Piccolo puppet shows

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The Piccolo Puppet Shows are the puppet theater of the puppeteer Gerd J. Pohl . The declared aim of the work of this puppet theater is to bring the theater to those people who cannot or can no longer go to a theater performance of their own accord. In addition to children in kindergarten and primary school age, older and disabled people are also specifically addressed. Pohl benefits greatly from his professional training as a state-approved educator .

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Puppet show

Pohl, offspring of the Bonn-based artist family Osterritter , was given his puppetry skills in numerous courses, including from Karl-Hans Firsching (Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Puppenspiel NRW), Karl-Heinz Drescher (Weilheimer Puppenspiele) and the well-known puppet maker Jürgen Maaßen . Artistic role models and supporters in his first years as puppeteers were also Friedrich Arndt ( Hohnsteiner Puppet Plays ), Heinrich Maria Denneborg and Jo Micovich .

Gerd J. Pohl made his first public appearance as a puppeteer - the "J." stands for Josef - at the age of twelve as part of a benefit event for UNICEF in Bonn's Rheinaue meadows . In 1987 he founded the Piccolo Puppet Shows, which became his profession in 1994.

The Piccolo puppet shows make use of the guidance techniques of the hand puppet , the stick figure and the table figure . Marionettes are only rarely used because Gerd J. Pohl works primarily as a solo player.

The repertoire of the Piccolo puppet shows includes classic Puppet games , productions based on well-known fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm , new stories that have not been told before and - as productions for adults - Faust - the story of a journey into hell and Christmas Eve .

The Piccolo puppet shows are staged in numerous renowned puppet theaters and cabaret theaters , such as the House of Springmaus in Bonn, the Remscheider Rotation Theater, the Spielberg Theater in Würzburg or the “Die Spindel” theater in Mönchengladbach , but also in numerous socio-educational institutions, in elementary schools and Grammar schools (with “Faust”) as well as at several national festivals (including that of the city's cultural office in Brühl). A guest tour took the theater to Rome at the invitation of the German School .

A special focus of the work of this puppet theater are performances in front of mentally and multiply disabled children and young people, as well as the performances of classic fairy tale productions for elderly people in need of care, in which the Piccolo puppet shows differ from most other stages.

Since April 2007 the Piccolo puppet shows have had a permanent venue in the Bensberg Puppet Pavilion in Bergisch Gladbach .

Courses

The Piccolo puppet shows pass on their specialist knowledge in workshops and courses for employees in the nursing and socio-educational work area. As a guest lecturer, Pohl taught puppeteers at the technical schools for social education in Bonn and Koblenz .

Television puppet show

Puppeteer Gerd J. Pohl has also worked on a number of television productions. The basis for this activity was training as a film and TV puppeteer by Robert Tygner (Splitting Image, The Jim Henson Company), one of the busiest puppeteers in Hollywood , in 1996. Tygner was looking for one of eight new applicants from well over a hundred Puppeteers from Cologne's GUM television production (“ Hurray Germany ”). At GUM, he played the famous latex caricature characters in numerous political sketches for the television series "Privatfernsehen" (moderated by Friedrich Küppersbusch ), a WDR program that ran successfully as part of the ARD's Saturday evening program .

Puppetry and acting in other theaters

In addition to his work for the Piccolo puppet shows, Pohl had guest appearances on various other stages. He played at the Lapis Lazuli Puppet Theater in Bergisch Gladbach (in " The Little Prince " by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , where he took on the roles of the sick Rudolf Fischer ) as well as at the Luxem Puppet Theater, the Maatz Puppet Theater and the Osthold Puppet Theater (not longer existent).

At the Cassiopeia Theater in Cologne , he played in the world premiere of “Love and Metamorphosis” (based on texts by Plato and Ovid at the side of Claudia Hann , director: Udo Mierke ). At the Bonner Schauspielhaus he worked in Pierre Corneille's "L'Illusion", Herbert Achternbusch's "On Lost Post", Bertolt Brecht's " Herr Puntila und seine Knecht Matti " and in " Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny " (also by Brecht, with music by Kurt Weill ) with.

Gerd J. Pohl as reciter

In addition, he is on the road as a reciter with various literature programs; Here, Pohl's main focus is on the form of presentation of the melodrama, in which the spoken word and music enter into an artistic symbiosis. His musical stage partners were mainly Konstantin Gockel (violin, viola) and Marcus Schinkel (piano), as well as the church organist Professor Wolfgang Bretschneider for a Kafka interpretation. The contents of his recitation programs included Edgar Allan Poe (three different programs since 1990), the Revelation of John , classical horror literature, poems by Michael Buthe , German ballads ( Dehmel , Goethe , Detlev von Liliencron and others) as well as his own poems and stories.

