Guadalajara’s annual Festín De Los Muñecos (Puppet Festival) showcases the immense creative forces of international puppet theater, this year featuring two innovative productions from Canada.
‘Epidermis Circus’
Performed by Ingrid Hansen—a puppeteer for Fraggle Rock and The Jim Henson Company—“Epidermis Circus” is an offbeat, wildly inventive show. Described by one reviewer as “utterly magical, insanely inventive, wickedly funny, and beautifully twisted,” Hansen creates a live puppet film right before the audience’s eyes using only household objects, a camera and her bare hands.
Entertainment World has hailed Hansen as “a genius of physical comedy.” The work of her company, SNAFU (Society of Unexpected Spectacles), was compared to Wes Anderson and David Lynch by the Star Phoenix Newspaper.
Note: The show contains cartoonish sexual content, curse words and puppet suicide. Recommended for ages 14 and over.
Saturday, November 1, 5 p.m. & Sunday, November 2, 4 p.m. at the Conjunto Santander de las Artes. Tickets: 350 pesos.
‘The Storyville Mosquito’
From renowned Canadian DJ and musician Kid Koala comes “The Storyville Mosquito,” a production that blends live music, cinematic techniques and stunning puppetry. The story follows a mosquito who moves to the big city to fulfill his dream of becoming a great musician. A large team manipulates puppets and handcrafted objects of various scales to bring this world of jazz, dreams and fantasy to life, accompanied by a string trio and Kid Koala himself on piano and turntables.
Thursday, October 30 and Friday, October 31 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, November 1 at 1 p.m. & 6 p.m.; Sunday, November 2 at 12:30 p.m. at the Conjunto Santander de las Artes. Tickets: 400-700 pesos.
For ticket purchases and the complete festival schedule, visit www.conjuntosantander.com.