Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Le Théâtre de l’Entrouvert’s ANYWHERE at HERE is oblique and ritualistic puppet theater

• By drediman
• February 25, 2025
• No Comments

Also this past weekend, I attended a performance of Théâtre de l’Entrouvert and Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival’s presentation of Anywhere, courtesy of of HERE’s Dream Music Puppetry programming. First presented in France in 2016, the production was remounted in 2023 by the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and is now enjoying its New York premiere. Based on Henry Bauchau’s novel Oedipus on the Road, the piece imagines Oedipus in between the events of Oedipus Rex and his latter days in Oedipus at Colonus, during which time the troubled king — accompanied by his daughter Antigone — undergoes an fundamental transformation while journeying through the wilderness.

In terms of presentation, the creators of the piece (originally Élise Vigneron and Hélène Barreau) have opted for a ritualistic and intentionally oblique staging — a poetic progression that suggests Oedipus’s inner evolution. The main conceit of the production is the representation of Oedipus as an ice marionette that gradually melts into water over the course of the performance. The result is immersive and experiential, in turn mesmerizingly in the moment while occasionally frustratingly open to interpretation. The puppetry is both exquisite and clunky, which I suspect was by design to signify Oedipus’s human frailty and vulnerability. Even if it doesn’t all quite hold together as a piece of narrative theater, the Anywhere is never less than hypnotic and intriguing experimental theater.

For its engagement at HERE, Anywhere is performed by puppeteer Mark Blashford and dancer Ashwaty Chennat, who together weave a slow-burning parade of haunting stage pictures. Both are selfless performers who beautifully navigate themselves around the visual tableaus. In particularly, the choreographic aspects blend gorgeously with the delicacy of the puppetry, thanks largely to Chennat’s patient and instinctual performance. Less successful, however, are the various attempts at incorporating fanciful spoken word — uttered in hushed voices throughout the performance — which ultimately register as cryptic rather than illuminating.

RECOMMENDED

ANYWHERE
Off-Broadway, Puppet Theater
Le Théâtre de l’Entrouvert and Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival / HERE
50 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 2