Goetheanum | Humour in Puppet Theatre

About the job

Humour in Puppet Theatre

From 10 to 12 March 2023, the puppet theatre workshop ‹Imagery and Humorous Elements as Creative Forces in Puppet Theatre› will take place at the Goetheanum.

"Is humour a human organ located somewhere between the liver and the tear gland, very close to its neighbouring organ, imagination?" So Franz Hohler in his contribution to the book ‹Humour› (1995). Or do we describe humour as a way of viewing the finite from the standpoint of the infinite? In any case, humour is something essentially human. It liberates, redeems, allows us to breathe freely, connects, and enables us to rise above ourselves.

The soul’s fluidity, the flowing mobility of humour, brings opposites together. When laughing, one experiences movement, expansiveness, lightness; and shared laughter can lead to greater closeness among people and thus also have a healing effect both individually and socially.

In puppet theatre and pictorial representation, humour has a unique place to unfold through a wide variety of creative possibilities with different types of puppets and styles of play. By reducing to the essentials or through exaggeration, excellent opportunities arise to give form to the humorous in dramatic expression, gesture, or corresponding character portrayal.

The lectures and working groups focus on deepening the theme of humour in connection with imagery and puppet theatre.

Initiative Group Puppet Theatre of the Section for Speech and Music Arts: Stefan Hasler, Claudia Kissling, Hanna Koskinen, Stefan Libardi, Monika Lüthi, Stéphanie Troehler

Puppet Theatre Workshop at the Goetheanum 10 to 12 March 2023 (German)