Well, it certainly ain’t the Muppets. The umpteen eclectic shows peppered around the capital over the next fortnight will do well to beat this visually arresting, witty and hauntingly beautiful spectacle.
Salto.Lamento, by pioneering German company Figurentheater Tubingen, combines adult puppetry with cool jazz, opening with a graceful, life-sized Miss Havishamish biddy floating on. Her hat lifts, revealing a Mexican Day Of The Dead skull.
Over the next hour the stage fills with stick-controlled crones, witches, devils, plus a horse, a legless sheep and a fussy monastic figure who insists on having music played when he sweeps up.
The skill of chief puppeteer Frank Soehnle is second-to-none. The way he manipulates his charges is so outstanding that even in repose they seem somehow alive. The tiny beckoning claw-like hands are frighteningly realistic and the silent, expressive faces speak volumes. The result is a kind of Fantasia for grown-up goths, with Beelzebub on lead vocals.
In the end natural order is restored. The old crone lays an egg that produces new life and Satan’s hind-quarters find a more appropriate home, allowing the sheep to shimmy about. The stuff of nightmares perhaps but lovely nightmares.
Until 14 January (020 7930 3647, www.mimefest.co.uk).
London International Mime Festival: Salto.Lamento
ICA
Carlton House Terrace, The Mall, SW1Y 5AH
