The Marionette Renaissance

The place is «Casa da Marioneta» (The Puppet House). It opened last January and is in the garden next to Vila Real’s sports complex. It results from a project by Hélio Rodrigues, a retired Portuguese language teacher, who has always been multi-faceted when it comes to the world of words.

The principal objective of this group is to stage educational plays for schoolchildren – from the very young to secondary school age pupils. This way, it is easier for children to understand and learn the Portuguese history and literature from authors such as Gil Vicente and Camões.

“I checked that there was nothing of this kind existing in the south of Portugal and, after taking part in the International Puppet Festival at Alcobaça, I decided to create this teaching activity to serve as a complement to what’s covered in the schoolroom”, Hélio Rodrigues explained.

As incredible as it may seem, the majority of the puppets are imported from Brazil. The group employs the services of a puppet-maker in São Paulo, who makes all the puppets and the little figures. Behind each puppet, there’s a whole set of research – for example, on the typical attire of a determined period, regarding historical or regional context. Little details like handkerchiefs, earrings, necklaces and swords help make the marionette more captivating and “real”.

Backstage in this little theatre is like a child’s dream come to life. There are more than 300 puppets of all types and sizes, seemingly ready to spring into life for a fairytale, traditional story or legend lost in time. A King, a Crusader, a gigantic Adamastor, a Moorish princess – even a little Vasco da Gama in full regalia, wait for the touch of an expert hand to bring them to life.

For little ones, the «Bonus Frater» group opens up a world of fantasy. When they visit the Casa da Marioneta, young children can see and hear entertaining plays inspired by traditional Algarvian and Portuguese folk stories. Short fables too, which always have a message at their end. Such is the case in the play «O Moço, o velho e o burro», which centres on the malicious gossip in communities.

Rodrigues, in charge of the group’s technical, artistic and literary orientation, also has a little workshop at home where he researches techniques and materials for constructing and articulating his puppets. Today, puppet shows are helped a lot by new technologies. For example, the characters’ voices are pre-recorded, and there are lights, videos and illustrations that lend an upbeat dynamic that catches spectators’ attention right to the end.

In the future, Hélio Rodrigues would like to have a more multi-purpose room, where they could show films and perform theatre, as well as puppet shows. In November, Bonus Frater will be presenting «A lenda das Amendoeiras» (The legend of the Almond trees) – and in December, they’ll be staging a grand Christmas production at the Centro Cultural António Aleixo, inspired by the «La Colmenita» children’s theatre company from Cuba.

One intriguing aspect is that the group’s main target audiences come from the two age extremes – the older generation and children. “Old people remember that 50 years or so ago, there existed what were known as the «Teatros de Robertos», which performed in travelling fairs. In other words, many of them are familiar with this kind of entertainment which, meantime, has disappeared”, Rodrigues told.

“By the same token, our young audiences are being initiated” so that this art doesn’t disappear again, and can continue to bring smiles to the faces of future generations…