This striking blend of theatrical mediums from the French theatre company La Pendue, created by Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet, sees puppetry, visual projection and live music combined in a retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairytale The Girl Without Hands.
Performed by Charlier, who is accompanied by a one-man orchestra in the form of Martin Kaspar Orkesta, we see a miller unwittingly sell his daughter to the devil. Unsurprisingly, she refuses to go easily and has a trick up her sleeve to keep the devil at bay. The devil, frustrated in his attempts to claim his prize, enlists the miller’s help – forcing him to cut off his daughter’s hands. Well, the clue was in the fairytale’s name.
This portion is dramatised by Charlier’s marionettes, with the occasional intervention in the action by Orkesta and it is the performance’s most engaging section. From here, as the daughter, now called the la Manékine, ventures beyond her old home, the way the performance engages with us changes. Increasingly, Charlier acts as narrator to the action, and there is a greater reliance on video projections to tell key sections of the story.
Though technically impressive throughout – particularly Charlier’s ability to convey emotion through puppetry – there is a growing sense of being told a story rather than seeing one as the evening progresses. Still, there is a lot to be said about the story’s message of female power and resilience in the face of familial abuse.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (Good)
La Pendue’s La Manékine runs in The Pit, Barbican until 18 January 2025
MimeLondon runs in venues across London from 14 January to 2 February 2025.
Read our full coverage of the 2025 festival, including an interview with Estelle Charlier and Martin Kaspar Orkestar, here
