A steampunk puppet show about Man’s (and Woman’s) complicated love of machines. The plot is based on a short story by award-winning Karin Tidbeck.
The story
Doctor Frantz Hiller falls madly in love with Beatrice, an airship shown at the Berlin World Exhibition. Frantz learns that Beatrice is a prototype and as such, not for sale. He must make do with buying a copy. Frantz names his new airship “Beatrice II” and installs her in a warehouse hastily rented for the purpose.
At the same Exhibition, Anna Goldberg, a printer’s daughter, falls in love with the magnificent steam engine Hercules. She buys him and, rents a warehouse where she can install her acquisition. When she arrives at the warehouse, Frantz and his airship are already there.
A conflict seems inevitable, but when Frantz and Anna realise that they have the same love for machines, they agree to share the warehouse as good neighbours. In the darkness of the warehouse, emotions are growing. The stage is set for a story of a great, all-consuming passion – at great risk.
Without uttering a word, two puppeteers tell the story of Frantz and Anna, creating a poetic and sensual steampunk universe with puppets, shadows, repurposed record players and throbbing engines.
The music by Andreas Busk is composed especially for the show, some of it being played live, on the unique Bornholm violin.
With Beatrice, Karin Tidbeck has created a surreal and tragicomic universe where men and machines are able to love, to hate and to die – even to multiply in bizarre organic ways.
Debuting as a writer in 2010, Karin Tidbeck has won international success with her short stories. She appeared on the Locus Recommended Reading List in 2012, and won the Crawford Memorial Award in 2013.
To learn more about the creating of Beatrice and follow the project please see our page on Facebook.
Tidsrum 