7th International Puppet Festival of Kalamata

Marionette Theater "ANTAMAPANTAHOU"

"Puppet’s Work in the Dance Steps"

Puppet Theater with marionettes. Duration: 45'. Audience age: 3+

PERFORMANCES:
MONDAY 16 October 2023. Time: 11.00. Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro) Auditorium
TUESDAY 17 October 2023. Time: 09.30. Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro) Auditorium

The performance

The story of a dancer who longs to dance in a real theater but does not have the necessary equipment. Stage, Lights, Music, Costume, not even choreography. Interactive puppet performance. As active spectators, the children themselves are invited to find solutions to the problems of our little dancer and help in the development of the action.

– Author - Screenplay: “ANTAMAPANTAHOU” Marionette Theatre
– Director: Nikos Tombros
– Constructions: “ANTAMAPANTAHOU” Puppet Theatre
– Animation: Eleni Panagiotou, Eleni Giannakopoulou
– Lighting: Eleni Panagiotou
– Artistic techniques: Table marionettes for direct handling
– The performance's advertising trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bhEBgDg21c 

The Troupe

The ANTAMAPANTAHOU workshop of marionette manufacture and puppet theater was created in 1996 by Nikos Tombros and Eleni Panagiotou, puppet constructors and puppeteers based in Greece. Since then, they have been performing in theaters, schools, several cities in Greece, and participated in 51 international festivals in 18 countries in Europe, South Africa and Asia. They are particularly interested in combining puppet theater with other arts and have collaborated with theater, music and circus artists. They organize workshops for making and animating theatrical puppets.

Nikos Tombros, puppeteer-puppetmaker attended seminars in physical theater, acting, dance, clowning and modern shadow theater. Eleni Panagiotou, puppeteer-puppetmaker is a social worker and has attended seminars on animating objects, theatrical lighting, painting and stop motion animation. Eleni Giannakopoulou is a partner, she is a kindergarten teacher-animator of theatrical play, she has studied music and physical theater and is a sign language interpreter.

The HISTORY MUSEUM of the UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS

"The Old University and its Residents"

Puppet Paper Theater. Duration 45΄. Age: 14+

PERFORMANCES:
TUESDAY 17 October 2023:
Time: 11.00. Cultural Center (Pnevmatiko Kentro) Auditorium
Time: 19.30. Cultural Center (Pnevmatiko Kentro) Auditorium

The performance

The building that currently houses the History Museum of the University of Athens was one of the most imposing Athenian houses of the early 19th century. The show attempts to illuminate aspects of the diverse, "big" and "small" histories of the building, in which historical figures and lesser-known tenants (scientists, architects, refugees, internal migrants), lived or worked. There, they left their mark on the modern history of the city of Athens, there, they laid the foundations of higher education in Greece... At the center of the show is the story of two 19th century architects. They are the protagonists of the adventure of the first urban plan that they drew up in the same area, shortly before the capital of Greece was moved from Nafplio to Athens.

– Screenplay - Direction: Fai Tsitou
– Animation: Fai Tsitou
– Painting: Giorgos Kalokairinos, Evangelia Kalyva, Despina Manolarou
– Voices: Konstantinos Kappas, Hovik Karabetian, Armand Eduardos Menekian, Gerasimos Zervos
– Construction: Fai Tsitou
– Artistic techniques: Paper theater (toy theater) with simultaneous projection on a large projection screen Pop-up construction made of cardboard
– Trailer: https://youtu.be/Rom4JISA_jo

The group

The performance is a production of the History Museum of the University of Athens.

The puppet theater group” the divers” has staged the shows: "Simultané", "Voutia", " TΗΛΕ, τῆλε tele", "Volos Girls' School - A school in life and nature". Fai Tsitou, a founding member of the group, works as a museum educator/curator at the History Museum of the University of Athens and deals with educational programs and the use of various techniques of puppetry in education.

– Full address and postal code: Orminiou 6, 11528, Athens
– Telephone and mobile: 211 7100374 & 6973746809
– E-mail: ftsitou@gmail.com
– Contact person: Fai Tsitou
– Full address and postal code: Tholou 5, 10556, Plaka-Athens
– Telephone and mobile: 2103689506 & 6973746809
– E-mail: ftsitou@gmail.com, ftsitou@uoa.gr
– Website: http://www.historymuseum.uoa.gr

KOKOU-MOUKLO Puppet Theater Group
In collaboration with the CHIKI BOM team

"The Song of the Pirate and the Mermaid"

Puppet Theater. Duration 45΄. Age: 3+

PERFORMANCES:
TUESDAY 17 October 2023. Time: 18.30. Auditorium of the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)
WEDNESDAY 18 October 2023. Time: 09.30. Auditorium of the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)
MONDAY 23 October 2023. Time: 10.00. To perivoli tis yiayias (Grandma's Orchard)

The performance

Two stories based on the series "Oikologimata - stories from Ecology” by Vangelis Iliopoulos, compose an interactive performance with live music that combines puppet theater with children's theater.

