On the Edge of RealityPuppet & Its Double Theater × FigurentheaterTübingen
On the Edge of Reality
Puppet & Its Double Theater × FigurentheaterTübingen
Traveling between interdiciplinary puppetry, Puppet & Its Double Theater Company collaborates in three years with German masters of string puppets, Figurentheater Tübingen to create a poetic dreamland and confront people’s innermost fear.
On the Edge of Reality begins with Eastern and Western mythologies, The Shānhǎijīng, Monsters of Taiwan, and The Book of Imaginary Beings, using puppets and performers, modern and traditional techniques to explore the theatrical arts. Through the “indescribable and ineffable” agency, the show is a thought exchange between the East and the West.
Flowing on the edge of reality, this piece incorporates puppets, objects, real-time projection, and live music that converge toward a futuristic theatrical language, reproducing a time journey in-between reality and virtuality, shaping the monsters that the contemporaries face and constructing a universal vision traveling on the edge of dream and reality, and the known and the unknown.
Since its establishment in 1999, Puppet & Its Double strongly believes that “everything can be a puppet,” and has contributed to the creation of magical philosophy and transformative aesthetics of Taiwanese contemporary puppet theatre. Their performance ranges from glove puppet, string puppet, rod puppet, table-top puppet, shadow theatre, and the co-presence of performers and puppets, among others. They also explore and experiment with puppet-making techniques. Puppet & Its Double has toured to more than 30 cities across Europe,Asia and America. The theater established the Lìzé Puppet Art Colony in 2013, focusing on international puppetry exchange and talent cultivation. It has since become a leading base for puppet arts innovation in Asia.
Figurentheater Tübingen is a contemporary puppet theatre founded by Frank Soehnle and Karin Ersching in 1991. Their styles are unique, emphasizing the integration of performing arts and visual arts as well as contemplating on how to embody emotions and souls. Upholding the belief that “puppetry is the key to developing new theatrical forms,” Figurentheater Tübingen collaborates with artists from different fields, explores materials and object theatres, and continues to create new aesthetics. They have toured to more than 55 countries with their world-renowned works.
Frank Soehnle studied Puppet Theatre from 1983-87 at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart and graduated with a Master’s degree in Puppet Theatre. He had studied under Germanstring puppet master Albrecht Roser. Soehnle is a multitalented performing artist, director, puppet-maker, performer and painter. He founded the Figurentheater Tübingen in 1991 that is dedicated to exploring the development and expression of objects and materials. Their works demonstrate exquisite and unique aesthetics, and are globally well-received. Soehnle also participates in screen productions, theatrical pieces by other theatres, and he has been an invited professor in many colleges and institutions across Europe.
Cheng Chia-yin is one of the most prominent directors of contemporary puppet theatre in Asia. Shortly after graduating from the University of Connecticut with a master’s degree in puppet arts in 1999, Cheng founded Puppet & Its Double Theater Company with fellow artists. She currently serves as the artistic director of the theater company. Cheng has created, directing or playwriting, a repertoire of puppet works with visions on intercultural and interdisciplinary aesthetics. Her mastery lies in creating poetic visual imagery through figures and objects flowing fluidly in space. Her directorial pieces have been nominated and awarded the Taishin Art Award numerous times, and had been invited to many international arts festivals. Cheng has, in recent years, been dedicated to the training of puppet arts talents, as well as introducing international puppet masters to Taiwan audience. Her contribution to the development of contemporary puppet arts in Taiwan is eminent.
With a master’s degree of Theatre Performance and Playwriting at the Taipei National University of the Arts, Chen has since become one of the emerging playwrights in theatre. His plays have been awarded “Plays of the Theatre” and “Rising Star” at the Taipei Fringe Festival, and “Read for You VI--New Plays” at the Guling Street Avant-garde Theatre. Chen’s play and performanceinWhat’s leftwas awarded the “Fringe Award” at the Fringe Festival. He was chosen as the artist for the National Theater and Concert Hall’s “Gap Year” residency project in 2019, and his play Somewhere Out There was accepted to Public Television Service’s Student Film Festival in the same year.
Production Team
- Artistic Consultant: Ching-ju LIN
- Directors: Frank Soehnle, Chia-yin CHENG
- Dramaturges: Hung-Yang CHEN, Chia-yin CHENG
- Co-deviced Performers: Wen-han YANG, Bo-wei YANG, Yu-jane LIU, You-tien LU, Ling-chuan WEI, Ling SU
- Scenic Design: Po-lin LI
- Puppet Design: Meng-ju YU, Frank Soehnle
- Music Design: Guang-xin LI
- Musician: Shu-hui HSU
- Costume Design: Yi-ching WANG
- Projection Design and Executor: Min SUN
- Lighting Design and Stage Management: Helmi Fita
- Voice Coach: Jenru WANG
- Creative Assistant: Christian Glötzner, Pin-chen KUO
- Director’s Assistant: Shu-chiao LI
- Puppets and Props Builders: Feng-cheng LI, Hong Beier, Ling SU, Wei-yuan CHEN
- Painter: Sara SUN
- Technical Support: BlackRice Creative Studio
- Technical Director: Wei-yuan CHEN
- Lighting Design Assistant: Yu-ling HSU
- Sound Engineer: Wei-yu LAI