Serie: Kniffe, Tricks und Schißlawengs

Ins rechte Licht gerückt

von Martin Haase

 

                              

       

 

Zur Mitgliederversammlung 2014

Ein Highlight, ein großes Geschenk und kein leichter Abschied    -      Ted Hawkins und sein einmaliges Opera House

von Uwe Warrach

 

                    

                     

                       ted hawkins         

Ted Hawkins, englischer toy-theatre-player aus Blackpool, bringt zur diesjährigen Mitgliederversammlung des Vereins FORUM Papiertheater im Schloss Philippsruhe in Hanau ein außergewöhnliches Geschenk mit: das ziemlich einmalige Modelltheater des Buxton Opera House. Anlass, über ihn zu berichten und ihn selbst zu Wort kommen zu lassen (unsere nichtdeutschen Leser/innen werden es danken) und sich an seine Auftritte in Preetz und Waiblingen zu erinnern.

Es passierte im Jahre 2000 bei Pollock’s in London, Covent Garden, wo schon mancher Papiertheaterspieler sozusagen zur Welt kam, aber dieser war recht spät dran. Ted Hawkins, Großvater Ende der Sechziger, wollte eigentlich nur für seine Enkelin Faye zum Weihnachtsfest ein Toy theatre erstehen, kaufte aber gleich für sich eins dazu. Bereits im Januar 2001 wurde er für die nächsten zehn Jahre gepackt – von der Magie des Papiertheaters. „Ein Proszenium gestalten, die Vorhänge, die Logen, das Rampenlicht“ – er ging aufs Ganze, gefangen in der 3. Dimension, in nicht enden wollender Geschäftigkeit, bis zu 10 Stunden am Tag. 

Schon bald aber bereitete sich in dem besessenen Senior das Eigentliche vor, das wir nun bewundern dürfen und das den Eindruck erweckt, als hätten Meister und Werk aufeinander gewartet. Spät fanden sie sich und überholten alle Jüngeren.

Das Buxton Opera House hatte es ihm angetan, südöstlich von Manchester, nordöstlich von Stoke-on-Trent. Das Original wurde 1903 gebaut, entworfen von demselben berühmten Theaterarchitekten, der auch das London Palladium (1910) und London Coliseum (1904) entwarf.  Es hat 900 Sitze, diente als Opernhaus, Theater, Kino und Festival-Ort.

Ted Hawkins’ Nachbau besteht nicht nur aus der Bühne, es umfasst auch den Zuschauerraum nebst Publikum, Foyer und Straßenfront, mit bestechender Beleuchtung. Und so sollte es sein: die (virtuellen) Besucher von der Straße herein führen, vorbei an den Straßenlaternen, ins Haus, das Orchester stimmen hören, die Ouvertüre, den Applaus, dann die erlöschenden Lampen, der hoch gehende Vorhang – ein wahr werdender Märchentraum.

Bis dahin waren unzählige technische Probleme zu lösen, um das echte Publikum, das des toy theatre und die Figurinen zueinander zu führen. Bereits Weihnachten 2001 war alles bereit für die Premiere im „neuen Haus“: Cinderella, assistiert von der Enkelin Faye, nach einem Jahr aufregender Erfahrungen, gekrönt durch den Brinton Model Theatre Award, 2002, zum 70. Geburtstag.

In Preetz trat Ted mit „The Forest of Bondy“ auf, was er dankbar als große Ehre empfand und wobei ihm seine zweite Enkelin Rachel assistierte.  In Waiblingen war er mit „Clod Hans“; über beides wurde in unserer Zeitung berichtet.

Eine Inszenierung folgte der anderen, begleitet von etlichen Bühnen-Neubauten.

Ab 2007 trat Ted vier Mal bei Harry Oudekerks Festivals in Harderwijk auf, 2013 mit dem Buxton Opera House, das nun, ein Jahr später, seinen endgültigen Platz im Schloss Philippsruhe finden wird. „Ich werde traurig sein, es gehen zu lassen“, sagt Ted, „aber es könnte keinen besseren Platz finden.“ Und er fügt hinzu: „Die Reise nach Hanau wird möglicherweise unsere letzte Vorstellung, da meine Frau, die Fahrerin und ich beide über achtzig Jahre alt sind. Zufällig ist dies auch unser 60. Hochzeitsjahr.“
Sehr viele Gründe, zu gratulieren und – zu danken!