A songwriter trying to write a song about the sea will meet a mermaid who has decorated her tail with garbage and a pirate who is looking for a crew for his ship. Will he be able to help the little mermaid and the creatures of the bottom whose house has been filled with garbage?

The performance has been made in such a way that it does not leave the children as mere spectators but invites them to participate with their opinions and reactions during the fairy tale’s progress.

– Author - Screenplay: stories from "Ecology" by V. Iliopoulos
– Director: Kokou-Mouklo Group 
– Construction, Animation: Kokou-Mouklo / Iro Theodorou, Panos Tantis
– Original Music: Kostas Thomaidis, Panos Tantis
– Artistic techniques: muppet dolls, actor, live music
– Trailer: https://youtu.be/HTNXLZDY9b8

The troupes 

A. The KOKOU MOUKLO puppet theater group was founded in 2003 by the puppeteers Vaso Jareni and Iro Theodorou. Since then, the group has had a continuous presence in the field of puppet theater, giving performances in schools, theaters, festivals, conservatories, libraries, etc., while in the summer months it tours municipalities all over Greece. Over the years, the team has been surrounded by remarkable new collaborators, musicians, lighting fixtures, actors, set designers, costume designers, writers, etc. The group through collaboration with other arts and artists, group is permanently evolving expressively, technically and aesthetically. It has created twelve performances for children and two for adults as well as various puppet theater workshops. The group is an active member of the Greek Puppet Theater Center of the International Puppet Union UNIMA, (Union Internationale de la Marionette)

Iro Theodorou from the Koku-Muklo group and Panos Tantis from the Tsikibom group met in Kalamata, and by mixing the art of puppetry and music they created a unique performance.

– Address: Dimitsanas 6 24100
– Telephone: 6937126015
– E-mail: iro.theodorou@gmail.com
– Website: http://www.kokoumouklo.gr
– Contact person: Iro Theodorou

B. TSIKI BOM: Eleni Christidou and Panos Tantis, is a musical theater group that likes to play and entertain children, following their needs and wills, tickling their imagination and creativity.

They use the tools of physical theater, music-motor education with Orff instruments, free expression, improvisation and playing with accordion and guitar accompaniment.

The Tsikiboms with studies at the University of Athens Department of Music Studies - School of Drama Modern Times - National Conservatory -, Collaboration with the Theater of the Shoe on the Tree, the Kindergarten Theater, - the DI.PE.THE (Municipal Regional Theatre) of Kalamata, the “Magic Happens", travel for a decade now with their luggage full of plays, events, celebrations and music where the hearts of children blow every time.

"MANIVELA Puppet Theater"
"ANEMODOURA" Puppet and Shadow Theater

Circulus

Puppet and shadow theater. Duration 60'. Age: 3+

PERFORMANCES:
WEDNESDAY 18 October 2023:
Time: 11.00. Cultural Center (Pnevmatiko Kentro) Auditorium
Time: 19.00. Cultural Center (Pnevmatiko Kentro) Auditorium

The performance 

The circus manager may be missing, but the two loyal circus assistants and technicians will try to keep it alive in any way possible. What magical recipes can a cook make? What special abilities can a girl in a wheelchair have? How does a very old grandfather manage to balance? What special things can a refugee hide in his luggage? How high can a kinky girl go? Does a well-trained masseur chew iron? This and much more will be discovered and enjoyed by anyone who meets this unique circus on their way!!! A colorful puzzle of six everyday but also unique characters with special abilities who meet in a circus, they make their way to show us their wonderful acts in the Circulus circus where anything is possible. A... rolling delightful show with six direct manipulation dolls that do... everything to impress young and old.

– Idea / Script / Puppets - sets: Angeliki Gounaridis, Babis Kostidakis
– Animation: Angeliki Gounaridis, Babis Kostidakis
– Director: Elissaios Vlachos
– Special Constructions: Vasso Jareni, Dimitra Konstantinidou, Nikos Kalitsis
– Music editing: Euripides Zafiras
– Artistic techniques: direct handling dolls

The troupes

MANIVELA Puppet Theater: "MANIVELA" (Crank) is new and old! It is rusty but well-polished! Angeliki Gounaridis who turns "Manivela" has been a puppeteer, group animator and game maker for many years. "Manivela" is ready to spin to share and share the joy with everything which is hidden in its suitcases.

ANEMODOURA Puppet and Shadow Theatre: The group "ANEMODOURA" hosts artistic activities such as puppet shows, shadow theater, musical events, artistic workshops, etc. It is a field of expression where these arts meet, combine, interact and share thoughts - experiences - feelings, inviting children and adults to this magical game. On a magical journey with a tool a... windbreaker.

