Theater Meschugge's Metamorphoses
Theater Meschugge’s Metamorphoses is essentially a solo play with puppets and mime, a series of inter-related vignettes. Having started out as a street performance, this piece worked its wonders to great advantage in the nave of a medieval church in Magdeburg. The performer, Ilka Schoenbein, lays out her props and costumes in front of her adult audience. With deep understanding of the foibles of her characters and great solemnity, this skilled dancer creates many transitions. Sharply etched masks, some with a strong physical resemblance to the performer, evoke family members. Without relying on language at all, Schoenbein uses her masks and puppets and every muscle in her body to create a series of separate scenes that, when experienced as a whole, produce a powerful emotional impact. She creates a Middle European world peopled by compellingly grotesque characters, ranging from a lascivious rat to an aggressive raven and a deadly spider. Tender sequences contrast with these tension-filled moments as lovers, marriage, and childbirth become part of her story. A wide variety of vintage Klezmer recordings underscore this ritual portrayal of the turning points of a true survivor, one who has witnessed horrors and pleasures and one who revels in life.
