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REVIEWS
Ystads AIlehanda
Provides nourishment for children's imagination
Real live people whose skilful actions provide
nourishment for the children's imagination, stimulates their
dreams and tickles excitingly. It's probably these ingredients
which make a visit by Dockteaterverkstan so appreciated. This
week they visited a couple of schools in Tomelilla. YA joined
them in Smedstorp where day-nursery children and child-minders'
children gathered in the school basement.
The two actors introduced themselves as Anders
and Cissi. Half in darkness the performance begins. "Once
upon a time there was a trunk," reads Anders slowly and quietly,
inviting the children to take part in an exciting "journey"
right from the start.
The tall trunk in the middle of the stage is
full of stuff. There's a wind-machine, a mill for freshly
ground dreams and masses of exciting clothes. Soft yet distinct
music such as "The Carnival in Venice" accentuates the excitement.
And the children, about 50 in Smedstorp, are willingly swept
along.TV, videos, films and other things - real, live people
of flesh and blood thankfully still keep a steady hold on
us all.
Elegant in top hat with glace gloves on his
hands, Anders gives us a taste of the world. The first puppet
to come wandering along the edge of the trunk in a very natural
way in the glare of the spotlights is a wonderful teddy bear.
And the teddy tells Cissi exciting, extraordinary things.
But Anders sneers and ridicules. "Puppets can't tell anything,"
he scoffs. But Cissi gives him the ancient, heartfelt reply
of all dreamers, poets and visionaries: "And what do you know
about that?"
The journey continues at a dizzying yet pleasant
speed in the world where the wind blows in all the storms
in the sky. A scenography of very high quality, not to mention
the teddy's "choreography", impresses the spectators. For
a full three-quarters of an hour we are offered a good "old-fashioned"
mixture of excitement, humour, friendship, jubilation and
really nice shudders. And while the moon looks down at the
hat where teddy has crept in and is sleeping soundly, and
while the hat is flying away like an aeroplane and a new teddy
appears on the scene to water the trees and bushes - and sometimes
Anders too - we see many preschool children assimilate the
most important quality for the future: the ability to dream
and the courage to use their imagination. Nice work, Dockteaterverkstan.
Kristina Magnusson
Norrköpings Tidningar
Teddy is sitting in the hat, bobbing wildly in deep water.
The children from Navestad's preschools are enraptured by
the adventure which ends on a tiny island, ten paces long.
Teddy tries fishing and catches one. He lives in his big hat
and he waters bushes and trees. Teddy makes an enemy who becomes
a friend and then the game moves on of course, changing speed
and taking new turns.
Dockteaterverkstan from Osby performed 'o'oHold onto your
Hat" yesterday, a show for teddies and people. The actors
Cecilia Billing and Anders Lindholm make skilful use of a
simple story about the adventures ofateddy bear to show the
close relationship between play and theatre.
The scenography has two colours; white drapes with a pale
greyish blue hue fixed to a brownish orange frame. In front
of this is a big, tall trunk in the same colour. It gives
a calm, harmonious, almost everyday atmosphere. And it from
this very ordinary day that the action jerkily grows when
Anders and Cecilia open the huge trunk and reveal its contents.
The theatre's way of portraying character with costume and
emotion is made clear pedagogically and with humour.
The audience, three, four and five yearolds and adults, keep
up with all the twists and turns of the teddies' play. New
impulses sparkle, subside and flash again. Just like it can
be when two people play. Finally it's time to clear away,
say goodbye and go home - to new games. Today there's a family
performance at the Library and tomorrow at Folkets Hus in
Skarblacka.
Ann-Charlotte Sandin
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