– Address: 10 Megasthenous Str., 11632 Athens
– Telephone: 6932337032 and 6972146525
– E-mail: circulus.events@gmail.com
– Website: anemodoura.gr and https://oupspuppetry.gr/
– Contact person: Gounaridi Angeliki

“Kabaré Púpala Marionettes”

"Little wolf Minski and his friends"

Marionette Theater. Duration 40'. Age: 3+

PERFORMANCES:
FRIDAY 20 October 2023. Time: 09.30. Auditorium of the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)
SATURDAY 21 October 2023. Time: 14.00. OSE Park
MONDAY 23 October 2023. Time: 18.45. Auditorium of the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)

The performance

Little wolf Minsky jokes with the audience and introduces his friends: A shy but very musical rabbit, a beloved pair of mice doing hand acrobatics, a crazy chicken playing with balls, the most beautiful belly dancer in the world, a skeleton in love, a very clean ant, a singing cockroach and many other funny, poetic and colorful puppets that come to life.

– Writer– screenplay: Thomas Herfort
– Direction – Animation: Thomas Herfort
– Construction – Animation: Thomas Herfort
– Original music: Thomas Herfort and Lior Frenkl
– Artistic techniques: string, wood and foam puppets
– Trailer: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=445061605937969
https://vimeo.com/123039624
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-XB9U0gNNQ
– Workshops/Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPQRBKoDffo
https://vimeo.com/86073922
https://vimeo.com/97176355

The group

Thomas Herfort, artist and founder of the Kabaré Púpala Marionettes troupe was born in 1968 in Bavaria, studied fine arts in Germany and Spain. He has been making puppets as a hobby for many years. From 2000 to 2007 he works in the "Atelier de Marionetas" with many puppeteers from all over the world. In 2008 he founded the mobile puppet theater "Kabaré Púpala Marionettes". Since then, he has been performing all over the world and also shows children with a technique he developed himself how to easily make puppets.

– Address: Thomas Herfort, Weisestrasse 9, 12049 Berlin, Germany
– Telephone: +49 1773454934
– E-mail: tkherfort@gmail.com
– Site: kabare-pupala.blogspot.com/
– Conract person: Thomas Herfort

"TARAXAKO Puppet Theater Collective"

"The Last Stop"

Modular Puppet Theater. Duration 90'. Audience age: 12+

PERFORMANCES:
THURSDAY 19 October 2023:
Time: 10.00. Cultural Center (Pnevmatiko Kentro) Auditorium
Time: 19.00. Cultural Center (Pnevmatiko Kentro) Auditorium

The performance

"The Last Stop"
(Modular show consisting of two independent parts)

The following two independent parts were created in the context of the collective, polymorphic project "Stasi Proti" of the puppet theater collective Taraxako. They are presented together in a common performance time, exploring the concept of time and each asking their own questions. The approaches to the common theme are made with different technical and aesthetic means, highlighting the range, variety and power of the puppet theater language.

How do you look at the passage of time since the last stop?

How do you face the future when you are already the past?

Two different looks at the concept of time.

A. Performance: "HOMO HAPTICUS"

From "MARMITA Nutritious Theater Cooked with Dolls" Troupe

A poetical route of a whole century seen through a woman’s body, who touches and therefore exists. And as long as she can touch she lives, she defines, she stands out, she connects and she gets connected. She brings, she offers, she lets and she carries her time with her own hands.

A scenic exploration of our haptic self in the aspect of a century that changed a lot.

– Author - Screenplay: Manasi Maria, Sakellariou Stella
– Director: Manasi Maria, Sakellariou Stella
– Construction, Animation: Manasi Maria, Sakellariou Stella
– Original Music: ThraxPunks
– Movement teaching: Sofia Papanikandrou
– Lighting: Marmita
– Artistic techniques: mixed techniques of theater mask, documentary theater, object theater and dance theater.

B. Performance: "THE LAST WALNUT TREE"

The walnut tree (Walnut, Juglans) belongs to the Carioid family and is a native, angiospermous, monochlamydic plant. Agis belongs to the family of the Gambotids, he is an old man, a farmer and he knows that he is just before the end. A man whose life is connected to the trees, a man who becomes one with the earth. A man who returns the fruit of his life to the soil to grow again. A bittersweet thought for those who dug, dig and don't give up. A performance - research based on our need to understand both the cycle of life and our union with the earth and our need to leave our mark, not as a legacy but as a continuum.

– Author - Screenplay: Angeliki Gounaridi
– Director: Angeliki Gounaridis, Babis Kostidakis
– Construction, Animation: Angeliki Gounaridis, Babis Kostidakis
– Original Music: Euripides Zafiras
– Director: Elissaios Vlachos
– Text research consultant: Yiannis Makridakis
– Artistic techniques: Human-sized direct-manipulation puppet

The troupes 

(Partnership of many troupes)

A. «MARMITA troupe»
B. «WIND WIND Puppet & Shadow Theater»
C. «MANIVELA Puppet Theater»

The idea to create the group came during the period of the first Covid quarantine, when six professional troupes and puppeteers from different cities of Greece joined forces with the aim of reinventing ways that can ensure the existence of our art and our contact with the public. Against the fear and alienation brought by the unprecedented condition of the pandemic, they opposed "together". In the autumn of 2020, they started working on a multiform puppet theater project, the result of a multi-month collective process, which draws its content from the experiences of the last year. Their collective performance is an original synthesis of different aesthetic and technical approaches, where individuality and teamwork coexist harmoniously.

