ANYWHERE
Presented by The Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival and Theatre de l’Entrouvert in collaboration with HERE Arts Center and Dream Music Puppetry
Created by Theatre l’Entrouvert
HERE | 145 6th Ave, New York, NY 10013
February 6th – March 2nd
Photo Credit by Richard Termine
ANYWHERE is an extraordinary journey in the footsteps of Oedipus after the revelation that he had murdered his father and married his mother. Something magical happens as soon as the lights go down and the music by Pascal Charrier comes up.. As a mysterious cloaked figure writes lines of Heny Bauchau’s Oedipus on the Road, you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand-up. This is considered the “missing chapter of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, as the blinded Oedipus endures numerous rites of passage that lead him to the spiritual and physical realization”.
Antigone, Ashwaty Chennat, finds her father outside the city wall and so begins their journey. When Antigone appears in the half-light, I thought her to be more puppet than human. Her movements so precise, her features so symmetrical, Chennat is exquisitely mesmerizing. As Antigone removes the stained bandages from her father’s eyes, it is revealed that Oedipus is an ice-puppet. From the moment the performance begins, Oedipus is melting away. Operated by Mark Blashford, the intricate dance between puppet, puppet master and performer battling the elements is simply breathtaking.
The performance is brief, coming in under an hour, but the beauty will remain with you long after Oedipus vanishes. Claire Saxe who is responsible for staging this production in the US did an expert job in bringing the original work of Elise Vigneron and Hélène Barreau to life. This truly unique experience it not to be missed. The impermanence of live theatre, ice and life blend so seamlessly, if you miss this, you will never see anything quite like it again.
Click HERE for tickets.
Reviewed by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on Feb 10th, 2025. All rights reserved.