CULTURE

Clowning around

A local theater trope wins a major prize at an international festival in Romania.

By Katya Panfyorova

Special to The St. Petersburg Times

For The St. Petersburg Times Performances by Mr. Pezo's Wandering Dolls feature masks and mime.

A St. Petersburg theater company that uses masks, mime and puppetry was lauded earlier this year when it took first prize in the directing category at the 100, 1000, 100,000 Stories International Children’s Theater Festival in Romania.

It was a significant achievement for the troupe, Mr. Pezo’s Wandering Dolls, which merges real life and fairytale in performances based on acting technique, music and using expressive masks that need no translation. European folklore and the Russian Silver Age (late 19th/early 20th century) culture are among the themes that inspire the troupe.

The theater was born in 1993 with a group of “young and romantic amateurs” in the heart of a park in Peterhof, the St. Petersburg satellite town where tsars built summer palaces.

The Old Palace of Nicholas II was populated and turned into a workshop by a creative mob that included comedians, musicians, costumiers, armories and puppet makers.

Over the years the seven-member troupe formalized its repertoire, adding new productions that showcase the group’s special combination of talents. With its wordless performances that use mime, dance, clowning and acrobatics, as well as costumes and visual effects, Mr. Pezo’s Wandering Dolls were soon wandering far from Russia and have developed a following abroad.

The latest triumph came this autumn in Bucharest where, according to Alyona Kuzmina, director of Mr. Pezo’s Wandering Dolls, city life became a theatrical cavalcade.

“Every day several performances took place in different locations,” Kuzmina said. “Happy crowds wandered from one play to another with specially printed programs.”

“We performed ‘Mutabor,’ which is a mix of cabaret, circus and theater,” Kuzmina said. “An essential part of each performance is audience participation. This time we chose a young woman from the public and taught her to ride a unicycle right there on the stage. We never ask actors or special people to help; it’s purely improvisation both for us, and the public. Of course we choose people who seem to be physically able and are wearing suitable clothes. The girl on the unicycle was slim, and was wearing jeans — not a miniskirt!”

Kuzmina said that naturally children are among Mr. Pezo’s most responsive audience members.

“Our clowns played with a foam cake and threw it to the children, who were very happy about it. This foam doesn’t dirty clothes and quickly disappears,” she said.

Two of the theater’s most popular performers are unfortunately unable to travel abroad — Gonduras, a black Labrador, and Antokha, a rabbit. However, Shpilman, a lizard, is a frequent stowaway.

“We hide him at customs. He’s a part of our troupe and has a very important role in the performance,” Kuzmina said. “There’s an episode called ‘Black Box.’ Shpilman sits in a box with sweets and different little things. One child from the public puts their hand into the box and takes something out. Sometimes it’s Shpilman!”

“We buy crickets for Shpilman,” Kuzmina said. “When we go somewhere on our orange bus, the crickets sing all the way. Crickets abroad have different voices. Romanian crickets were very loud. We love the songs of our native Russian crickets.”

The troupe has a repertoire of about 25 characters: heroes of fairytales and folklore, partly represented by the unique masks and costumes and partly by the actors’ performances. Among Mr. Pezo’s Wandering Dolls are satyrs, aliens, cyclopses, hunchbacks, and even carnival executioners.

The theater has an annual workshop where masterclasses are free. Anybody can participate and learn how to act and make papier-mache masks.

Currently, Mr. Pezo’s Wandering Dolls are preparing for New Year but after that the eclectic and engaging theater troupe plans to build on its international success in Romania and open the new season in March at the Magdalena Circus Festival in Spain.

www.pejo.ru

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