– Telephone: 6932337032
– E-mail: taraxakopuppets@gmail.com
– Website: taraxako.wordpress.com/
– Contact person: Angeliki Gounaridi

"DIMITRAKOPOULOS SHADOW THEATER"

"Barba Giorgos Mayor"

Shadow Theater. Duration 45'. Age: 4+

PERFORMANCE:
THURSDAY 19 October 2023. Time: 18.30. Auditorium of the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)

The performance

In this year's municipal elections, political rivals are Barba Giorgos and Dionysios! The pre-election race has hit red! Karagiozis and Hatziavatis take action to promote each candidate. Each with their own promises to the people of the shadow theatre are trying to win the elections. Barba Giorgos is the favorite, will it be confirmed?

– Author - Script: Traditional comedy
– Voices, Productions, Animation: Konstantinos Demetrakopoulos
– Stage assistant: Georgia Demetrakopoulou
– Artistic techniques: Shadow theater

The troupe

Konstantinos Dimitrakopoulos was born in 2002 and comes from Kalamata. He is a psychology student at the University of Athens (EKPA). Since the age of eight, he has been amateur in the art of Shadow Theater together with his sister and work partner, Georgia. From 2011 till today, they have been performing together traditional Karagiozi shows based on experience and improvisation but also with respect to the art of shadow theater. They have presented performances in many areas of Messenia, in Athens, in schools, cultural associations, villages and festivals. During these years of activity, the troupe has worked with classic texts of shadow theater but also with original ideas and texts. He has collaborated with Municipalities and cultural institutions as well as with the Kalamata Puppet Theater Festival. From 2022, the Troupe is active on a professional level.

– Address: 24 Lykourgou Str., 24100 Kalamata
– Mobile: 6987447476
– E-mail: demetrakopoulosk@gmail.com
– Facebook: Dimitrakopoulos Shadow Theatre 
– Contact person: Konstantinos Demetrakopoulos

"REDICOLO" Puppet Theater

"The Little Prince"

Musical Puppet Theater. Duration 90΄. Age: 4+

PERFORMANCES:
FRIDAY 20 October 2023. Time: 11.00. Auditorium at Pnevmatiko Kentro (Cultural Center)
SATURDAY 21 October 2023. Time: 10.30. Auditorium at Pnevmatiko Kentro (Cultural Center) 

The performance

A performance for all ages, with large dolls, figures and marionettes, that combines the magic of puppet theater with narrative orchestral music and digital painting. An aviator who dreamed of becoming a painter tells us about his meeting with the Little Prince. His designs come to life and become toys, figures, dolls, planets. So, he creates a fairy-tale world to share with children, because only they can understand what the adults have already forgotten. The stage is filled with stars and invites children to always look up and follow their dreams.

– Text: Antoine de Saint Exypery
– Translation: Matina Tsikritzi
– Theatrical Adaptation - Directed by: Despina Kalpenidou
– Puppets – Figures – Stage set: Despina Kalpenidou 
– Original orchestral music: Manolis Kalpenidis
– Digital painting: Eva Daniel
– Doll costumes: Argyro Anagnostopoulou
– Lighting: Polyvios Serdaris
– Sound engineering: Yiannis Momtsios
– Photos: Eleftheria Kalpenidou
– Trailer: Nikos Momtsios
– Cast: Despina Kalpenidou, Yiannis Momtsios
– Artistic techniques: Human-sized dolls, marionettes, figures
– Trailer: https://youtu.be/Y_DHgsxMVk4 
– Photographic high resolution material and .jpg files: https://www.redicolo.com/prigkipasfotos

The troupe

The Redicolo Puppet Theater was born in 2011 in Thessaloniki by Yiannis Momtsios and Despina Kalpenidou. Since then, they create and present shows for young and for older children, researching the use of the doll as a tool in the theater. The group's performances are characterized by impressively large puppets, which come to life and interact with the actors and the audience. People and dolls play together on stage and invite children to actively participate, aiming to enjoy the performance as an authentic experiential experience. The performances have traveled to schools, theaters, mainly in Northern and Central Greece.

– Full address: 24A Vasilissis Olgas^A, 54641 Thessaloniki
– Telephone and mobile: 2310425097, 6976055790
– E-mail: redicolos@gmail.com 
– Website: www.redicolo.com 
– Contact person:: Despina Kalpenidou

«Maayan Iungman»

"NIYAR - A Paper Fairytale"

Paper Puppet Theater. Duration 40΄. Age: 5+

PERFORMANCE:
FRIDAY 20 October 2023. Time: 19.30. Auditorium of the Labor Center

The performance

NIYAR is an artistic visual work that tells a timeless story of longing and desire for self-realization. The concept of playing with paper and within paper, beautiful scenography and unique faceless paper puppets - NIYAR invites the audience on a poetic journey with many magical, joyful and touching moments. This performance is a combination of object, puppet and visual theater that touches the core of love and free will. NIYAR is without words and is a gift of imagination.

