2017
Proteus
ArchiveSynopsis
Proteus is a giant puppet made from a single rope!
Ten actor-stagehands operate it using halyards and pulleys. Like Lilliputians, they breathe life into it and keep transforming it. It can be a lifeless figure, an octopus or a dancer, or rise twelve metres into the air before flying away into the theatre’s fly tower… It seems heavy, hard and strong. Yet it is also airy, celestial and sea-like, winding and fluid…
Public, capacity and running time
- All audiences
Origins of the project
The Grand théâtre d’Albi opened its doors in February 2014. For the birth of this venue dedicated to live performance, I imagined a character made from a material inherited from its maritime past and ever-present on stage: rope.
Creating a giant puppet from a single rope was the starting challenge! What attracted me to this evocative material was its simplicity. It can constantly transform and suggest anything. It is playful, creative and poetic. It carries us through all the elements.
His name is Proteus. He is eight metres tall. Made from a single length of rope, he is operated using halyards and pulleys by ten actor-stagehands who, like Lilliputians, breathe life into him and keep transforming him. He can be motionless, an octopus or a dancer, or rise twelve metres into the air before flying away into the theatre’s fly tower… He seems heavy, hard and strong. Yet he is airy, celestial and sea-like, winding and fluid.
Creative team
- Concept and direction: Marina Montefusco
- Construction: Pierre Gosselin and Marina Montefusco
- Performance and puppetry: the acting students of the Conservatoire de Toulouse
- Lighting design and operation: Erwan COSTADAU
- Graphic design for communication materials: Pascal PARISELLE
- Production direction, technical management and touring: Hervé BILLERIT
Photos
