How often do we think of drama
in the form of puppetry? Don’t you think puppets have hearts too despite
their look? Today, all that changed when the British Council staged ‘Low
Life’ a puppetry extravaganza.
 Presented
by the Blind Summit Theatre, UK, ‘Low Life’ is just as its title
suggests. Never before have puppets ever been thought of as near
human-like forms which are bound to stun you.
Lightly based on Charles Bukowski’s intoxicating stories, this
production is a range of astounding impressionistic scenes that exude
creativity. Encompassing still-life characters from the tiny to the
life-sized versions, these puppets reveal that even effigies made of
cotton and cloth have `souls’ too, provided they have the right
‘fingers’ to keep their toes tapping.
Various selection of events include a man dancing a love duet with a
beer glass which is hilarious, an old Chinese cleaner getting lost in a
romantic novel and a diva who drinks to forget. The lead actor Bud plays
the action-hero-plumber who tragically drowns under a bar and the
smaller-than-life private investigator Jack Belane makes a mess of the
case. With dexterous skill, the four-member Blind Summit troupe takes
you on a whirlwind tour into the heart of each story, changing the mood
from subtle nostalgia to extravagant emotions.
“That’s a perfect example of the problem,” says one of the
puppeteers, rueful and wry. “Beautiful puppetry leading to book damage.”
All the characters were fashioned by talented Blind Summit designer Nick
Barnes.
With beauty and charm in every one of these still-life people, they
have created voodoo magic on stage with the skillful hands of the
company. The variety of realism makes different styles and moves all the
more exciting to watch. However, such technical meticulousness only
provides a base for surreal moments that catch the breath, as when these
puppets perform action miracles.
It is rather fun to see the tiny puppet in a twist of a Mission
Impossible scene where he makes his clambering moves over the chairs and
climaxes it with a leap through the air.
Then the audience is taken to the poignant scene of the businessman
barfly, nursing his last beer of the evening as Jacques Brel croons ‘Ne
Me Quittes Pas’. “Never fall in love with a puppet,” Blind Summit
advise, but they make it awfully hard not to.‘Low Life’ is a blend of
story, music and puppetry: a beautiful, funny, poetic, moving gin-soaked
cabaret of deadbeats and losers in a world where puppetry meets Tom
Waits. Your world will never be the same again,they say.
The characters are represented by puppets and are beautiful in
themselves for they attain a magical grace in the hands of the company.
We hope the British Council brings more.
- Nilma
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