– Writer – idea: Maayan Iungman
– Screenplay - director: Maayan Iungman
– Construction, animation: Nimrod Erez, Tal Iungman
– Original music: Thomas Moked Blum
– Lighting: Philipp Rückriem
– Artistic techniques: paper puppet
– Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVdf5i1AnzE

The group

Maayan Iungman is a Berlin and France based artist, actress and a puppeteer. She graduated in theatre and stage design at an art college in Israel. Later she studied fine arts, theatre, directing and acting in the Visual Theatre Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. She has applied her many years of experience to create works of genuine artistic substance, using varied techniques and unusual materials. Her theatrical language combines various approaches of theatre, puppetry, music and visual art.

– Address: Schliemannstr. 45, 10437 Berlin
– Telephone: Berlin, 99 01 18
– E-mail: niyar.theatre@gmail.com
– Webside: www.maayan-iungman.com/
– Conract person: Dr. Philipp Rückriem

«Katamaya»* Puppet Theater

"Butterfly"

Marionette Theater. Duration 20'. Age: 5+

PERFORMANCES:
SATURDAY 21 October 2023. Time: 18.45. OSE Park
SUNDAY 22 October 2023. Time: 18.30. Auditorium at Pnevmatiko Kentro (Cultural Center) 
Free entrance

The performance

How will you manage to transform when everything seems to be holding you down? A ballerina wants to live dancing, remember who she is and fly high. The show deals in a poetic way with the mental difficulties that people of all ages encounter in their daily lives. It hopes to remind us that there is a tiger within us.

– Author - Screenplay: Despina Karouta
– Direction - Production: Despina Karouta, Stathis Markopoulos
– Animation: Despina Karouta
– Lighting: Despina Karouta
– Artistic techniques: marionettes

The Troupe 

* "Katamaya" in Pontian dialect is the cloth broom that cleans the bread oven.

Despina Karouta was born and raised in Kilkis. She studied psychology, theater of the senses and anthropology of gender and has worked in structures hosting refugees. He studied at the Ayusaya heatrical Puppet Workshop and has attended a shadow theater seminar in Mexico. From 2021 she plays puppet shows on the street. She explores the connection of art and ritual to healing.

– Address: Skra 24, Kilkis 61100
– Telephone: 6944449192
– Email: katamaya.moon@gmail.com
– Contact person: Despina Karouta

"THEATRO SKALA"

H. C. Andersen's "The Old House"

Puppet Theater. Duration: 60'. Audience age: 5+

PERFORMANCES:
SUNDAY 22 October 2023. Time: 11.00. Auditorium of the Labor Center
MONDAY 23 October 2023. Time: 09.30. Auditorium of the Labor Center

The performance

A Dream Puppet-Theater show, a hymn to friendship and love, that speaks directly to the heart, and promotes Children's Emotional Intelligence in a work as beautiful as... a painting! Inspired by the painting of Pablo Picasso and the rich tones of classical music. High up the road was a very old house. It was almost 300 years old and had wide stairs like any fairytale palace! In the apartment building, across the street, lived a boy who liked to look at the old house. And whenever he looked at it in the moonlight, he thought he saw the strangest things...But in the old house there really lived a lonely gentleman in velvet clothes and gold buttons who knew how to tell the most wonderful stories...

– Writer - Screenplay: Hans Christian Andersen
– Puppetry adaptation: Theatro Skala
– Contributors: Kiriaki Kyriakoulea, Evanthia Stefanopoulou, Kiriaki Doxara
– Director: Kyriaki Doxara
– Constructions, Animation: Kyriaki Doxara, Vassilis Roditis, Orpheas Roditis
– Original Music: Music overlay of classical music
– Lighting: Kyriaki Doxara, Vassilis Roditis
– Theatrical Costumes: Evanthia Stefanopoulou
– Artistic techniques: Talking mechanical dolls, Carved marionettes, Carved table and floor dolls, Animated sets, paintings and objects that come to life, Fairy tale actors.

The Troupe

With studies at The Central Royal School of Speech and Drama in England, at the Athens technical University for Occupational Therapy, as well as in several theater and fine arts studios, the SKALA THEATER was founded in 2004, marrying puppet theater with theater and visual arts. The troupe has participated with its performances in theaters and world festivals. They collaborate with the Athens Concert Hall in the framework of the “Music and Fairy Tales” program.

– Full address: 19 Trapezountos Str., 18755 Keratsini, Piraeus
– Telephone: 6978692757, 6974469411
– E-mail: theatroskala@hotmail.com
– Facebook: Theatro Skala - Puppet Shows
– Contact person: Kyriaki Doxaras & Vassilis Roditis

«DAVID ZUAZOLA & UNIA TEATR NIEMOZLIWY»

«Robot»

Puppet Theater. Duration: 60'. Audience age: 14+

PERFORMANCES:
SUNDAY 22 October 2023. Time: 19.30. Auditorium at Pnevmatiko Kentro (Cultural Center)
MONDAY 23 October 2023. Time: 11.00. Auditorium at Pnevmatiko Kentro (Cultural Center)

The performance

In the future, Robots coexisted with human beings. The world moved on and the Robots did their job helping people, until they began to think for themselves. The Government was not happy with this, and ordered to lock up and destroy all the Robots on the planet. And so the Robots were almost extinct. Almost. One day, Clara, a girl in a wheelchair, goes a long way from her home and arrives at a concentration camp. There she meets a Robot, probably the last Robot on planet Earth. This is how they start a deep friendship based on silence and understanding. But something terrible happened and they were separated 70 years later the Robot awakens and begins the search for Clara, in a world that has changed, and where intolerance of difference reigns.

