- ANIMATION -
CRAFT. CRUELTY.

Neville Tranter
August 30th - September 8th
THE SCHICKLGRUBERS

"Puppets embody archetypes and are a powerful theatrical medium - far removed from the seeming idyll of children's theatre." Tranter's puppets have nothing in common with children's theatre, preferring to flirt openly with the evil and the forbidden. They cross borders and break taboos - often with a radicality that is uncommon even in standard theatre.

For his workshop, Tranter will bring along the leading actors from his legendary Schicklgruber production - Hitler, Eva Braun and Goering. Together with the course participants, scenes will be rehearsed and short dramatic studies and situations will be developed, either between the puppet and puppeteers or between puppet and puppet.

Participants should bring the following things with them to the course: a simple musical instrument (a flute or percussion instrument, for example), a monologue from a theatrical play, a poem and a song.

João Paulo Seara Cardoso and Isabel Barros
September 9th - September 15th
THE MECHANISM OF THE BODY

For years, Cardoso has been examining the processes of emotional alienation that result from the progression of urbanisation. The puppeteer meets the phenomenon of isolation and loss of identity with a body-oriented examination of the modern repertoire of emotion. To trace the mechanised gestures of love and suffering, Cardoso allows the artificial body of the puppet to interact with the actor's body. One the one hand, the focus is on bringing the puppet's body to life. On the other hand, the focus is on the question of transferral mechanisms between subject and object - a "mechanism of the body" intended to make genuine feelings visible through formalised gestures.

"We are trying to do two things in our pieces. Firstly, we seek to mechanise the behaviour of the actor, in order to find a tone that isn't natural. Secondly, we want to make the actions of the puppet human. In other words, we use our own artificial repertoire of movements to differentiate and perfect the supposedly "authentic" repertoire of the puppet.

Puppetmastaz
September 16th - September 19th
THE PUNCH CLUB

An introduction to the technical, musical and ideological prerequisites for a Puppet Hop live appearance. Puppet Hop is both a group thing and parallel universe that exists alongside the human world - a mixture of Punch and Judy theatre, circus and club culture. Over three days, a club show will be created for the Mobile Academy.

Course participants: actors, puppeteers, dancers and musicians

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The participants on the Animation course will also attend a rehearsal of the new production bords et débords by Èclats d'états (France) at the Schaubude in Berlin.
There will also be a discussion with Annette Dabs-Baucks, the artistic director and manager of the Fidena Puppenspielkunst e.V. It is possible that the animation course will be continued as part of the Fidena Festival in May 2005 in Bochum. Individual students of the Mobile Academy: Berlin 2004 may be invited to a one-week laboratory as well as to visit the festival performances.