Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Plexus Polaire’s ASHES beguiles via haunting, expertly rendered puppetry

• By drediman
• March 18, 2019
• No Comments

Plexus Polaire performs “Ashes” at HERE Arts Center.

I’ve long had a fascination for puppetry. There’s something intensely theatrical about taking inanimate objects and injecting them with the spirit and spontaneity of life itself. This past January as part of the Public Theater’s essential Under the Radar Festival, I had the great pleasure of being introduced to the European puppetry-focused theater company Plexus Polaire. I thought their production of Chambre Noire at the festival was poetic and exceptionally realized.

This weekend, I eagerly sought out Ashes, another of the company’s productions at HERE Arts Center. Ashes is based on the Norwegian novel “Before I Burn” by Gaute Heivoll, which in turn is based on real life events concerning a disturbed young man who set houses on fire during the late 1970s. As with their other show, Ashes has been masterfully-executed by Plexus Polaire’s artistic director Yngvild Aspeli, who tantalizingly plays with perspective and scale via a seamless combination of puppetry, video projections, and actors. Mr. Aspeli also has a knack for staging surreal, hallucinatory psychological thrillers, particularly of the David Lynch ilk.

Ashes features a whole host of variously-sized, meticulously-crafted puppets, which unto themselves are works of art. But when they’re imbued with life force as expertly and hauntingly as they are here – astonishingly accomplished only be three puppeteers (who also double as actors, when needed) – I was reminded all over again of puppetry’s singular power as a conduit for expression. Unfortunately, Ashes closed this weekend after just seven limited performances. I hope Plexus Polaire, who is emerging in my mind as a leading force in puppet theater, returns soon.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

ASHES
Off-Broadway, Play
Plexus Polaire at HERE Arts Center
1 hour (without an intermission)
Closed