       
   

Nachstehend folgen die Berichte  über die Aufführungen in Preetz und Waiblingen sowie Teds eigene Darstellungen zum Buxton Opera House sowie zu seiner Inszenierung von The Forest of Bondy. Noch mehr erfährt man im Internet unter
www. puppetlady.wordpress.com/tag/buxton

---

Willers Amtrup zum 19. Preetzer Papiertheatertreffen, 8.–10. September 2006:

The Forest of Bondy

Mit einem Teil ihrer bravourösen Papiertheaterspieler vertreten waren wieder die Briten. Ich sah als erstes  „The Forest of Bondy“ des Webb Apollo Theatre von Ted und Enid Hawkins mit ihrer Enkelin, ein echtes Familientheater und, man kann es nicht anders sagen, klassisches englisches Papiertheater at its best. Die schauerliche Mär spielt vor 200 Jahren in einem Dorf in Frankreich und erzählt von einem Captain Aubri, der bei einem nächtlichen Kurierritt durch den Wald von Bondy von zwei mißgünstigen Untergebenen ermordet wird – nur Aubris treuer Hund kann den Mördern entkommen und führt die entsetzten Dorfbewohner zur Leiche seines Herrn. Als Mörder wird zunächst ein taubstummer Diener verdächtigt, doch werden kurz vor seiner Hinrichtung auf dem Feuerrad die wahren Täter entdeckt, von denen der eine sich selbst ersticht und der andere von Aubris Hund angefallen und zerfleischt wird. Das nach George Speaight 1814 auf der großen Bühne von Covent Garden erstmals aufgeführte Stück ist ein wahrer Klassiker des englischen Papiertheaters und wurde von nicht weniger als acht verschiedenen Druckern herausgebracht. Wir sahen es in der 1847 erschienenen Version von William Webb, dem mit diesem ersten von ihm herausgebrachten Stück gleich ein großer Wurf gelang. Spaight urteilt, daß alle Webb’schen Stücke „exzellente Beispiele“ für die Kunst des Toy Theatre gewesen seien – für „Forest of Bondy“ trifft das mit Sicherheit zu, denn alle Dekorationen und Figurinen sind außerordentlich detailreich und  natürlich und ermöglichen eine sehr gut gestaffelte Bühne mit schöner Tiefenwirkung, die jedenfalls überwiegend auch gut ausgeleuchtet wurde. Die Spieler führten die teilweise beweglichen Figurinen mit viel Gespür – am eindrucksvollsten waren natürlich die drei „schönen Leichen“, bei denen der Tod das jeweilige Opfer nach bewährter englischer Manier in mehreren aufeinanderfolgenden Posen ereilte. Zu „nörgeln“ gab es eigentlich nur daran, daß die Männerrollen bis auf die beiden Mörder nicht sehr ausdrucksstark gesprochen wurden. Insgesamt aber dennoch ein praktisch ungetrübter Genuß!

---

    

                     

---

A Journey through
THE FOREST OF BONDY
by Ted Hawkins
Nachdruck aus „The Puppet Master Autumn 2005“
(aus DAS PAPIERTHEATER Nr. 4 der Internetausgabe/ Dezember 2007; Bilder auch auf der Website des Preetzer Papiertheatertreffens 2006)

A year ago, in September 2004, and perhaps rather rashly, I had thought about performing a Toy Theatre play, at the very distant Webb Festival in Broadstairs,  then over a year away. Laurie Webb, great-grandson of the famous Webb, who published many Toy Theatre plays, had decided to put on a Webb Festival and eight performers would perform nine different Webb plays: Peter Baldwin, Robert Poulter, Joe Gladwin, the Peasgoods, Barry Clarke, Robin Cherry, Brian Green, and lastly myself!

Although I knew Iwould be out of my depth, it was too unique and important an event, to miss.
So various Webb scripts were obtained, but after reading through the playbook of Webb's first published play, The Forest of Bondy, I soon became hooked.

Completely new to me, I was impressed and inspired by the complex and exiting story, with it's many technical challenges, and so began work on a new Webb theatre, in which to perform this play. I worked from an enlargement of a print in the Wilson book, and by the beginning of 2005 the theatre had been completed.

This year, 2005, began with work on the scenery, and tackling the first of many ambitious requirements casually mentioned in the original instructions, like „dog jumps gate, exits right, then a few seconds later returns to jump the gate again“.

A little problem that was eventually solved by pulling a wooden slider, that moves the dog along a hidden runway behind the fence, and then the dog, supported by a shaped wire that hits a protruding screw, is lifted over the gate in a smooth arc, and then, out of sight, it is reversed inside it's wire shape, and the lever pushed back. The wire hits another screw that pivots the wire „arm“ and lifts the same dog back over the gate. A ten second episode that took perhaps a week's work.