– Author – Screenplay: David Zuazola 
– Director: Marek b.Chodaczyński
– Constructions, animation: David Zuazola
– Original music – Illumination: Marek Zurawski 
– Photography: Kasia Chmura 
– Performance trailer: https://youtu.be/u01OLAApo1o

The Troupe 

David Zuazola: Musician, set designer, playwright and puppeteer. With his particular style, David is a puppeteer winner of more than 20 International awards. After finishing his studies in Theater and audiovisual communication in Chile, David went to live in Barcelona and began to work in the Jordi Bertrán Puppet Company. In 2008 he moved to Madrid where he developed his first solo work called “Dirty Wing”, a show that was presented at various festivals in Europe and America, obtaining 5 awards and excellent reviews. Later he joined the Italian company Scarlattine Teatro, to work in different shows. At the same time, he conducts workshops in different countries such as Israel, Mexico, Italy or South Korea.In 2020 he joined the Polish company "Unia theater Niemozliwy" and together they created a show full of symbolism, called "Robot", winner of 10 international awards in a long tour around Asia, Europe and Africa.

– Address: Calle Guillermo Gutierrez 3 Bajoa, Ecija- Sevilla -SPAIN 41400
– Telephone: +34 692240792
– Email: zuazolaoffice@gmail.com
– Conract person: David Zuazola

"Kukloparea" Experimental Stage(Peiramatiki Skini) of Kalamata

"The Cuckoo Nightingale"

Puppet Theater. Duration: 30'. Audience age: 5+

PERFORMANCES:
MONDAY 23 October 2023. Time: 18.00. Auditorium at the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)
TUESDAY 24 October 2023. Time: 10.30. Auditorium at the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)

The performance 

It is a work of musical theater teacher Vassilis Anagnostou. A show with bird heroes who speak in human language. A nightingale, a cuckoo, 2 warblers, 3 nightingales, a cuckoo, an owl and a storyteller doll that tells the story of the baby cuckoo whose parents were lazy and put it in the nightingale's nest to spin and raise. But when he grew up and was awarded, they wanted to claim him for their child. So the question was raised by the owl court, whose child is it? The one who gave birth to it or the one who raised it, nurtured it and loved it? A story with humor, music and songs that touches on the issue of adoption, the difference that coexists between dissimilar creatures and the bullying that can be suffered by society, while at the same time promoting respect for diversity, family love, friendship and justice.

– Author - Music - songs: Vassilis Anagnostou
– Text adaptation for puppet theater: Letta Petroulaki
– Puppet making and scenery: Letta Petroulaki, Iro Theodorou
– Animation: Fani Alexandridis, Fenia Exakoustidou, Iota Koutsodimitropoulou, Katerina Pachtiti, Letta Petroulaki
– Artistic consultant: Iro Theodorou
– Technical support: Popi Mavrea.

The group

The Experimental Stage of Kalamata (Piramatiki Skini) since 1989 has been offering events and actions through Culture, theatre, puppetry, educational workshops and the Kalamata International Puppet Theater Festival, dedicated mainly to children and young people. Since 2000, the amateur group of puppeteers "Koukloparea" of the Experimental Stage of Kalamata has organized and presented over 27 puppet shows, making puppets with various animation techniques, adapting texts for puppet theater and organizing puppet making and animation workshops for children and adults. The group has taken part twice in the Kilkis International Puppetry Festival (Young Puppeteers section) and has presented puppet shows in schools and municipalities all over Greece.

– Address: Evripidou 2, Kalamata 24100
– Telephone: 2721021653, 6971540945
– E-mail: pei.ski.kal@gmail.com
– Website: www.peiramatikiskinikalamatas.com, www.puppetfest.gr
– Contact person: Letta Petroulaki

Nikoleta Vassilopoulou puppet theater

"Fasoulis"

A. Puppet popular theater with gloves. Duration: 30'. Audience age: 6+

PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY 21 October 2023. Time 20.00. OSE Park

The performance

A comic tragedy, a tragic comedy, a story full of suspense. The classic puppet hero Fasoulis is faced with various ludicrous incidents and tries to balance between good and evil, light and darkness, life and death.

– Author - Screenplay: Puppet Popular Theater / Nikoleta Vassilopoulou
– Animation / dramaturgy: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou
– Construction / art direction: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou, Stathis Markopoulos
– Artistic techniques: Puppet theater with glove puppets

The group

Nikoleta Vassilopoulou was born in 2003 and comes from Kalamata. She is a student in the Department of Interior Architecture at the University of West Attica (PADA) and since 2020 she has been involved in puppet theater as an amateur. She has attended short and long seminars on the art of puppetry and per- forming arts with Stathis Markopoulos, Francisco Brito, Christos Autsidis, Iro Theodorou, Vaso Giareni, Katerina Petroulaki, Sergios Sofikitis and Letta Petroulaki. She has taken part in the 2nd Athens Puppet Theater Festival as well as the Kalamata International Puppet Theater Festival and is a member of Unima Hellas.

