As a warmup for three weeks in revival at the Jan Hus Playhouse in Manhattan, CAMT was invited to play their "petrifying puppet comedye" using antique Czech puppets at BU as an adjunct to a course in the Faust tradition. The rake in Studio B is a bit steep for their proscenium, but not so as to obscure the action from most of the seats. Vit Horejs, the troupe's founder and translator "from the old Bohemian" of this show has a good grasp of popular puppet tradition and the Faust legend, which Prague claims in part as its own. The figures used are a mixed set of refurbished professional figures he found in the attic of the Jan Hus House on E.74th St, plus a few minatures, and "sundry devyls" copied from an original from the collection. All marionettes are the old Czech style, which uses a central wire to the head and a variety of stringing, except for the clownish Pimprle--aka Kasparek-- who has an upright all strings control.
Horejs voices Faust, and is first seen speaking for the character through a trap near center stage. Mefstofl, the Adversary, is voiced by Jonathan Cross, the Artistc Director of the Cosmic Bicycle Theatre and Clockworks Puppet Studio, two active New York groups. Peripatetic Theresa Linnehan, who's worked with major puppet companies across the country, does Pimprle. Most of the rest of the characters are handled by Michelle Beshaw, an active member of the Off-Broadway theatre and pupperty scene who voices Wagner et al and Yvette Edery, who's worked with Steve Wideman's Puppet Company, Drama of the Works, Great Small Works and functions as the stagemanager as well. Everybody but Vit does devyls; Cross even pops up through the floor near the end wearing traditional mumming headgear with horns.
The settings use traditional backdrops, except for the deep forest, where the legs of the puppeteers are visible in tattered jeans as the trunks of trees. The style is freewheeling with little attempt at realistic movement, but sufficiently active to make this 90 minute retelling effective. There are the usual moments of low comedy, occasional topical references, and a sense that while the legend has its serious side, having fun is a primary motivation. It's easy to see why this legend has been retold by Marlowe and Goethe, as well as in opera. Selling one's soul to the devil, and not getting that much out of it, is a powerful moral conundrum.
CAMT will be performing this show in Manhattan at the Jan Hus Playhouse, 351 E, 74th St. (Between 1st & 2nd Aves.), Mar. 31st through April 17th. For more information surf to Czech.American Marionette Theatre