Another tricky problem was when Gertrude, (mistress of the Bondy Inn) is awakened by the barking of the hero, Aubri's dog, returning from the forest, where his master has been murdered. The small high window lights up, then she opens the window, with lighted lamp in her hand, looks down at the dog, closes the window, the light goes out, and a few seconds later, appears in her hand, below, as she leaves with the dog, and exits, crossing the stage holding the lighted lamp.

All in all, over a hundret sliders of characters are used in the play, and after about two months, we began work on the recorded script. There really was no possibility of performing the play live – in fact, it was still uncertain whether we would actually be physically be able to perform it, move all the characters on, change the scenery, ect. I say we as in this play I was having to draw on my wife Enid's help. Of all the performers at Broadstairs, I am probably the least experienced, and the oldest! and my wife, who up to now, had only taken a seat in the audience, is also an „over 70“!

However the recording of the script began, and it soon became apparent that the large cast would require additional voices. My granddaughter Rachel (age 22) provided the young voice of Ursula, daughter of my wife's Gertrude, and her fiancé Chris, supplied the voice of the hero, Aubrie. I took on some of the other men.

One of the most dramatic moments of the play is when a breathless and exhausted Gertrude, who has presumably run all the way from the forest, (after being woken up by the dog) and after thus discovering the murdered body of Aubrie, returns to the inn, almost collapsing, shouting „Murder! Murder! Help!“ to awaken everyone. Needless to say, by the time we had rehearsed this part over and over again, Enid had achieved a very real state of breathless exhaustion!

So as the months passed, with the script recorded, and sound effects added, we began rehearsals. By July we were struggling, and only halfway through the first scene, and it was even doubtful whether we would be able to master this long and involved play. In real life, Gertrude, (or rather my wife), was indeed, once again, reaching a state of breathless exhaustion, from me getting more then slightly exasperated when she sometimes put in a character backwards!

In August we were trying to maintain daily rehearsals, but were still only on that first scene! There was a real possibility that I would have to call off Broadstairs, as I could not have gone down, knowing that we could not perform the play.

Luckily, by mid-August, Ursula or should I say Rachel, my granddaughter had stepped into Gertrude's shoes and joined me in the backstage performance, thankfully releasing my wife from her worrying task. With new young blood, and a new young brain, it seemed possible that we might succeed. Though by now, there were only about four usable weeks left before Broadstairs, and the rest of the play, another seven scenes, still had to be tried!

So, behind the scenes in The Forest of Bondy, there will be Rachel and myself doing the actual manipulation, while my wife will be assisting backstage, to keep things moving, passing us characters and scenery, and taking them from us. It still seems an impossibility to me, but already it has been the biggest and most difficult task that I have ever attempted, but, all being well, it could also be the most satisfying and enjoyable. We will see.

Although The Forest of Bondy has been so difficult and time consuming, it has brought in my wife and family, to share this unique experience, just as a Victorian family may have worked togehter to produce and perform on of the old „Penny plain tuppence coloured“ plays, supplying their voices, and possibly sharing that special backstage excitement.

But at the time of writing, there is still Broadstairs to come. So the end of the story is still to be told.
Will we get to Broadstairs? And how will we fare, up among the „big boys“?

– Stop Press News –
– The Broadstairs Broadsheed –
Webb Toy Theatre Festival
a huge success
Forrest of Bondy receives wide acclaim
The first of those two imagined headlines was more than likely to have been a reality, but the second would have been perhaps to much for me to expect!
However it has proved nearer to reality than I could have hoped for. A tense time, as one false step could have spelled desaster. Rachel and I backed up by Enid trod carefully through two performances and breathed a sign of relief when each final curtain was lowered. The cheers and applause and congratulations were more than worth all the work and worries over the last year and for Rachel, her Toy Theatre debut was an experience to remember all her life.
So The Forest of Bondy had a very happy ending.
      

---

         
                       

---

Aus: Ein Schatz in acht Vorstellungen

Das fünfte Internationale Dr. Kurt Pflüger Papiertheaterfestival in Waiblingen

von Iris Förster

„Clod Hans“ nach dem Märchen von Hans Christian Andersen wird gespielt von den Victorian Tabel-Top-Theatres mit Ted und Enid Hawkins aus Blackpool. Zu sehen ist das wohl prächtigste Schloss des Festivals in einer liebevollen Inszenierung. Trotz Spiels in englischer Sprache sind die vielen anwesenden Kinder durchaus mit Interesse und Spannung dabei, was sicherlich auf die eindeutige und textgetreue Umsetzung des Märchens zurückzuführen ist.

