Puppet route goes backstage at Out the Box Festival
- by Yazeed Kamaldien
Theatre-trained tourist company boss Iain Harris is intrigued by puppet shows and has designed a behind-the-scenes trip uncovering a world where strings are pulled.
Harris is the managing director of city-based tour company Coffeebeans Routes. He has teamed up with the wow-they’re-amazing Handspring Puppet Company that has been hailed worldwide for its artistry.
The result is the Handspring Puppetry Route that runs from September 5 to 9 at the Out the Box festival. Harris explains that the Route “packages elements of the festival to create an experience that takes the guest right inside the festival”.
“While most people will book a ticket to a show, this is a treat to visit the Handspring Puppet Company’s workshop and discover how some of their puppets are made. And then to meet artists from the festival and have a conversation with them, and finally to see a performance at the festival,” says Harris.
“You get to the creative heart of the festival, the Handspring Puppet Company and discover a lot about Cape Town through the journey.”
The official story about Handspring Puppet Company informs that it was launched by four graduates of UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town in 1981.“Two of the co-founders, Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, continue to run the company. Originally they created shows for children and thereafter works for adult audiences. Apart from seasons throughout theatres across South Africa, Handspring has been presented at many prestigious international festivals, performed on all continents,” continues the script.
“The company provides an artistic home and professional base for a core group of performers, designers, theatre artists and technicians who collaborate with them on a project basis. They continue to explore the boundaries of adult puppet theatre within an African context.”
Theatre shows that are part of the Route are ‘Ouroboros’, ‘Sadako’, ‘Hats’, ‘Benchmarks’ as well as ‘Punch and Judy in Afghanistan’. Harris says the Route is part of his company’s “strategy to partner with festivals in Africa to build fresh cultural tourism products that allow us to tell the stories of a city in new ways”.
“Out the Box is an international festival and has a strategy to position itself to attract international visitors to the festival. We found each other, started a conversation and slowly developed something that we thought could lay the foundation for a long-term partnership,” says Harris.
“Ultimately, visitors will be able to book full festival packages through Coffeebeans, with accommodation, festival access and festival specific tours, general Cape Town sightseeing tours and meet-the-director sessions. We’re building the relationships and testing the waters.”
Harris says that the Route could continue after the festival too.
“For all of us the most important aspect of putting this together is legacy. The goal has been to use the festival as the impetus to create a tour that runs throughout the year. It would visit the Handspring workshop and then take guests to see a performance by one of the township-based puppetry groups that Handspring is working with,” explains Harris.
“In this way we generate income for the Handspring Trust and directly for the township-based puppetry groups who receive payment for staging a performance. Guests get this beautiful journey through Cape Town narrated through the magic of puppetry and theatre.”
In between tours, Harris plans to catch some shows at Out the Box.
“I trained in theatre. Puppetry is a very new form for me so I’m enjoying how the structures of theatre are being challenged with puppetry performances. Each show is full of such innovation in how stories are presented,” he reflects.“The emotion that can be evoked from puppets is so nuanced that watching a show can be thrilling as if I was a kid. I love it.”
The Handspring Puppetry Route runs from September 5 to 9 at Out the Box festival. It starts 3:30pm daily. Only 12 guests can be accommodated per tour. The cost is R395 per person. Visit coffeebeansroutes.com to book online, email info@coffeebeansroutes.com or call 021-424-3572.
Tweet
Facebook Comments
No comments yet on ‘Puppet route goes backstage at Out the Box Festival’
Seen the show? Tell others what you think