Beyond the cliché and the cinematic wink, the destiny of the show The star fish (Starfish in original version), created on September 6, in Beijing, inaugurating the 7my edition of the Beijing International Puppet Festival (BIPF) and exhibited at the Studio Théâtre de Stains, in Seine-Saint-Denis, from November 12 to 23, is “fabulous” in the literal sense of the term. That is to say, it is a fable (fable), from the initiation story. All the more so since it tells the beautiful story of a star, called Xianü, who, tired of its life in the sky, wanted to descend to the ocean, in the form of an immense fish, more precisely a whale shark, to find other living beings, including a little boy
As is often the case at the beginning of any great story, there is a meeting. Here a friendly and professional crush between two women, Marjorie Nakache and Han Chi. It took a pandemic and the closure of theaters around the world for the Chinese, artistic director of the Han Feizi shadow theater company – created in Beijing in 1992 by her father, which she took over in 1998 -, discovered one of the creations. by the French actress, director and artistic director of the Studio Théâtre de Stains.
It was in 2021, on the occasion of the 4thmy BIPF edition, this year only online due to Covid-19: the show Rousseau and Jean-Jacquesdirected by Marjorie Nakache, won the Audience Award. From then on, the two women began to exchange ideas and projects, driven by a common passion for puppets and by the same energy in the face of obstacles.
Institutional omnipresence
In 2022, Han Chi invites Marjorie Nakache to work on a first creation, called Repairing the celestial metamorphosisaround the goddess Nuwa, who, in Chinese mythology, gave rise to humanity from clay. The program is shown in preview for 5my BIPF Edition. Following the refusal, in September 2023, of Marjorie Nakache to modify, at the request of the Chinese authorities, the end of the creation text Rousseau and Jean-Jacques – a call to citizen conscience –, to present it at the opening of the festival, the two women decide to embark on a new adventure of Franco-Chinese co-creation with The star fish. “We are both Dragon [nées sous le signe astrologique chinois, en 1964 pour Marjorie Nakache, en 1976 pour Han Chi], and we share the same fierce desire to succeed, despite adversity and headwinds.”the Frenchwoman emphasizes to explain this renewed collaboration.
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