Golemanual is a story about a man and his hands, their way from slavery to freedom and back…

Based on the Jewish myth of the Golem of Prague, this is a modern hand theatre interpretation of the ancient story. The hands of a sign language speaking ant researcher escape his body in the middle of a lecture. The hands flee to their own subconscious space. This fantasy world is like an anthill where a civilized team of hand-scientists is in a process of creating a wild hand. Is the wild hand able to stay untamed in the civilized crowd? What happens to the hands on their journey back to the researcher’s body?

Strong, dream-like pictures of life and death are being drawn to the darkness of the theatre, and the small stage is filled with constantly changing hand creatures. Golemanual discusses the relationship between the wild individual and civilized society. The performance is also an artistic research on the possibility of parts of our body to perform in their “own roles” as concrete and independent characters.

Golemanual is a Sixfingers Theatre’s production

Concept, directing & set design: Ishmael Falke

Prologue text: Seija-Leena Salo & Ishmael Falke

Performing: Elina Putkinen, Maiju Tainio & Ishmael Falke

Light & sound technician: Johanna Latvala

Performance resumé:

Fanatik Figuras puppet theatre festival in Turku, Finland 2005

Mustan ja Valkoisen theatre festival in Imatra, Finland 2005

Arrivano Dal Mare puppet theatre festival in Italy, July 2005

Barents puppetry festival in Sweden October 2005

Viljami teatteri, Rovaniemi, Lapland October 2005

End of Daylight Saving Time puppet theatre festival October 2005

Baltic Cities Culture festival in St. Petersburg, Russia June 2006

International puppetry festival in Białistok, Poland June 2006

Mistrz Uzcen International puppetry festival in Wrocław, Poland June 2006

Versuchung puppetry festival in Schaubude, Berlin October 2006

Munich Stadt Museum, Germany November 2007

Titeres Galicreques International Puppetry festival, Santiago del Compostela, Spain October 2008

TIP -fest International Puppetry festival, Turku Finland November 2010

Mukamas International Puppetry festival, Tampere May 2012

Golemanual has won the awards of the best show of the year and the most interesting debut of the year in the world’s most significant international competition for professional puppetry shows in Wroclaw, Poland.

Duration of the show is 40 minutes, and it suits all spectators from the age of 10 and up. The show is mostly without text; the short text can be performed in English, Finnish, Swedish and French.

Extracts from a review in Turun Sanomat (11.05.05):

“Golemanual is an abundance of imagination.”

“The performance grows to be a breathtaking play on the circle of mythicism. The performance combines hand theatre and light design and baffles with its richness of ideas.”

“I was spellbound by the performance.”

Extract from the Fanatic Figuras festival’s evaluator’s review (14.05.05):

“Golemanual is puppetry and visual multi-form theatre of most readable kind, open to personal interpretations of any spectator, young or old, here or elsewhere in the world. An intense tempo and quick variations of the arm-hand-puppets, materials sizes and scales form a little universe of images about the struggle for life in different levels.

The simple stage with its pit is as metaphoric as is the very conscious choices made on acting, puppets, materials and lightning. Proportions and rhythmic are well balanced in an impressive performance.”

Extract from a review in Imatra’s Uutisvuoksi (11.06.05):

“Golemanual has shown, how expressive hands can be (…) on the small stage of the Imatra theatre the scales and sizes are forgotten (…) even the smallest, finest movements of the hand is enough to create a living illusion”

Extract from review in the Polish puppetry magazine Teatr Lalek (July 2006):

“The jury did not have any problem with granting the prize (…) in the beautiful and rare poetic of the theatre of hands, and with a perfect mastery of techniques and theatrical skills as well as picturesque sets, this tale, translated into another tongue, achieved the merits of a universal parable about freedom, alienation, and relations between the individual and society”.