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Digital Programme: La Pendue – La Manékine

La Pendue - La Manekine

Welcome to the Barbican

And thank you for joining us to start the new year as MimeLondon returns.

We are delighted to present four breathtaking productions from leading international artists making their Barbican debuts between 14 January and 1 February, including award-winning work in the Theatre and three UK premieres in The Pit. It’s a pleasure to be working again with MimeLondon's directors, Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, as they find new ways to connect us all to companies across the world who specialise in groundbreaking visual storytelling.

First up, La Manékine by French company La Pendue is a thrilling adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about female emancipation, brought to vibrant life with striking puppetry, digital projection and a live one-man orchestra.

This is followed by Galway-based Brú Theatre exploring the forgotten lives of the Irish navvies in Not a Word, merging mask, movement and live electronic and traditional music.

Next, French-Norwegian company Plexus Polaire take to the Barbican Theatre’s epic stage to reinvent Herman Melville's classic with a spectacular adaptation of Moby Dick, featuring fifty puppets including a life-sized whale.

Finally, from Switzerland, Frau Trapp’s Five Lines explores human nature through the lens of one couple's relationship in a dystopian world, using micro cinema-theatre.

We hope you enjoy your visit, whether you are choosing just one show or coming back for more of these intricate and spellbinding contemporary performances.

Toni Racklin, Barbican Head of Theatre & Dance

 

We’re delighted to be collaborating with the Barbican once again, a valued relationship that started almost 25 years ago. During that time, in partnership with the Barbican, our programmes have brought many wonderful theatre experiences to London audiences, including four Olivier Award-nominated productions. We look forward to another exciting contemporary visual theatre series in 2025.

Helen Lannaghan, for MimeLondon 
MimeLondon.com
Directors: Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig  

The Company

Cast
Estelle Charlier
Martin Kaspar Orkestar

Creative Team
Concept, Artistic Direction, Puppets and Masks Estelle Charlier
Music Martin Kaspar Orkestar
Dramatisation Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet
Adaptation and Texts Romaric Sangars
Lighting and Technical Manager Anthony Lopez
Sound Manager Andi Luchsinger
Stage Direction Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet
Set and Props Anthony Lopez, Andi Luchsinger, Estelle Charlier, Martin Kaspar Orkestar, Romuald Collinet and TMG Set construction workshops
Costumes Estelle Charlier and TMG Costume-making workshops 
Associate Choreographer Sarah Charlier      

Video Editing Pavlína Vimmrova   
Administration Patricia Lecoq  

Tour Manager Thomas Balouet

Event Information

Running time: 65 minutes; there is no interval

Age guidance: 14+

This event contains adult themes including grief, loss and body mutilation. 

Performed in French, with English surtitles.

Post-show talk 

Thu 16 Jan

Free to same-day ticket holders. BSL-interpreted by Samuel Rojas

Creator's notes

About Compagnie La Pendue

La Pendue works across theatre and puppetry, exploring delicate metamorphosis. The company was created in Grenoble in 2003 by Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet, two former students of the National School for Puppetry in Charleville-Mézières. La Pendue is managed by Le Théâtre de l’Homme Ridicule, and has built workshops and a rehearsal room located in the heights of Grenoble.

From here, the company develop work that has both divergent and complementary ambitions: traditional glove puppet productions inspired by the 400-year-old character Polichinelle (Pulcinella), including the show, Poli dégaine; and contemporary work which experiments with different puppetry techniques (string puppets, portees, shadows and other as-yet uncategorised techniques). The common ambition of the two is to reveal the essential human.

The company have toured internationally and collaborated with prestigious partners including puppeteer Ilka Schönbein, for whom Romuald Collinet was the artistic adviser for La vieille et la bête; and the film director Leos Carax, with whom Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet created the face, growth and magic for the character of Annette in the film of the same name.

www.lapendue.fr

About MimeLondon

MimeLondon is a curatorial project created by Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, directors of London International Mime Festival (LIMF), which ended in 2023 after five decades of influential success. It supports occasional seasons of contemporary visual theatre, in collaboration with different partner venues.

Continuing its valued, long-standing relationship with the Barbican as its principal venue, this second series features seven productions new to London. A series of workshops based in physical, visual and puppetry theatre also takes place during the same period, together with the online screening of an award-winning short film, The Last Show, documenting the final edition of LIMF and containing interviews with many of the personalities involved in its history.

Find out more at MimeLondon.com

Biographies

Special Thanks

Producing: Théâtre de l'Homme Ridicule.

Co-producing and residency: TMG – Grenoble; Espace Aragon à Villard-Bonnot; Le MeTT – Marionnettes en Transmission le Teil; Saint-Martin-d’Hères en scène: L’heure bleue – ECRP Scène régionale. 

Co-producing: Espace Jéliote – Centre National de la Marionnette à Oloron-Sainte-Marie; Figur i Fossekleiva – Norway; Le Train Théâtre, Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national – Art et création; La Mure Cinéma Théâtre.