---

                       

---

 Ted Hawkins in Waiblingen

Ted Hawkins:

It all started with a visit to Pollocks…

… to buy my grand-daughter Faye, a small toy theatre for Christmas 2000, and thinking that maybe I would get one to make for myself.  These were both just paper sheets to cut out and make.  I made the ‘Victoria’ for Faye, and I had the larger one.  This was a Redington's ‘large’ theatre, and so in January 2001 I took my first venture into the world of Toy Theatres, and I found it fascinating. 
Turning the paper proscenium into a three-dimensional model, setting in the boxes, wiring the footlights, getting the curtains to open realistically, the stage, the scenery, cutting out the characters, the jobs were endless but so rewarding.  The next few months found me occupied, sometimes as much as ten hours a day, until the theatre was finished and I began to think of adding a theatre-front to my proscenium.

We had been to the BUXTON OPERA HOUSE before, and photos of this beautiful theatre prompted me to try building a ‘front’ that would separate into two halves, in effect leading the viewer into the theatre from the street, to hear the orchestra tuning up, and then after a short overture, applause, the lights dim, and the curtain rises.      So much for dreams!           The two sliding exterior ‘halves’ proved a problem by having to pass over the audience. The only way was to work out how the seated figures could drop forward as the theatre sides closed, and lift up as the theatre was opened. The backs of the exterior halves would also have additional interior boxes for the increased audience.   Outside street and wall lamps (as in the original Buxton Opera House) were added, and also foyer lights, that illuminate the tiled steps, pavement and cobbled street.    By Christmas 2001 it was all finished, and I performed CINDERELLA on Christmas Day 2001, with the assistance of Faye.   This first year had been a fantastic experience, culminating in the presentation of the Brinton Model Theatre Award to me, in 2002, my 70th year, and a year and a half after taking my first exploratory steps into the world of Model Theatres. 

From 2002 I then began over ten years of theatre-making, that would take me into my 80’s.  
First was a model of the Tivoli ‘Peacock’ theatre in Copenhagen, with its opening-peacock curtain, and in which I wrote and performed a small Harlequin play. (2003)    In 2005 THE FOREST OF BONDY was made and performed in my newly-built WEBB’s Apollo theatre.  My other grand-daughter Rachel made her first appearance and shared the joint operation with me.  This was at Laurie Webb’s memorable WEBB’S FESTIVAL in Broadstairs, where eight WEBB plays were performed by the country’s leading toy theatre performers.   With Rachel and her husband Chris, we took this play to Preetz in 2006. 
Being part of this famous international festival was a most rewarding experience, and a great honour.     

Then followed four enjoyable trips to Harry’s Festivals in Harderwijk. (2007 / 2009 / 2011 / 2013)  
In 2007 it was an enlarged CLOD HANS performed in another hand-built Schreiber Rococo theatre, that we also took to Waiblingen in Germany that same year. In 2009 it was THE SCOURGE OF THE GULF, a Pirate play by Jack Yeats, in another specially made theatre.  Then, in 2011 I  made a full-length pop-up version of TREASURE ISLAND.  this was particularly challenging as the many scenes had to open in book-style, one on top of the other, and one after the other, and each with its own stage-floor, and with hidden grooves or channels to move the characters.   My daughter Wendy assisted me in its co-operation.   

Finally in 2013 we again returned to Harderwijk with my first theatre, THE BUXTON OPERA HOUSE, to once again perform the original CINDERELLA.     This was greatly admired and eventually, after much negotiation, led to its purchase and final appearance at THE  SCHLOSS PHILLIPSRUHE in Hanau.
All being well, this will be its final ‘resting place’ !   I will be sorry to see it go, but it could not be in a better place.   The drive to Hanau will possibly be our final performance too, as my wife who is the driver, and myself are now both over 80.     Incidentally, this year is our 60 th Wedding Anniversary.

In between all this I have made another large theatre for THE MILLER & HIS MEN.  
This proved to be rather over-ambitious and has eight large ‘box-scenes’ and over a hundred characters.   Too large to perform in one operation, I eventually filmed the play, scene by scene, so that it has been possible to at least watch the whole play from beginning to end, but only on film.      In these last ten years I have also made and performed four children’s pop-up plays in a specially built Joseph Scholz proscenium.  These plays were Hansel and Gretel, Table lay yourself, and Sleeping Beauty.