– Full address: Kalamata 24100
– Mobile: 6984841110
– E-mail: nikvas03@gmail.com
– Contact person: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou

Nikoleta Vassilopoulou puppet theater

«Kλόουν Solo»

B. Marionette Theater. Duration 15΄. Age 4+

PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY 21 October 2023. Time: 18.00. OSE Park

The performance

An elaborate handmade wooden puppet brings to life the role of an acrobat who humorously acrobats on a rope accompanied by music, like a real acrobat causing laughter to children and adults.

– Animation / dramaturgy: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou
– Construction / art direction: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou, Stathis Markopoulos
– Artistic techniques: Puppet theater with strings

The group

Nikoleta Vassilopoulou was born in 2003 and comes from Kalamata. She is a student in the Department of Interior Architecture at the University of West Attica (PADA) and since 2020 she has been involved in puppet theater as an amateur. She has attended short and long seminars on the art of puppetry and per- forming arts with Stathis Markopoulos, Francisco Brito, Christos Autsidis, Iro Theodorou, Vaso Giareni, Katerina Petroulaki, Sergios Sofikitis and Letta Petroulaki. She has taken part in the 2nd Athens Puppet Theater Festival as well as the Kalamata International Puppet Theater Festival and is a member of Unima Hellas.

– Full address: Kalamata 24100
– Mobile: 6984841110
– E-mail: nikvas03@gmail.com
– Contact person: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou

Nikoleta Vassilopoulou puppet theater

"Tramoudana"

C. Marionette Theater. Duration 30΄. Age 6+

PERFORMANCE
MONDAY 23 October 2023. Time: 20.00. Auditorium at the Labor Center (Ergatiko Kentro)

The performance

It is the composition of three different works, the folk song “Mr. Northwind ordered” (O kyr Vorias parageile), a poem by G. Viziinos “To naytopoulo” (The sailor boy) and the song by Stavros Dalkos “Thalassino Epitymbio” (Marine Tombstone). A challenge will be defeated by another challenge. Vorias/the Northwind calls seabirds and they respond. Consequence is destruction, and from destruction comes mourning. A Mother begins an imaginary journey of searching. The search for her son. And if the journey would take place, what the destination would be?

– Author – Screenplay – Adaptation: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou
– Animation / dramaturgy: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou
– Director: Stathis Markopoulos
– Scenography / productions / art direction: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou, Stathis Markopoulos
– Conception / idea: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou, Konstantinos Dimitrakopoulos
– Song (Marine Epitome): Stavros Dalkos
– Artistic techniques: Puppet theater and paper theater

The group

Nikoleta Vassilopoulou was born in 2003 and comes from Kalamata. She is a student in the Department of Interior Architecture at the University of West Attica (PADA) and since 2020 she has been involved in puppet theater as an amateur. She has attended short and long seminars on the art of puppetry and per- forming arts with Stathis Markopoulos, Francisco Brito, Christos Autsidis, Iro Theodorou, Vaso Giareni, Katerina Petroulaki, Sergios Sofikitis and Letta Petroulaki. She has taken part in the 2nd Athens Puppet Theater Festival as well as the Kalamata International Puppet Theater Festival and is a member of Unima Hellas.

– Full address: Kalamata 24100
– Mobile: 6984841110
– E-mail: nikvas03@gmail.com
– Contact person: Nikoleta Vassilopoulou

Dimitrakopoulos Shadow Theatre

"Karagiozis is a Rich Man"

Shadow Theater. Duration: 40'. Age 3+

PERFORMANCES
WEDNESDAY 18 October 2023. Time: 10.00. Special primary school & Kindergarten 
THURSDAY 19 October 2023. Time: 10.00. E.E.E.E.K. School

The performance

Our folk hero remains poorer than ever. The Pasha of the place decides to help with a new measure of social assistance to change the living conditions of Karagiozis. Hadziavatis, the best friend of Karagiozis, believes that his bad luck is such that he will never manage to become rich! All the favorite heroes pass through the berdé (the shadow scene), creating unexpected situations! After all, how lucky is our favorite protagonist?

The sequel on stage.

– Author - Screenplay: Traditional comedy
– Voices, Productions, Animation: Konstantinos Demetrakopoulos
– Stage assistant: Georgia Demetrakopoulou
– Artistic techniques: Shadow theater

The troupe

Konstantinos Dimitrakopoulos was born in 2002 and comes from Kalamata. He is a psychology student at the University of Athens (EKPA). Since the age of eight, he has been amateur in the art of Shadow Theater together with his sister and work partner, Georgia. From 2011 till today, they have been performing together traditional Karagiozi shows based on experience and improvisation but also with respect to the art of shadow theater. They have presented performances in many areas of Messenia, in Athens, in schools, cultural clubs, villages and festivals. During these years of activity, the troupe has worked with classic texts of shadow theater but also with original ideas and texts. He has collaborated with Municipalities and cultural institutions as well as with the Kalamata Puppet Theater Festival. From 2022, the Troupe is active on a professional level.

