It all begins with a porcelain deer and a porcelain rabbit. From the rabbit comes some pâté, the deer produces some bread, and the two puppeteers eat together. This playful piece then unfolds with more and more surprises as the skilled operators, Charlotte Blin and Julien Mellano, tell a series of short stories about couples and courting.
All performed without a word on a table top, with objects to represent the various characters, Collectif Aïe Aïe Aïe’s delicate little show is filled with invention and many small wonders.
The objects they use to represent the characters are very basic and not puppeteered as objects brought to life. It is more that they represent the character, and the operators help fill in the gaps by inhabiting elements of the character themselves. Now for die hard puppeteers like myself this sounds like the greatest sin to commit when operating a puppet, but there is something about Blin and Mellano’s devoted performance that makes it work brilliantly. So much so that I didn’t think at all about technique – I was utterly engrossed in the characters and eager to follow their stories.
In once scene we see a randy napkin and a saucy napkin holder take up residence next to a small whiskey bottle and shot glass while two flashing disco balls party late into the night – and it’s not an unusual scenario in a piece so full of invention that it borders at times on the surreal. There are little speakers hidden in some of the objects that provide table top sound, and the company have even worked in a small pyrotechnic.
Such is the affection that they give the objects that when the shot glass dies and is filled with milk from a skull shaped glass it becomes quite moving. It is a show about affection, told with affection by two very skilled performer puppeteers. At only thirty minutes long I was reluctant to leave their playful and strange little world. I would certainly recommend keeping an eye out for Collectif Aïe Aïe Aïe in the future; it was an utter delight to share some time with them.