Presented as part of the BPT.Generations festival at the Bolshoi Puppet Theatre, Saint Petersburg (19–24 January 2021).
The festival took place across four stages and featured productions by teams formed in Ruslan Kudashov’s workshop (RGISI), with directors, actors, artists and producers selected via open casting.
The festival took place across four stages and featured productions by teams formed in Ruslan Kudashov’s workshop (RGISI), with directors, actors, artists and producers selected via open casting.
Natalia Semenova participated as visual artist for Footfalls after Samuel Beckett, responsible for spatial design, set construction, installations and puppets.
Every person has their own path. It consists of a certain number of steps taken throughout life. Sometimes, a person becomes fixated on this. They try to understand: are their steps the right ones? Where and when might they have gone the wrong way? Where did it all begin?
What influence does a mother have on each of us? It doesn’t matter whether you had one or not— we were all born by a woman.
On one hand, this story explores the tragicomic, absurd existence of a person. On the other hand, through this story, we try to understand ourselves and answer the question, "Who am I?" A human being is fragile and can be easily broken. What does it take to preserve something alive and genuine within oneself?
What influence does a mother have on each of us? It doesn’t matter whether you had one or not— we were all born by a woman.
On one hand, this story explores the tragicomic, absurd existence of a person. On the other hand, through this story, we try to understand ourselves and answer the question, "Who am I?" A human being is fragile and can be easily broken. What does it take to preserve something alive and genuine within oneself?
The performance featured light projections on textile meshes and a screen.
Short animations were created for the projections, showing written text and strokes sometimes appearing on the actresses' faces.
Short animations were created for the projections, showing written text and strokes sometimes appearing on the actresses' faces.
Several plaster masks and puppets were designed and created for the performance:
— A tabletop puppet made of plaster, which falls and shatters at the end of the performance.
— A large, three-dimensional Hand made of wire and textile mesh with a movable index finger.
plaster tabletop puppet
hand made of wire and textile mesh
Director: Ksenia Pavlova
Producer: Anna Safronova
Producer: Anna Safronova
Artistic Design and Puppets: Natalia Semenova
Choreographers: Valeria Polovnikova, Kristina Pavlova
Composer: Natalia Nazarova
Video Artist: Ivan Zaslavets
Author: Semuel Bekket
Actresses: Yulia Men, Anna Levina
Photo: Andrey Sukhinin
Choreographers: Valeria Polovnikova, Kristina Pavlova
Composer: Natalia Nazarova
Video Artist: Ivan Zaslavets
Author: Semuel Bekket
Actresses: Yulia Men, Anna Levina
Photo: Andrey Sukhinin
