International Puppet Festival Opens its Doors in Budapest

“Abstract” is the title of the first Budapest International Contemporary Puppet Festival, organized by the Budapest Puppet Theater between 6 and 19 May as part of the 10th International Theater Olympics. According to the theater’s press release, the event aims to give both professionals and audiences an insight into the cutting edge of international contemporary puppetry.

The event will open with an open-air giant puppet parade on Andrássy Avenue as part of the Budapest 150 program. The Spanish company La Fam will bring a special five-meter high robotic Achilles puppet to the parade, joined by giant puppets from the Budapest Puppet Theater’s production of Hello, Heracles.

In addition to the open-air event, the AbstractTalks professional conference will take place in the morning of the opening day, and in the afternoon, an acoustic concert by Carson Coma will close the day on the Budapest Puppet Theater’s Main Stage.

Several internationally renowned puppeteers have been invited to the festival, including Duda Paiva from the Netherlands, Stephen Mottram from the UK and Janni Younge from South Africa.

There will also be a number of guest performances from France, Poland, Spain, Mexico and beyond. In addition to these, second-year Master of Arts in Puppetry students from the Târgu Mures (Temesvár) University of Art and Design will present their exam performances to the Budapest audience.
This season, Budapest Puppet Theater has revived its Experimental Studio, which aims to create progressive productions exploring new paths in contemporary puppetry. The first piece in the program, entitled From Point to Point, will premiere at the Abstract Festival.

Featured Photo: Facebook Színházi Olimpia 2023