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The Theatre of Animation
Anja McFee
"What happens at the accidental meeting of inkblots, photocopies, cardboard, angle-poise lamps, the occasional table, video technology, a laptop and a banana box? A cast of hand-drawn marionettes are magically brought to life by The Paper Cinema."
Nic Rawling
Theatre in London is receiving an influx of innovative animation-based work, which is rapidly expanding theatre practice and redefining animation. However, as well as encouraging an engagement with new experimental performances, the increasing proliferation of animation in theatre is forcing theatre practitioners and audiences to reassess the accepted definitions of theatre.
Current Practice
Nic Rawling’s The Paper Cinema, which epitomizes the new theatre animation, emerged from the Bournemouth music scene. They present live animation shows using video projection and live music. Illustrated marionettes are moved in front of a video camera (and in full view of the audience) to create an impression of movement and storytelling, which is then projected onto a screen. The result is a whimsical hand-crafted aesthetic, which is strikingly evocative.
Laura Heit, an RCA trained puppeteer and Animator, employs a similar format in her shows. Amongst other work, she produces live performances of The Matchbox Shows, a solo cabaret in which tiny stories (staged within matchboxes) are projected live onto a screen.
Members of Edinburgh-based Pangolin’s Teatime, performing as The Great Puppet Horn, present bizarre and comic tales told through simple shadow puppetry, with the voices and soundtrack performed live by the two animators. In this work a light box replaces the screen as the audiences viewfinder onto the action.
Animation as Theatre
Animation is the manipulation of images or objects, to create an impression of movement or narrative. Although closely related to puppetry, the distinct use of projection equipment and light boxes means that animation is arguably emerging as a discrete theatrical discipline.
Despite its close links to the visual arts, animation and puppetry is increasingly situating itself within theatrical practice, as Nenagh Watson (the present CETT puppetry fellow) recently explains:
I’ve always seen it [puppetry and object animation] as belonging to the world of visual arts. Paradoxically, the work is mostly funded by theatre organizations and shown in theatrical performance spaces.
However, animation’s theatrical integrity persists. While the work of The Paper Cinema and Laura Heit, amongst many others, features ‘live’ animation and sound, the results are still viewed in the form of the flattened screen. Even more contentious is the use of pre-recorded animation, such as that used by cabaret theatre company 1927. Comprised of performers, a composer and an animator, 1927 combine live music with the influences of silent film and music hall. The actors interact with the animated sequences, but the animation is essentially a ‘non-live’ element of the performance. The more familiar work of Forkbeard Fantasy makes comparable use of the potential theatricality of animation.
Animation’s expanding theatre presence can be considered in relation to the increased presence of animation across all cultural forms. Theodor Adorno’s assertion, that ‘art assumes a parasitic character’, feeding off the aesthetics already in existence, is exemplified by the fluidity of the animation aesthetic between advertising and art, for example in the critically acclaimed Coca-cola ‘Happiness Factory’ advert, or Aardman Animations’ ‘Creature Discomforts’ advertising series. Infiltration of theatre might represent a coherent theatrical development, but the extent to which it will disrupt or conform to prevalent ideals of theatre remains to be seen and investigated.
The introduction of schemes such as the BP Big Screen or N T Live challenge theatre’s assumed ‘liveness’. Such schemes - and the presence of any kind of pre-recorded material in theatre - re-introduces, for theatre makers and audiences alike, a discussion of the importance of the ‘live’, as discussed by Phelan and Auslander.
It is critical to consider the technology of animation, in relation to ‘live’ theatre and ‘non-live’ cinema. The material structure of filmed animations is a sequence of individually crafted frames. Although film is of course also composed of frames, these are not performed individually, suggesting that the technical form of animation is more theatrical.
The efficacy of animation as a widespread theatrical tool, as employed by 1927, remains to be seen and experimented. What is so interesting at the moment is the emergence of animation performances as a distinct theatrical event, bringing with it fresh audiences and the construction of new dramatic languages.
Where to see some Animation in Theatre:
The Paper Cinema
Shows include Edgar Allen Poe’s King Pest and Night Flyer, an original story. They have performed at the Edinburgh Festival, The Little Angel Theatre and at Battersea Arts Centre in Punchdrunk’s The Masque of the Red Death.
In July The Paper Cinema will be performing at the Latitude Festival and in August you can catch them in Edinburgh.
1927
Their 2008 show, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, can be seen again in July at the Latitude Festival or at London’s LIFT festival in August. 1927 next show, The Fugue of Pazzy Villycar, will open in 2010.
Forkbeard Fantasy
In the autumn, Forkbeard Fantasy will be touring their new show, The Colour of Nonsense, inspired by The Emperor’s New Clothes and Edward Lear’s Nonsense Poems. In addition, Forkbeard offer a range of summer workshops and classes.
Pangolin’s Teatime
Edinburgh-based Pangolin’s Teatime often perform in the Puppet Grinder Cabaret at The Little Angel Theatre.
Laura Heit
Laura is based in America, but her Matchbox shows do tour internationally. She is currently co-director of Experimental Animation at California Institute of the Arts (CALARTS).