Staging of the Piccolo puppet shows since 1987 (selection)

Children's pieces

  • "Devil on free feet" (hand puppet show)
  • "Algae King" (hand puppet show)
  • "The vanished moonlight" (hand puppet show)
  • " Hansel and Gretel " (hand puppet and stick figure play)
  • "The Shepherd Boy Benjamin" (hand puppet show)
  • "The child who fell from the sky" (mixed form of hand puppet and table figure play)
  • " Rumpelstiltskin " (table figure game)
  • " Little Red Riding Hood " (hand puppet show)
  • " Puss in Boots " (hand puppet show)
  • " The clever farmer's daughter " (hand puppet show)
  • "Kasper and the thief on red paws" (hand puppet show)
  • "An Easter witchcraft" (hand puppet show)
  • "The secret of the Christmas forest" (hand puppet show)
  • "Christmas in Mäuseland" (table figure piece)
  • "The three wishes" (hand puppet show)
  • "The mysterious crystal ball" (hand puppet show)
  • "Grandmother's birthday" (hand puppet show)
  • "The princess is gone" (hand puppet show ")
  • "Be courageous, my little Easter bunny" (table figure game)
  • "The golden egg" (hand puppet show)
  • "Is yellow the most beautiful color in the world?" (Mixed form)
  • "Plum is looking for a friend" (table figure piece)
  • "The lost magic stone" (hand puppet show)

Production for young people and adults

(Unless otherwise mentioned: script, play and direction: Gerd J. Pohl)

Other participating artists

Figure design and figure building

  • Till de Kock (carved hand puppet heads for "Faust")
  • Karl-Heinz and Greta Rother (restoration and costumes for Till de Kock)
  • Petra Wolfram (modeled hand puppet heads for the Puppet Games)
  • Monika Seibold (costumes for Petra Wolfram)
  • Christian Schweiger (carved hand puppet heads and table figures for various puppet and fairy tale games)
  • Elke Schmidt (costumes for Christian Schweiger and textile figures)
  • Arne Bustorff (table figures for "Rumpelstiltskin")
  • Heide Hamann (hand puppets for "The Shepherd Boy Benjamin")
  • Ottilie Kürschner and Irma Priese (textile figures)
  • Hellmuth Lange (carved hand puppet heads from the estate of Paul Hölzig / Bärenfelser Puppenspiele )
  • Carl Schröder (hand puppets)
  • Friedel Kostors (textile figures)
  • Theo Eggink (carved hand puppet heads )

teller

Stage sets

  • Lars Henkel (all Puppet Games)
  • Bea Gernert ("Hansel and Gretel" and "An Easter Witchcraft")
  • Bernhard Kremser ("Faust")
  • Karina Derbolowsky ("The Shepherd Boy Benjamin")

music

  • Jan Schulz-Heising (for all productions)

Exhibitions

  • 1991–1999: Small permanent exhibition with puppets and stage sets in the ZAP restaurant, Bonn
  • 1996: Shop window exhibition with around 80 hand puppets at the Bouvier bookstore , Bonn
  • 1998 (?): Joint exhibition with various puppet theaters from the Cologne / Bonn area in the Galerie am Schloss, Brühl
  • 2003: Photo exhibition And stretching a string from the heart to the mind on the occasion of Gerd J. Pohl's 20th stage anniversary at BAGO, Bonn
  • 2008: Solo exhibition With two hands and a lot of heart with exhibits from Pohl's collection as part of the 12th International Puppet Theater Days in Brühl (Rhineland)

collection

The Piccolo Puppet Shows have - in addition to their own theater fund - an extensive archive. From the holdings of this collection, exhibitions on the subject of puppetry can be designed or enhanced; it is also available in individual cases for the purposes of puppetry research.

