A humorous 40-minute production Worm Henry,
appeals to children without restoring to
slapstick and hysteria. The play is the story of
a friendship between a lonely man who invents
himself a friend, a worm - his finger.
All roles, including the aforementioned lonely
man and worm, a tailor, a waiter, a neighbor, a
policeman, an angry driver, a passer by and kids
are played by a single actor, Janos Ban, one of
Hungary's best.
In addition he provides the sound effects,
including key, locks, squeaky doors, trucks,
motorbike, bus, ambulance, squeaky brakes, siren,
falling leaves, bubbling water, chirping birds,
door bell, sewing machine, coffee, milk, sugar,
and more many.
He gathered an impressive number of national and
international awards for his numerous acting
achievements, including the part from the film My
Little Village by Jiri Menzel, which was
designated for an Oscar in 1987.
"Menzel influenced my artistic thinking. His
ordinary people without pretensions, humble East
European characters appeal to me," Ban said.
"I'm the 'seeking' type of person. I've
played for kids before, but this play with absurd
accents is like a naive painting. It excites my
fantasy extremely. It is very challenging for my
acting capacities."
In order to have a vivid tempo, in two seconds
six different things happen. It takes a lot of
attention and concentration. In an intimate
space, children are not passive, they are very
free. I have to improvise a lot because they talk
to me during the show"
We suggest it from ages 5 and up, for adults also
enjoy themselves. The great fun is when they come
together, for adults and youngsters respond to
different layers of humor. There are situations
in this show when children turn towards their
parents and ask why they laugh, what's the point,
what was so amusing for them. |
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Worm Henry is one of the most modern forms of
the nowadays puppet show, with a scientific base.
It can be called puppet show, or children's
theater, or virtuosity pantomime.
"We try to explore the modern zone of the
puppet theater" says Janos Novak, director.
"We present plays in a space with less than
200 seats. The idea is Swedish in its origin
where exists a science and a literature written
especially for chamber theater. It has been
determined that this way is more efficient, more
intense if you are closer to the children. The
fourth wall of the theater falls and the real
spontaneous, atmosphere of a workshop is
born."
Kids identify with Worm Henry who is very funny,
though a bit loud. He's the child in the show, he
gets dirty, has to be dressed according to
grown-up taste, has to endure parental-like
hysterics and hypocrisy. When the worm disappears
for a while after a quarrel, the show is no
longer interesting for them, their attention is
lost.
The music is unsophisticated but suggestive:
nostalgic and sad.Kolibri Feszek, Andrassy
ut 74, tel: 132-3720, on Friday May 13, at 3 p.m.
The Budapest Sun, Summer 1994
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