First festival PUPPETS! – a great success!
To mark its 111th anniversary, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre gave itself a great present with the first PUPPETS!-festival. Many visitors were delighted to join the celebrations. Over the past few days, an ever-growing fan base has enjoyed the various productions in the Toihaus Theatre, the Theater im KunstQuartier, the Kammerspiele and the Marionettentheater and has been able to experience how diverse, surprising and touching the string marionette can be.
The premiere of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre's new production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, directed by Thomas Reichert, took place on 24 October. His stage version tells the world's most famous love story, including its tragic and comic elements, condensed into contemporary language without ignoring Shakespeare's poetry. The next performances will follow from 20 December.
Marcella von Jan from the Theater Altenburg Gera fascinated the audience with her versatility and vocal virtuosity, with which she and her puppets portrayed all the roles in Hofmannsthal's Jedermann at the Theater im KunstQuartier. She was subtly accompanied by a live cello. This production was staged by Frank Soehnle, who performed one of his own plays at the Kammerspiele the following day.
The 2nd Self by figuren theatre tübingen is inspired by a manuscript by Walter Benjamin and uses surreal images and delicate fantasy figures to tell the story of a person who struggles with his wishes and missed opportunities on New Year's Eve. An impressive mixture of marionette, shadow and hand puppet theatre.
With incredible intensity, Carles Cañellas from the Rocamora Teatre gave his solo character various identities in the intimate setting of the Toihaus Theatre. In Identitats, not only the puppet but also the audience experienced a whole life - from birth to death. Growing up, joy, sadness, depression and despair were portrayed by the ‘metaphysical’ marionette thanks to the magnificent skills of Carles Cañellas.
The Di Filippo Marionette duo conveyed Italian playfulness with their poetic and humorous pieces Hanging by a Thread and Variations. Through movement, music, live singing and interaction with the characters, Rhoda Lopez and Remo Di Filippo created a refreshingly warm stage performance for the whole family.
The final highlight of the festival was Le Dernier Jour de Pierre at the KunstQuartier. The French company DERAÏDENZ with its artistic team Baptiste Zsilina and Léa Guillec told the story of Pierre's journey in this detailed production on the stage, which was repeatedly interrupted by dark, dream-like sequences.
2nd PUPPETS! Festival: October 22–26, 2026
Photos: © Salzburger Marionettentheater; Erika Mayer, Adrienne Meister, Bernhard Müller