Capital city gig for Greytown puppets

PUPPETRY:Greytown play The Kitchen at the End of the World will be showing at Wellington's Circa Theatre next year.

One of the highlights of the last Greytown Arts Festival is set to delight audiences in the capital next year.

The marionette show The Kitchen at the End of the World, which was first seen by audiences at the festival in 2012, was so well-received creators Steffen Kreft and William Connor were able to pitch it successfully to Wellington's Circa Theatre.

Kreft said it was great to have the opportunity to take the play to a wider audience, especially as some people missed out on tickets during the Greytown season.

"Lots of people came and we actually had to turn people away. A lot of people said 'you've got to bring it to Wellington' so we approached Circa and Bats and they were keen [but] Circa seemed like a bit of a step up in terms of attracting adult audience."

The play tells the story of nine marionettes living in a gothic Victorian hotel at the edge of the world.

While the puppets are aware of their limitations - and their strings - they still yearn for things beyond their reach.

Each of the nine marionettes was painstakingly hand-crafted by Kreft, with costumes made by the Greytown Village Quilters.

Wairarapa audiences had loved the play, Kreft said.

"We had people with tears in their eyes which was amazing. We had kids from the two schools in Greytown as well ... we didn't think it was so interesting for kids but they were mesmerised by the marionettes and their movement and how they come alive."

Kreft, who directed not only the play but the entire arts festival, moved to Greytown in 2009 after completing a master's degree at Massey University in Wellington.

His interest in puppets began during his postgraduate studies in Germany when he created paper puppets for a stop-motion animation.

He studied marionette making at Massey and has since taught the craft at the Learning Connexion School of Art and Creativity in Wellington.

Kreft's latest project is a series of animated films called Lifeswap, about a Kiwi and a German who exchange lives.

-The play will open on January 15 and run until January 25 at Circa Two. It is aimed at adults and children 8 and upwards. Evening performances start at 7pm and there will also be matinee shows.