La Manékine

Based on a story by the Brothers Grimm, dramatised by Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet
La Pendue, presented by the Barbican in association with MimeLondon
The Pit, Barbican Centre

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La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore
La Manékine Credit: La Monde d’Aurore

French company La Pendue has dissected a dark tale from the canon of the Brothers Grimm and in its depths found themes of female agency around which to create a captivating and beautiful piece of visual theatre.

The show is brought to the Barbican’s Pit by occasional international festival MimeLondon and is amongst a handful of London debuts taking place over the fortnight-long event.

The story is characteristically grisly as one has come to expect from such source material—the titular La Manékine is a young woman whose father cuts off her hands to save his own skin after the Devil has tricked him into a pact.

She runs away and falls in love with the king of a distant land who makes her mechanical hands but he is called away to war. The Devil interferes with their letters, and she is forced to flee with their son, whom she has been instructed to kill by, she thinks, the King.

The King searches for his family and, after many years, during which time her goodness has been rewarded by God who has given her new hands, they are reunited.

La Manékine is the name given to the character by the show’s narrator, who had formerly been the King’s gardener and is now a dottily comic storyteller, played by La Pendue’s Estelle Charlier.

Charlier also co-directs, co-wrote the dramatisation and created the puppets and masks, which she uses so effectively to tell the story and portray its characters with such elegance and nuance. She builds up from small hand puppets, slightly reminiscent of Punch and Judy, to beautiful marionettes portées and uses suspended costumes to enhance some exquisitely crafted mask work.

The other half of La Pendue is one-man orchestra Martin Kaspar Orkestar, playing two or three at once of clarinet, base clarinet, whistle, accordion and drums. He has conjured up a musical accompaniment that encompasses folk, haunting gothic and ethereal magic, with at times the score emerging as character and storyteller in this sparsely scripted show.

On the screen that also serves to display occasional English language surtitles are projected visually stunning monochrome images, often close-ups blasting intense emotion, the scale in striking contrast to the delicate physical movements of the live performers.

La Manékine is irresistible. All the elements come together like aligned stars to bewitch with this story of female courage and tenacity. Estelle Charlier and Martin Kaspar Orkestar are masters of their craft presenting visual storytelling at its best.

This event is sold out.

Reviewer: Sandra Giorgetti

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