Fox and Rat try desperately to get Crow to drop some cheese
What better place to be on a rainy morning in Tetouan than in an auditorium full of primary school children enjoying the magical puppet theater of the Puppeteers of Binefar. La Fabula de la Raposa is a story of woodland animals and and grumpy but comical farmer told wonderfully by two enthusiastically childlike puppeteers, whose acting and reacting around the puppets made the show all the more delightful.
The puppets used in this production were primarily rod puppets operated from either above or behind the articulated characters. Strings, levers and cables, even though slightly visible, allowed the performers to bring to life the movements of the characters. Mouths moved, eyes blinked, wings flapped, tongues lolled and tails wagged in coreography with music and animal sounds provided by the performers. With just enough dialogue in Spanish to help the story’s conflict and resolution finish strong, there was not a moment when the auditorium full of children was not eagerly tracking with the whole drama. The portable set was alive with flowers that actually grew in spring, a tree that got chopped down and a working stream of real water that diappeared over the edge as a waterfall into a hidden bucket. Leaves blew in Autumn and it snowed in winter as the story unfolded the seasons on the edge of a farm. And just like the seasons, each of the characters changed a little by the end of the story, including the grumpy farmer. A top-knotch performance of a beautiful story in one of my favorite mediums! I for one walked back out into the rain with a happy smile and a spring in my step. Thank you Titiriteros de Binefar!!