00:14Last year July we did a show at the National Arts Festival on the Fringe in Grahamstown and the
00:20director-delegate of the French Institute Marion Claudel saw the show and she really liked it and
00:26so afterwards we had a conversation over a glass of wine based on the fact that I
00:32studied puppetry in Charly-le-Mézire for three years which happens also to be the
00:36birth town of Rambo we kind of had this idea of making a piece using Rambo's poetry
00:42with his poetry we kind of try to create a journey of an individual encountering
00:48different difficulties in life and this journey which is the journey of the
00:53puppet in the show is also quite similar to the journey of Rambo and it was up
00:58to me to select a team from the beginning it was clear to me that I would work with
01:03Arno van Vliet. Arno started by making a selection of poems that he really wanted to
01:08say to music
01:09it's a small green valley where a slow stream runs that leaves long strands of silver on the bright
01:15grass from the mountain top the sun's ray stream they fill the hollow full of light
01:25they fill the hollow full of light
01:30The first poem I said to music was a poem called Le Mal in French which means evil which
01:37is basically a critique on war and also on religion
01:42In his side there are two red holes
01:52I contacted Johan because I was very interested in using Chinese hand puppets for the show
01:56We are using this character Arthur Rambo's life which is he leave this place lost in a
02:03little city in the north of France and he's been to Paris by foot and there there was a
02:09commune there was some kind of civil war and he was part of it and so we wanted to bring
02:15all this and to tell the story of this guy but in the same time to be in the story
02:19of
02:20every of us you know one day you leave your house and you have to go on your way and
02:24some
02:25moments are hard some moments are very nice and you need to find the peace.
02:29Johan and I started to work on ideas around sonography and through line for the show then I found this
02:36retro projector and started to do a little bit of experiments on that in the beginning of this
02:41year it became quite clear quite quickly that that was going to be the tool that we'd use for the
02:47show
02:47I was also making drawings and experimenting with different textures for the overhead projector
02:53in my studio also months in advance. We tried to keep the setup of the show to a minimum
02:58because we knew the show was going to tour but in reality it's quite a process
03:03we have to assemble the set set the lights Arno plays through his songs I have to put all my
03:11images in order
03:12so it is quite a process but it's also part of preparing for the performance you know so for example
03:19while I'm putting my images in order I'm thinking about the show what I need to be focusing on
03:24Johan puts all these puppets backstage and then you know he's also preparing himself mentally.
03:30The show is quite unusual in that it combines different mediums, music, puppetry, artistic projections
03:38quite an unusual combination for a theatre show in South Africa
03:43I'm really looking forward to see how people will react to the show.
03:46When I was a kid I remember when some artists were coming and I was like
03:49it's a dream and today I'm an artist so I wish that maybe one of them through this show
03:57and other shows will go in this direction and follow his dream and do his art.
04:07My parents moved me out for a surprise.
04:14The show was really amazing. It allowed the audience to go into their imagination.
04:22We all have an imagination and sometimes we want to be like children.
04:28And I guess this show taps into our child-like playfulness within our minds.
04:37I discovered the place, the show, the poetry in English because I knew it in French.
04:43The music and I found it a very magical blend.
04:47And we really dive into this universe. Very impressive.
05:01In this show there's like a kind of primitive use of technology but still it takes you on such a
05:08beautiful journey.
05:13People love the simplicity of the set, the imagery, the puppets, like some people connected really with the music.
05:24So we've had great feedback thus far and it made Rambo come alive to a lot of people who never
05:32really engaged with his work before.
05:37It was very surprising, extremely poetic and extremely touching too.
05:45And I really had a great, great time and I'm still processing all the images and the sounds and everything.
05:53It was really, really nice and gorgeous.
06:03Yeah.
06:05Just go.
06:07Just go.
06:15Yes.
06:16I got to get to that.
06:18Yes.
06:20Yes.
06:22I got to love you.
06:26I'm already cleaning, but I'm here, I am lying
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