Compagnie Tchaïka (Belgium)

We dive into the tormented spirit of Poprishchin, a lowly civil servant who lives out his daily life between the routine of a trivial job and the small pleasures of a lonely man. Through his intimate diary, he details his work, his dreams, his impossible love for Sophie, the director's daughter, and his longing to become someone else, going so far as to proclaim himself King of Spain under the title of Ferdinand VIII. But reality catches up with fiction, and Poprishchin eventually ends up being taken to the asylum by those he believes to be his subjects.

Through his story, we question our own solitudes, desires, frustrations, and anxieties in the face of what is established and 'reasonable.' Loco offers us direct and intimate access to the absurdity we regularly confront in our lives. It is not a praise of madness as a pathology, but rather an expression of the need to 'shuffle the deck', to abandon habitual logic in order to dream of something different.

An intimate journey through the mind of a man who, as he loses touch with reality, questions our need for recognition, the fear of failure, and the desire to escape a world that is, at times, far too rigid.

Gogol portrays, better than anyone, our search for appearances, that frantic desire to exist and play a role in society, even if it means fantasizing about our own lives. He even seems to use his character as a puppet to experiment with other roles and other destinies, providing the perfect ground to bring to the stage the countless possibilities that puppetry and theatre offer.

An absolutely virtuous lesson in puppet manipulation!

Award Drac d’Or Julieta Agustí for "Best show", Fira de Titelles de Lleida en 2023; Nominated for the Maeterlinck Awards of the Critics (Belgium) in the category "Artistic and technical realization", 2022; Award "Best scenic design" by the Círculo de Críticos de Arte de Chile (Chile), 2022.

^{"A play for two performers in a sober and intelligent staging, a razor-sharp writing that admirably plays with the symbolic possibilities of the puppet, and an impressive interpretation-manipulation of mastery and nuance. A jewel of precision and poetry." - Mathieu Dochtermann, Toute la Culture}

^{"A standing ovation. On Saturday, at the Festival Mondial de la Marionnette, the premiere of Loco ('crazy' in Spanish) was received just like its title: in a frenzy!"} 

^{- Catherine Makereel, Le Soir}

^{"Natacha Belova adapts Gogol with intelligence and skill (...). Moving, sitting on his bed, lost in his oversized shirt, with that voice on the threshold of fragility, Poprishchin overflows with a humanity that the Belgian-Russian artist so skillfully bestows upon her puppets. Manipulated by two actresses (...) who play with codes and illusions, the man carries us through the flow of his thoughts into a phantasmagoria on the edge of madness.” - Laurence Bertels, La Libre Belgique}

^{"A masterpiece of subtlety and sensitivity (...). A magnificent, poetic, and captivating show, not to be missed under any circumstances."} 

^{- Catherine Sokolowski Demandez le programme}

^{"Incredibly beautiful, intimate, and cared for down to the smallest details." - Bert Hertogs, Concertnews.be}

^{"Beautiful staging and scenography, from both a visual and sonorous perspective. We are struck by the Grotowski-style simplicity of the set. Poetry, mime, drunkenness, dreamlike quality, we are far from the clichés of Guignol-style puppetry. (...) Music, dance, singing, sound, and lighting, costumes: so many ingredients gathered to make this creation a more than successful performance (...). The two extraordinary performers (...) form an exceptional duo, acting simultaneously as the multiple bodies of puppet P. and the voices of the conscience and tortured spirit of this almost-real character, so moving and tender it is." - Julia Garlito, Le Bruit du Off Tribune}

BIO

Compagnie Tchaïka (formerly Cie Belova-Iacobelli) was born of a meeting between two artists: Tita Iacobelli, a Chilean actress and director, and Natacha Belova, a Belgian-Russian puppeteer. In 2015, in Santiago, they created an experimental theatrical laboratory for contemporary puppet theatre. At the end of this wonderful two-month experiment, they decided to create a show together: Tchaïka, Compagnie Tchaïka’s first production, critically acclaimed and the recipient of numerous awards in both America and Europe and presented at FIMFA Lx21.

Their creations dive into surrealist atmospheres where dream and reality merge, offering the audience an immersive and introspective experience.

Natacha Belova was born in Russia, graduated in history, and has lived in Belgium since 1995. After initial work as a costume and set designer on the Belgian and international performing arts circuits, she went on to specialise in contemporary puppetry. Working on numerous projects in theatre, as well as in dance, circus, cinema and opera, she acquired a great depth of experience that drove her to instigate her own projects. Her first creations came in the form of exhibitions and installations. In November 2017, she made her first work as a stage director with Cie La Barca dei Matti’s Passeggeri at IF – Festival internazionale di Teatro di Immagine e Figura in Milan, Italy.

In recent years, she has given numerous puppet workshops in 15 countries across three continents, and in 2016 founded her own centre for research and training, Tchaïka Asbl, based in Brussels; and directed one of the workshops for the Funicular Project, an international training program developed by Tarumba at the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II.

Tita Iacobelli began her career as an artist in 2001. In 2003, she won the Best Actress Award at the Nuevos Directores festival. Since 2005, she has worked as an actress and puppeteer, as well as co-directing several works by Jaime Lorca’s Viajeinmóvil Company. She also gives puppetry workshops. Her work on various stages in Europe and the Americas has included productions such as Gulliver (2006) and Othello (2012). Her close ties to music led her to direct several musicals with the youth theatre company Teatro de Ocasión, and theatrical concerts with the Chilean jazz-fusion ensemble Congreso and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Santiago Municipal Theatre.

_CREDITS

_{Freely inspired by “Diary of a Madman” by: Nikolai Gógol Direction, dramaturgy: Tita Iacobelli, Natacha Belova Set design and pupets: Natacha Belova Performers: Anne Romain, Marina Simonova Choreography and outside eye: Nicole Mossoux Dramaturgy assistant, outside eye: Raven Rüell Lighting design: Christian Halkin Puppets: Loïc Nebreda Sound design: Simón González Costumes: Jackye Fauconnier Set design, direction assistant: Camille Burckel de Tell Artistic production: Daniel Córdova Technical direction: Bartira Pereira Sound operation: Simon Gonzalez Light operation: Elise Reculeau Technical assistant: Marguerite Lazoukina Acknowledgments for the artistic contribution: Sophie Warnant Photography: Pierre-Yves Jortay Production: Company Tchaïka & Javier Chávez Coproduction: Théâtre National Wallonie Bruxelles, Théâtre de Poche Bruxelles, L’Atelier Théâtre Jean Vilar Louvain-la-Neuve, Maison de la Culture de Tournai, Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes de Charleville-Mézières, Fondation Corpartes Santiago Chili, Le Théâtre de la Cité de Toulouse Support: Fedération Wallonie-Bruxelles}

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