The collection includes:

literature

Selected newspaper articles (puppet show only, no recitation)

  • “He got his first Punch when he was five”, in: Bonner Rundschau from February 7, 1987
  • "A head made of wood and yet not a wooden head", in: General-Anzeiger , Bonn, from January 12, 1993
  • “The shreds have to fly with puppies”, in: General-Anzeiger, Bonn, from August 8, 1997
  • “Scary and beautiful infernal creatures”, in: Kölner Stadtanzeiger from 7./8. February 1998
  • “Radiant children's eyes in the Laacher-See-Halle”, in: Mendiger Zeitung No. 52–53 / 1998
  • “The children should start pondering”, in: General-Anzeiger, Bonn, from March 23, 1999
  • "The Puppeteer", in: Bonner Illustrierte from October 1999
  • "A man lets the puppets dance", in: Remscheider General-Anzeiger of January 22, 2000
  • “Enthusiastic dolls”, in: Blitz, Greifswald, June 11, 2000
  • Dr. Guido Bee: “From Pole to Pohl”, in: Schnüss , Bonn, from August 2000
  • “I would like to allude to the soul of the people”, in: General-Anzeiger, Bonn, from September 15, 2001
  • “Word of quality gets around: puppeteers conquered children's hearts”, in: Honnefer Volkszeitung of March 6, 2002
  • "Successful puppet theater series of Piccolo puppet shows", in: Remagener Nachrichten of March 20, 2002
  • “To meet the loudness of our time with quiet serenity”, in: Schaufenster, Bonn, from May 8, 2002
  • “Artist and Kasper in one person”, in: General-Anzeiger, Bonn, from 17./18. August 2002
  • “Puppeteers with body and soul”, in: Bonner Rundschau of February 13, 2003
  • "Puppeteer of the Lord", in: Rhein-Zeitung, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, from March 3, 2006
  • “Playing for God and the World”, in: Blick aktuell, Grafschaft edition, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, from May 3, 2006
  • “The artist's heart is still beating”, in: General-Anzeiger, Bonn, from 19./20. August 2006
  • "Playfully tickle the soul", in: Kölner Stadtanzeiger (Edition Bergisch Gladbach) from 2./3. June 2007
  • "The Kasper and the Crocodile", in: Bergische Landeszeitung, Bergisch Gladbach, from July 6, 2007
  • "Much more than Tri-Tra-Trullala", in: GL Kompakt, Bergisch Gladbach, from September 2007
  • "Who just stole the moon?", In: Kölnische Rundschau from February 18, 2008
  • "See the beautiful in life", in: Trierischer Volksfreund, Wittlich edition, from June 24, 2008
  • "Kasper catches the thief on red paws", in: PAULINUS, Trier, from June 29, 2008

Books

  • Wenzel, Michael: “Generation Godesberg. Insights, views, intentions ", Norderstedt 2004 (Interview with Gerd J. Pohl: pp. 136–149)
  • Piccolo Puppenspiele (Ed.): "... and stretch a string from the heart to the mind", Bonn 2003 (for the 20th stage anniversary of Gerd J. Pohl, with contributions by Konrad Beikircher , Ray Harryhausen , Norbert Blüm , Bill Mockridge , Bärbel Dieckmann , Pia Heckes and others)
  • Hensel, Wolfgang: "Kaspers Weg von Ost nach West", Röll-Verlag Dettelbach 2008 (with a foreword by Gerd J. Pohl)

MCs and CDs

  • Gerd J. Pohl (narrator) and Roland Poras (wing): " Edgar Allan Poe - The Mask of Red Death" (only as MC), Pohl & Poras 1990, out of print
  • Gerd J. Pohl (narrator) and Konstantin Gockel (violin): "Once upon a time ... - Grimm Brothers' fairy tales ", publisher: Piccolo Puppenspiele 2003, out of print
  • The will- o'-the-wisps : " Koboldstanz ", with Gerd J. Pohl as speaker on track 8 ("The Lute Player"), Musik & Tanz GbR 2002
  • Marcus Schinkel Trio: “News from Beethoven ”, with Gerd J. Pohl as speaker on tracks 6 (“Only those who know longing”) and 11 (“An die ferne Geliebte”), Bosrecords 2003
  • Stephan Maria Glöckner : "Ringo Tingo on the go", with Gerd J. Pohl as narrator, TOCA Records 2007

TV (selection)

  • Zander (Tele 5, around 1990) Gerd J. Pohl as moderator ( no puppet show)
  • KuK (WDR, 1995) with scenes from “Faust” and a live interview
  • The Harald Schmidt Show (SAT1, 1998) as a sketch partner of Harald Schmidt ( no puppet show)
  • Private television (ARD / WDR series, 1996) as a puppeteer for political sketches
  • What am I? (Kabel1, 2000), game demonstration with table figure and hand puppet
  • At home & on the go (WDR, 2010), interview about Heinrich Heine and his work

Web links