Faustus

Since 1981 I have been making and performing plays with puppets for the Handspring Puppet Company where I am the company’s Artistic Director. The life of the puppet only exists in the darkened space of a theatre in front of an audience, but for some time now I have wondered whether they could have another ‘life’, if the puppet were rendered in two dimensions. A series of lino prints has been the result. My original full scale building plan for each puppet was transferred to the lino which determined the scale of the finished print. Then the character of the figure was developed on top of the plan, which is still visible peeping through. The mechanics of the puppet, it’s joints and control rods remain part of the image as they would be in the theatre but in the print the puppet gazes out as if it is fully in control. There are 7 prints in the series so far:-‘Aunty Betty’ (From the production of ‘Starbrites!’ Directed by Barney Simon)‘Faustus’, ‘Gretchen’, ‘Johnston’, ‘Helen of Troy’ (From the production of ‘Faustus in Africa’ directed by William Kentridge)‘Ulysses’ and ‘Penelope’ (from the production of Monteverdi’s opera ‘The Return of Ulysses’ directed by William Kentridge)All seven have been printed and editioned by Artists Proof Studios in Johannesburg.