– Address: 24 Lykourgou Str., 24100 Kalamata
– Mobile: 6987447476
– E-mail: demetrakopoulosk@gmail.com
– Facebook: Dimitrakopoulos Shadow Theatre 
– Contact person: Konstantinos Demetrakopoulos

Workshop “Puppet animation and physical theater workshop in the puppet theater"

Duration: 9 hours, (three 3-hour sessions):
Part I: Tuesday 17/10/23 
Part II: Wednesday 18/10/23 
Part III: Thursday 19/10/23

Time: 15.00-18.00, Facilities at Experimental Stage (Peiramatiki Skini)
Participants: 20 adults max.

Teaching: Nikos Tombros, puppeteer-puppet maker of the ADAMAPANTACHOU troupe.

This workshop focuses on two main factors of a puppet theater creation: The animate being (puppeteer) and the inanimate object (doll). Borrowing techniques from puppet-body-dance theater, these two collaborators will narrate, express emotions, negotiate and communicate with the audience in the absence of text.

Group games, exercises and improvisations will help us reach our goal and play with the imagination of a child and the knowledge of an adult. The technique (rhythm, breathing, different qualities of movement) will try to coexist with spontaneity and playfulness. Dolls will become useful or less useful or even useless objects, our body or parts of our body and all possible combinations of the above. All participants will, of course, become puppeteers during the workshop, with the hope that they will continue after it ends.

The workshop is addressed to those who have any connection, amateur or professional, with theater, dance etc., to teachers but also to those who wish to gain a first experience in the field of puppet theater in combination with physical theater.

Little Puppet making workshop with ash recycled materials

From Thomas Herfort from the Kabaré Púpala Marionettes group
Maximum participation: 20 children, aged 6+.
Price: 15€

Duration: 2 hours.

SUNDAY 22/10/2023. Time: 16.00 - 18.00, Facilities at Experimental Stage (Peiramatiki Skini) Euripidou 2

Karagiozis figure-making workshop

Konstantinos Dimitrakopoulos (Voices, animation)
Georgia Dimitrakopoulos (assistant)

MONDAY 16/10/23. Time: 10.00-12.00, Facilities at Experimental Stage (Peiramatiki Skini) Euripidou 2

Duration : 2 hours
Ages: from 6 -12 years
Number of participants: from 10 to 20 people

The little viewers, guided by the animators, make a chosen figure/hero of the berdé (shadow theater stage) in plastic! They paint with whatever color they like, cut, join and the figure is ready! The materials and tools for construction are provided by the animators. Each child takes the figure with him.

Supplied: Each child's drawing of the figure on paper, 0.50mm plastic gel sheet, gel/spirit markers, scissors, double nails to join the pieces.

SEMINAR "The paper theater in the museum narrative" (paper theatre/toy)

Led by: Fay Tsitou from the group “Dytes”

MONDAY 16/10/23. Time: 10.00, Facilities at Experimental Stage (Peiramatiki Skini)

Duration: 2 hours
Participants: 20 adults

"The paper theater in the museum narrative" (paper theatre/toy)

Presentation and workshop for teachers, students and museum educators on the history and technique of paper theater. With the help of audio-visual material, participants are introduced to the history and practice of paper figures and their use in developing a museum narrative. They experiment with the design (script, direction, construction) of a paper performance, based on museums or other objects of their choice.

Fay Tsitou

Fay Tsitou, a founding member of "Dytes/ the Divers" group, works as a museum educator at the History Museum of the University of Athens and deals with educational programs and the use of various puppet theater techniques ("Volos Girls' School - A school in life and nature", "A day at school 100 years ago', 'How did you come up with the idea of studying science?', 'So do inanimate objects have souls?', 'The Old University and its occupants').

With the puppet theater group "Oi Dytes /the divers" she has staged the shows: Simultané, a musical pup- pet show (Theatre Fournos) and Voutia (Theatre Fournos, Bios, Kukla Festival/Istanbul, International Fes- tival of Puppet Theater Prague).

– Address: Orminiou 6, 11528, Athens
– Telephone: 2117100374 & 6973746809 
– E-mail: ftsitou@gmail.com

Musical event by "To Assodyo"

SATURDAY 21/10/2023. Time: 21.00, OSE Park (Train Station Park)
For the participant artists and the Festival’s volunteers.

Assodio

A casual, musical meeting, with traditional, rebetika, rock favorite songs but also with songs from the personal work of Panagiotis Vionis “Terrible two” and “Tzouran tzouran” of Panos Tantis and Eleni Christidou.

·  Eleni Christidou: vocals, accordion, percussion instruments
·  Panos Tantis: vocals, guitar
·  Panagiotis Vionis: vocals, tzourás baglamás