Shadow Theater in Argentina.

My first experience with Shadow Theater was in Buenos Aires, Argentina.I joined the group "Transparencias" that met once a week in the Youth Wing of the music academy called Collegium Musicum . The group was directed by Beppi Kraus, a Vienese architect by training who after a trip to Asia and inspired by the work of animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger (read about Lotte) founded one of the first -if not the first-Shadow Theater in Latin America. Our musical director was  Guillermo Graetzer I joined in 1965 and stayed until the completion of our show "Gilgamesh" in 1971.

We had a wall sized screen of semi translucent paper onto which we projected slides and the shadows of masked actors. Small 3D models for the scenery, such as the city gates, were  photographed and then projected onto the screen by two slide projectors . Direct drawing/painting on film strips was also done. For example for the journey through the cedar forest in search of the monster Humbaba the actor that played Gilgames moved by the screen onto which  rows of trees on the film strip  turned during projection.

Gilgamesh telling his dreams to Enkidu.

The death of Enkidu.

The masks were made of metal mesh and paper. At that time I had no need for pictures and so unfortunately the only ones I have are the ones I saved from the trash years later on a visit to Guru Beppi.

No doubt my present show AMANILI SINGS has roots in the period of working with Beppi and the "Transparencias" group.

On a visit to Buenos Aires in 2007 I went to the neighborhood of San Telmo to visit the Argentine Museum of Puppet Theater , a tiny puppet museum in the street Piedras 905. You can see a rich collection of puppets, meet Sara Bianchi the director of the museum and puppeteer (that collaborated for years with Mane Bernardo)and watch a puppet show in the smallest space I have ever seen functions as  a theater.

I will soon write about this wonderful little museum in Buenos Aires, its rich collection and special director.