexpected. Each puppet and puppeteer brought their own layers of charm and wonder that never lost its grip on the audience.
The story itself is one of sorrow and exploration of the erotic nature of Venus and her obsessive love for Adonis. The team blended this well along with sprinkling plenty of comedy throughout. Moments of the puppets seeming to react to the narrator or vice versa were easily amusing. Venus’s obsession and fetishisation of Adonis brought joy, sadness and humour.
Overall, this was truly a wonderful piece. Puppetry, when in the hands of those well skilled is simply a delight to watch. The show is currently on at The Oxford Playhouse until the 20th of June, followed on by dates in London and York. I cannot recommend this show enough.