Mummenschanz "NEXT"
Unique Swiss Mask Theatre
Mummenschanz was a name coined by Bernie Schurch, Andreas Bosshard and Floriana Frasetto in 1972. Their aim was to create a new form of theatre for today's world. In spite of their background differences their common goal was to stage theatre without words or linguistic and cultural borders. Mummenschanz has traveled all over the world with their act and have performed in front of the Indian audience previously in the year 1991.
It is very difficult to describe this unusual form of Mask theatre to someone who hasn’t seen a performance. In brief, the performance consists of no music, sound, dialogue, actor or script; it is like watching a show on mute. The upside is that the show will be commensurate with any country, speaking any language, which explains its success.
Floriana was excited to tell us that they started off like any youngster, wanting to make a difference; they were like frustrated children… full of passion and eager to invent. They worked hard and poverty and any shortcoming did not stop them from creating this wonderful form of theatre. They used otherwise cheaply discarded household items like cloth, paper, plastic sheets etc to create a story of their own.
"We never thought that this form of art will become so big!" says Floriana animatedly.
The USP behind Mask theatre is that it is easy to perform in front of any audience. The act eliminates the likes of music, language and anything that would label it or will hamper it from being universal. It is a form of minimalist theatre where you use what you have with you.
The rhythm will change according to the day it is being performed on and this is one of the reasons why Floriana can never get bored of performing. Floriana informs that, "Humans are same everywhere" Mask theatre goes beyond catering to one strata of society and brings everyone together.
Mummenschanz consists of Bernie Schurch, Floriana Frasetto, Raffaella Mattioli, Jakob Benston, and Ueli Riegg.
Mummenschanz is one of the first theatre groups of its kind to stage the concept of Mask Theatre. 'There are other people', says Floriana, 'but they have their own techniques'. They do not plan to open their own school, or teach anyone the art because it is a well-kept family heritage. Floriana hopes that her children will take over the art and continue to perform on stage.
Floriana reflects on her India visit in the year 1991, "Times have changed now, people have become more proactive."
Mummenschanz performed to an almost full house at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on the 17th of March 2005. It took the audience some time to settle down to a mute stage, before they could react to the unusual experience of mask theatre. While some were trying to figure out how the actors managed to make a blob dance or the starfish swim in the air that seemed like the ocean, the rest sat awe-struck by what they saw. The children enjoyed it the most as they squealed and shrieked when they saw a blob almost fall from the edge of the stage.
War of the Roses!!
The performance lasted for seventy-five minutes. Although the performance was spot on, the attention of a few amongst the audience started to drift towards the end part of the show. It brings us to question the attention span of a program such as this.
Bangalore has a young rookie theatre culture but no one has attempted to perform this form of theatre, ,aybe its because, mask theatre involves a lot of technical skill, creativity and innovative ideas to use normal everyday objects. It involves a person to be completely removed from being seen on stage because the actor is only a medium behind a mask that is the ultimate hero.
(C) 2005 Puja Goyal.
Mummenschanz was a name coined by Bernie Schurch, Andreas Bosshard and Floriana Frasetto in 1972. Their aim was to create a new form of theatre for today's world. In spite of their background differences their common goal was to stage theatre without words or linguistic and cultural borders. Mummenschanz has traveled all over the world with their act and have performed in front of the Indian audience previously in the year 1991.
It is very difficult to describe this unusual form of Mask theatre to someone who hasn’t seen a performance. In brief, the performance consists of no music, sound, dialogue, actor or script; it is like watching a show on mute. The upside is that the show will be commensurate with any country, speaking any language, which explains its success.
Floriana was excited to tell us that they started off like any youngster, wanting to make a difference; they were like frustrated children… full of passion and eager to invent. They worked hard and poverty and any shortcoming did not stop them from creating this wonderful form of theatre. They used otherwise cheaply discarded household items like cloth, paper, plastic sheets etc to create a story of their own.
"We never thought that this form of art will become so big!" says Floriana animatedly.
The USP behind Mask theatre is that it is easy to perform in front of any audience. The act eliminates the likes of music, language and anything that would label it or will hamper it from being universal. It is a form of minimalist theatre where you use what you have with you.
The rhythm will change according to the day it is being performed on and this is one of the reasons why Floriana can never get bored of performing. Floriana informs that, "Humans are same everywhere" Mask theatre goes beyond catering to one strata of society and brings everyone together.
Mummenschanz consists of Bernie Schurch, Floriana Frasetto, Raffaella Mattioli, Jakob Benston, and Ueli Riegg.
Mummenschanz is one of the first theatre groups of its kind to stage the concept of Mask Theatre. 'There are other people', says Floriana, 'but they have their own techniques'. They do not plan to open their own school, or teach anyone the art because it is a well-kept family heritage. Floriana hopes that her children will take over the art and continue to perform on stage.
Floriana reflects on her India visit in the year 1991, "Times have changed now, people have become more proactive."
Mummenschanz performed to an almost full house at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on the 17th of March 2005. It took the audience some time to settle down to a mute stage, before they could react to the unusual experience of mask theatre. While some were trying to figure out how the actors managed to make a blob dance or the starfish swim in the air that seemed like the ocean, the rest sat awe-struck by what they saw. The children enjoyed it the most as they squealed and shrieked when they saw a blob almost fall from the edge of the stage.
War of the Roses!!
The performance lasted for seventy-five minutes. Although the performance was spot on, the attention of a few amongst the audience started to drift towards the end part of the show. It brings us to question the attention span of a program such as this.
Bangalore has a young rookie theatre culture but no one has attempted to perform this form of theatre, ,aybe its because, mask theatre involves a lot of technical skill, creativity and innovative ideas to use normal everyday objects. It involves a person to be completely removed from being seen on stage because the actor is only a medium behind a mask that is the ultimate hero.
(C) 2005 Puja Goyal.
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