Ostrava becomes the puppetry capital of the world - at least for a week
Every two years, Ostrava comes alive with Spectaculo Interesse, a major international puppet festival. This year’s edition, held from October 2–6, brings together puppeteers from eleven countries - from Canada to Greece.
Radio Prague International spoke to the Artistic Director of the festival, Jakub Maksymov. He spoke about current trends in puppetry, the highlights of this year’s festival, and the significance of Ostrava in the world of puppeteering.
Could you tell us a bit about what the puppetry festival Spectaculo Interesse is? What makes it special?
“The Puppet Festival Spectaculo Interesse is the most international festival of puppet theatre in the Czech Republic. During five festival days, we present 25 shows from 11 countries from all around the world. I think this is special.”
This year is the festival's 15th edition. What are some highlights of this year for you? Is there something you look forward to in particular?
“One of the highlights was Dictature, a show by ex-Russian company AKHE. They are a world-known company of visual theatre and of performance art. And they were presenting their manifesto of the dictatorship of art. It's challenging to get them to festivals because of the complicated situation in the Russian Federation.
The next highlight will be the Canadian company Projets De L’ombre, which brings a very interesting puppet show, A As Animal.”
What are some new interesting developments in puppet theatre?
“Modern puppet theatre is very visual, it is less focused on language. In recent years, puppet theatre is also getting smaller and smaller.
Puppeteers want to show authentic materials, the history of the object… So, that's why closeness and some kind of interaction with the audience is very needed.
What is typical for puppetry nowadays are fusions with other genres, such as circus, movement theatre, fine arts, or performance art. And we have examples of everything at our festival.”
I saw that some performances are limited to those over 15 years old (including A As Animal) - does that mean that puppet shows can be scary?
“Yes, they definitely can be. But they can also open some topics that are just not suitable for children. Because puppet art is just like any other form of theatre.”
The festival takes place in Ostrava. Why is Ostrava the right home for an international puppet festival?
“Ostrava is a very cultured town. There are very well-equipped venues that can satisfy the needs of the puppeteers. And our Puppet Theatre Ostrava has a history that is now longer than 70 years. So, it completely makes sense that Ostrava, once in two years, becomes the capital of the world's puppetry.”
For someone who has never attended Spectaculo Interesse before, or any puppetry festival - what would you say to encourage a first-time visitor?
“You have to be curious. The festival is open. You can meet a lot of interesting people who approach puppet theatre from very interesting points of view. You can really choose. You can find some big political topics, or just playful performances.
I would recommend to everyone, even to adults, to visit performances for children. Because I believe - and I think that at our festival we have proof - that if you do very good performance for children, it has no age limitation.”
