Nufonia Must Fall
Creator Eric San (Kid Koala). Director K.K. Barrett. Set design Benjamin Gerlis. Puppet designers and puppeteers Clea Minaker, Patrick Martel and Karina Bleau. Musical Score Kid Koala. Musical director, String arrangements and additional score Vid Cousins. Musical performers Kid Koala and the Afiara Quartet. Director of photography a.J. Korkidakis. Th Dunstan Playhouse. Adelaide Festival centre. Adelaide Festival. March 4-7.
Originally co-commissioned by Luminato Festival and the Adelaide Festival, the Banff Centre,Internationales Sommerfestival Hamburg, Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival, Groningen,Roundhouse UK and Santiago A Mil.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Nufonia Must Fall |
You know that you are in for something different when the
audience warm-up is a bingo game with a card of illustrations that will later
feature in the silent movie love affair between a heartwarming out of work
robot and a beautiful inventor. “Bingo! Shouts a man from the audience and
walks to the Dunstan Playhouse stage to collect his prize, a personal copy of Nufonia Must fall, complete with a DVD
of the animated puppet show, from none other than the show’s popular creator,
Kid Koala a.k.a. Eric San.
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| The lonely Office Girl and the Out of Work Robot from Nufonia Must Fall |
The lights dim, and we are lured into an enchanting wonderland
of music, video, sound effects and puppetry. Dexterous puppeteers manipulate
the puppet characters against miniature model sets to the sounds of a
string quartet and Kid Koala on piano, synthesizer and turntable, as well as
providing the vocal effects. Childlike magic weaves its spell, entrancing child
and adult alike as the love story unfolds upon the large screen. From soothing
melody to frenzied discord, the strings stir the emotions and underscore the
action as the poor outdated robot is fired from one job after another and
replaced by the latest model, ironically invented by the girl who has fallen
for the cutely irresistible rod puppet robot. We are bewitched, our
heartstrings pulled by the simple forlorn angle of the robots head, shocked by
his accident with a bus and heartened by the girl’s ability to bring him back
to life. We wince at the apparent betrayal and sigh with relief at the power of
love to reunite and restore the love’s true passion. Nufonia Must Fall is a love
story that will soar with the power of music, puppetry and the eternal tale of
triumphant love.
The unfolding narrative and engaging animation absorb our
imagination and fascination. Beneath the screen, one can only imagine a
delicately and finely choreographed pattern of brilliant collaboration between
the puppeteers, who breathe life into the inanimate rod puppets, the video
operators who move with the puppeteers from model set to model set and the
stage manager and his team who ensure the symmetry of film and operation.
Meanwhile Kid Koala and the Afiara Quartet of string instruments entice our
hearts to feel the passion of the tale and our minds the engagement with life’s
struggles and dreams, disappointments and joy.
For those in the audience who retain the fascination with
how something works, Nufonia Must Fall will be an enduring inspiration. Whether you are a child, completely absorbed
by the story of the robot or an adult fascinated by the onstage magic of
manipulation and operation, Nufonia Must
Fall offers a new and refreshing art of storytelling that will delight all
ages. Hopefully, it will have a life beyond Adelaide and the Festival. It is a
charming entertainment for everyone.
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