Haözkla tells the story of Japeth, an ageing academic nearing the end of his life in his dilapidated library.  Passing the time as he waits for death, he reads and rereads the contents of his shelves until one day he finds a scroll that tells the tale of Living Deities and the tests of divinity that the chosen ones must experience. The scroll tells of Elzka, a seamstress who is visited by an Angel and immaculately conceives a child said to be able to take on the burden of time felt by the city of Haözkla.  It follows the mother’s imprisonment and later torment at the separation from her child and raises many questions about the traditional techniques used in many countries to identify these living Gods.

Pangolin’s Teatime is a collective of creative individuals who hope to reclaim the lost art of storytelling through puppetry.  Using four foot high Japanese Bunraka puppets for the majority of this production the company create vivid fantastical characters that lead the audience through the show’s unfolding dramas. 

The majority of the human performance supporting the puppets and giving them a voice is of a high standard though the nature of the Bunraka puppets means that the stage is often cluttered with operators.   The set itself is suspended from a lighting rig and the audience was often distracted by clumsy interaction between the operators and their performance space though you get the feeling that this is a hazard of being under rehearsed in the space and will easily be rectified.

In a year where the Jim Henson Improvised shows are packing them in, it would do many people well to remember that before they were stand up comedians, puppets had a major role to play in enchanting audiences and engaging them in the fantasy of storytelling. This production has a magical charm about it and although it is a production designed with adults in mind, it’s easily accessible on multiple levels for the younger audience too.

Bedlam (0131 225 9893)
Aug 14-19, 21-26: 11:00 (45mins) £7.00 (£5.00)