krinklkorea

Am I off my 'P' Plates yet? A puppet tour to Korea with Krinkl Theatre by
Gabrielle Griffin.

I call myself a 'P-Plate puppeteer' in that I have only been working with puppets since falling in love
with the Northern Rivers 'Krinkl Theatre's' newspaper creations in 2003. And I have little
experience with manipulating puppets other than the 'hands-straight-on-the-material-style' favoured
by this company, but I can freely admit I am becoming more and more obsessed with all aspects
of this unique art form.

Having performed with Krinkl Theatre at the Blue Mountains 'One Van Festival' in 2004 and 2005, I
was lucky enough to be part of the company's first overseas tour, to 'Chuncheon International
Puppet Festival' in Korea from 9-15 August 2005.

We set off in great excitement, after rehearsing our two-person show 'Tightrope' for a month. This
show was initially created by Krinkl's Lara Cruickshank and Padi Bolliger for Melbourne Fringe
2000, and won 'Director's Choice'. Lara was keen to re-direct and elaborate on it with me playing
her part, and I was keen to be directed and to go perform in Korea!

We arrived in the sultry monsoon summer season, and were met at the airport by our assigned
English-speaking guide Aram holding aloft a 'Krinkl Theatre' sign- I just had to take a photo. I was
hoping we'd be whisked away in a limousine too, but the minibus was more than adequate.

Within 24 hours we were eating rice and fermented chilli cabbage (kimchi) for breakfast, and
desperately trying to sort out our 'Good Mornings' from our 'Thankyous' (we all definitely said Hello
when we should have said Goodbye…)

We worked out a timetable to see as many of the shows as possible that were packed into a tight
program, and left minimum time for shopping/sightseeing. Our guide said the other groups
wanted to do 'touristy' things, whereas we were just 'puppet puppet puppet'. I explained that it was
a unique opportunity to see shows we would never see in Australia, and I certainly was keen to
absorb as much as possible. Having said that, I must admit I saw a few too many 'dolly-waggling'
shows, and of course it didn't help that I couldn't understand the sometimes-extensive narratives.

Standout shows for me (from my P-Plate puppeteer perspective) included the Czech 'Ostrava
Puppet Theatre' which cleverly blended large and small puppets, puppeteers as characters, and
wonderful use of an overhead projector (apparently quite popular in Europe at the moment). I also
loved the Korean 'Puppet Troupe Gaegujaengi' story 'Affectionate Brother' which used 2 medium-
sized rod puppets worked by one person each, and was very clear and gentle.

But the show that has stayed with me the clearest is that of the French/Korean collaboration 'Les
Ateliers de la Boule Bleue', based in Charleville-Mezieres, France. This was presented by two
women seated at a low table, working the lights and music as part of the show (very smart). They
alternated in telling 2 separate love stories about the same star constellation, and used a
wonderful mix of shadow puppets, object manipulation and image creation. I came away with a
sense of depth and complexity that had been conveyed in such simple images- beautiful. It
definitely helped though that I could understand quite a bit of the French narrative. And as a
working performer with a child, it was inspiring for me to know that one of the women has four
children who she leaves at home with her husband while on tour.

Earlier in the Festival we had given a 3-hour workshop to 20 eager amateur and professional
puppeteers and enthusiasts, again overcoming language barriers thanks to our wonderful
interpreter. It was gratifying to watch the transformation of participants from nervous and shy at the
beginning to creatively expressive and downright funny by the end.

We performed 'Tightrope' on the second last day of the Festival, 3 shows in a row, with all
technical/lights/sound/stage-managing instructions being translated back and forth from English to
Korean to English (an extra staging challenge but well-met by all). Each show was very different
(within it's tightly choreographed structure), and I never cease to be amazed at the variations within
the performance/audience interaction. We were happiest with our second show, which I
personally put down to Lara telling me to remember how spunky I looked in my business suit- it just
tipped me perfectly into the performer/character energy I needed. We received good feedback
from fellow performers and puppeteers, with the words unusual/surprising/clever being used. So
we treated ourselves to some beers that night in good Aussie style, then went to a Karaoke Bar in
good Korean style, and ended up in a smoky nightclub dancing to hip hop music in good global
style. Nothing like letting off steam- I remind myself it's all a necessary part of the creative
process…

I think I can safely say that we also represented Australia with great success at the evening
'cabaret' club, with me performing my 10min solo show 'Sunshine' with a puppet made by
Melbourne's Graeme Davis, and Padi and Lara dancing Matrix-style with their 'Ziggy Swift' Hip
Hop orange garbage bag puppet. Not to mention our consistent outstanding contributions with the
Hungarian stilt and shadow puppet team to the friendly party atmosphere of the Festival as a
whole!

I can thoroughly recommend the Chuncheon Puppet Festival as a destination: the support of the
huge volunteer staff and puppet-specific facilities was wonderful. The Festival Director Joon taek
Kang was a gracious and generous host, and the audiences were so appreciative. There is a
large Puppet Museum with puppets from around the world, and interactive displays too. All of the
above is strongly supported by the Korean Government and Council with several corporate
sponsors as well. It was a delightful sur prise to be treated with so much respect and status (very
different to the sport-loving culture of Australia), and we were photographed, waved to and even
asked for our autographs.

We left for home at 4.30 in the morning, having decided not to bother going to sleep; such an easy
decision with those energetic Hungarians around to play with. After 2 hours in the minibus to
Seoul, 6 hours on the plane to Singapore, 7 hours in transit at the airport doing object manipulation
with luggage trolleys in a delirious kind of way, and a further 7 hours on a flight back to Brisbane, it
was with the greatest pleasure that I filled out my Australian Immigration Card: Occupation-
Puppeteer.