Support: DRAC Auvergne Rhône Alpes; Auvergne Rhône Alpes Region; Departement of Isère; City of Grenoble.

Company in residence and creative development supported by: Scène 55, Scène Conventionnée d’Intérêt National Art et Création – Mougins and the World Festival of Puppet Theaters of Charleville-Mézières.

Other residencies : L’Amphi de Pont-de-Claix; L’Odyssée d’Eybens.

This show has received the support of SPEDIDAM, a collection and distribution company that manages the rights of performers in recording, broadcasting and the reuse of registered services.

Presented by the Barbican

Photos by Le Monde d’Aurore, Estelle Charlier and Martin Kaspar Orkestar

 

From the Barbican

Barbican Centre Board
Chair
Sir William Russell
Deputy Chair
Tijs Broeke
Deputy Chair
Tobi Ruth Adebekun

 

Board Members
Randall Anderson, Munsur Ali, Michael Asante MBE, Stephen Bediako OBE, Farmida Bi CBE, Zulum Elumogo, Jaspreet Hodgson, Nicholas Lyons, Mark Page, Anett Rideg, Jens Riegelsberger, Jane Roscoe, Despina Tsatsas, Irem Yerdelen

 

Clerk to the Board
John Cater and Kate Doidge
Barbican Centre Trust Chair
Farmida Bi CBE
Vice Chair
Robert Glick OBE

 

Trustees
Stephanie Camu, Tony Chambers, Cas Donald, David Kapur, Ann Kenrick, Kendall Langford, Sir William Russell, Sian Westerman

 

Directors
Chief Executive Officer (Interim)
David Farnsworth
Deputy CEO (Interim)
Ali Mirza
Director of Development
Natasha Harris
Head of Finance & Business Administration
Sarah Wall
Director for Buildings & Renewal
Dr Philippa Simpson
Director of Commercial
Jackie Boughton
Director for Audiences
Beau Vigushin
Director for Arts and Participation
Devyani Saltzman
Executive Assistant to CEO
Hannah Hoban

 

Theatre Department
Head of Theatre and Dance
Toni Racklin
Senior Production Manager
Simon Bourne
Producers
Liz Eddy, Jill Shelley, Fiona Stewart
Assistant Producers
Mrinmoyee Roy, Mali Siloko, Tom Titherington
Production Managers
Jamie Maisey, Lee Tasker
Technical Managers
Steve Daly, Jane Dickerson, Nik Kennedy, Martin Morgan, Stevie Porter
Stage Managers
Lucinda Hamlin, Charlotte Oliver 
Technical Supervisors
James Breedon, Charlie Mann, Josh Massey, Matt Nelson, Adam Parrott, Lawrence Sills, Chris Wilby
Technicians
Kendell Foster, David Kennard, Burcham Johnson, Bart Kuta, Christian Lyons, Kieran Poynter, Fred Riding, Fede Spada, Matt Turnbull
PA to Head of Theatre
David Green
Production Administrator
Caroline Hall
Production Assistant
Ashley Panton
Stage Door
Julian Fox, aLbi Gravener

Creative Collaboration
Head of Creative Collaboration
Karena Johnson 
Senior Producer for Learning and Participation
Oluwatoyin Odunsi
Senior Manager
Sarah Mangan
Producer
Josie Dick
Assistant Producer
Carmen Okome

 

Marketing Department
Head of Marketing
Jackie Ellis
Deputy Head of Marketing
Ben Jefferies
Senior Marketing Manager
Kyle Bradshaw
Marketing Manager
Rebecca Moore
Marketing Assistants
Antonia Georgieva, Ossama Nizami

 

Communications Department 
Head of Communications
James Tringham 
Senior Communications Manager
Ariane Oiticica  
Communications Manager 
HBL 
Communications Officer
Sumayyah Sheikh
Communications Assistant
Andrea Laing

 

Audience Experience
Senior Audience Experience Managers
Oliver Robinson, Liz Davies-Sadd, Ben Skinner
Ticket Sales Managers
Jane Thomas, Bradley Thompson, Lucy Allen
Ticket Sales Team Leaders
Molly Barber, Alex Steggles, Máire Vallely, Nicola Watkinson, Charlotte Day
Operations Managers
Tabitha Fourie, Aksel Nichols, Ben Raynor, Samantha Teatheredge, Hayley Zwolinska
Operations Manager (Health & Safety)
Mo Reideman 
Audience Event & Planning Manager
Freda Pouflis
Venue Managers
Catherine Campion, Scott Davies, Maria Pateli, Lotty Reeve, Shabana Zaman
Assistant Venue Managers
Sam Hind, Bronagh Leneghan, Melissa Olcese, Daniel Young
Young Crew Management
Dave Magwood, Rob Magwood, James Towell
Access and Licensing Manager    
Rebecca Oliver  

 

Security
Operations Manager
Naqash Sheikh
Audience Experience Coordinator
Ayelen Fananas