CAMT presents Golem – Flavorpill
Posted November 29, 2011 at 2:29 pm
by Patricia Contino, Flavorpill
Hebrew scholars and horror fans know a golem is “unshaped matter” which becomes a “creature of clay.” The Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre’s Golem is a big guy (Steven Ryan) who protects, then terrorizes, a medieval Prague ghetto of puppets, their dancers/actors/handlers, a klezmer band (led by composer Frank London), and a charismatic, spectral Cantor (Ronny Wasserstrom). Like the Golem itself, CAMT’s adapation is filled with life. There is no dance step (innovatively choregraphed by Naomi Goldberg Haas) or emotion (even the little goat puppet sipping a drink has personality) the stringed and real-life performers cannot convey. Watching how Golem’s performing elements come together is amazing. Director Vít Horejs’ Prologue and Postscript are hard-hitting, non-preachy ways of making real this legend of fighting back against outrageous anti-Semitic claims of “blood libel,” to those unfamiliar with it.