THE HANGOVER REPORT – Hamid Rahmanian’s SONG OF THE NORTH is shadow puppetry as epic as its subject

A scene from Hamid Rahmanian’s “Song of the North” at the New Victory Theater (photo by Richard Termine).

For two weekends only, the New Victory Theater — New York’s premiere venue to catch high quality, typically thought provoking children’s theater — is presenting Hamid Rahmanian’s Song of the North, a shadow puppet spectacle based on a story from the thousand-year-old epic poem Shahnameh (otherwise known as the Persian Book of Kings). For puppet theater, the production is a fairly elaborate undertaking, requiring just under 500 puppets, over 200 animated backgrounds, and nine performers — who double both as live action “shadow” actors, as well as skilled puppeteers.

Song of the North tells an expansive tale — to say the least — worthy of involving fantasy sagas such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Set during a time of hard-won peace between two Middle Eastern kingdoms, the piece tells the story of the princess Manijeh of the northern kingdom, who defies her father (the king of the kingdom) and her homeland to save her beloved Bijan, a promising but brash young knight from the southern kingdom (i.e., present-day Iran). Along the way, we meet a whole host of characters and fantastical creatures that amount to some rather rich world building. Although relevant themes such as political unity and the power forgiveness are in evidence, the production adopts a “Saturday morning cartoon” quality of storytelling that somewhat undermines them, as well as the gravitas and poetry of the underlying epic. Additionally, at nearly 90 uninterrupted, eventful minutes, the storytelling could shed some excessive scenes without losing texture and detail.  

That being said, the entire affair unfolds in a seamless, dazzlingly cinematic manner — utilizing a dizzying myriad of perspectives (or “camera angles”, if you will) to tell the story — which is impressive given the relatively rudimentary tools at the performers’ disposal. I can only imagine the backstage choreography that transpires during each show. Indeed, the execution of it all is nothing less than breathtaking; this is shadow puppetry as epic as its subject matter. At the conclusion of the performance, audiences are given the fascinating opportunity to investigate the mechanics behind the stage/film magic.

RECOMMENDED

SONG OF THE NORTH
Puppet theater
New Victory Theater
1 hour, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 23

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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