Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
Article updated: 2021.11.24
The The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt is a historical fantasy ballet. The performance of 2021.08.28 at the Horizont Festival in Miskolc was reviewed by Kadmon.
Original title: Kokoschka babája, English title: The Doll of Kokoschka
Series: -
Setting: historical alternate fantasy Earth
Product type: Ballet, Genre: historical fantasy, Style: historical, fantasy, dolls
Premiere: 2015.09.13 (Palace of Art, Budapest (Hungary) )
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2021.08.28), first time
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points)
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This is my review of The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, a historical fantasy ballet, performed at the Horizont Festival 2021 (2021.08.28) in Miskolc (Hungary). It's about a love triangle gone wrong. The The Doll of Kokoschka ballet has some interesting parts, I recommend it to fans of modern ballet.
This preview is interesting, and while it provides a summary of the whole story, the performance will still give a lot more.
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Review (spoiler-free) - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
This show was recommended to me by Kozma Attila, one of the organisers of the Horizont Festival, so attending it was an easy choice to make. I didn't watch the preview video, nor did I read any preview information about the performance.
The The Doll of Kokoschka ballet is about a love triangle gone wrong.
As I didn't know the background, the story was not very clear. Had I know a bit more about it before sitting down to watch it, I might have appreciated it better.
The choreography is good, it is visually interesting, especially with the use of human-sized puppets and projected backgrounds. It was nice to see the dancers performing.
The characters are interesting, but you'll probably need to know their background to appreciate them. The confusing story and the limited number of actors made it a bit hard for me to know if I see the same character in a new scene, or it's a brand new one.
The costumes (by Béres Móni) resemble period clothing.
The sets are minimalistic, but effective, with the painted backgrounds projected over the dancers.
The music (mostly by Gustav Mahler and Richard Wagner) was okay, and it was fitting the historical setting.
The Doll of Kokoschka is an interesting fantasy ballet, I think fans of modern ballet might enjoy it.
Information
Audience placement: Frontal seating
Time: 70 minutes
Technique: medium (2)
Dynamics: medium (2)
Sensuality: low (1) - There's even non-erotic sex.
Story: medium (2) - There's a story, but it's not easy to follow, unless you know the background.
Interactivity: low (1) - They used built-in audience, and the performers reacted to them.
Music: medium (2)
Costumes: medium (2) - They use period clothing.
Sets: low (1) - The sets are indicated by projected backgrounds, with the exception of a statue.
Use of visual effects: medium (2) - There are projected backgrounds throughout the performance.
Use of special effects: high (3) - They use human-sized dolls in several scenes.
Language dependency: low (1-) - Before the performance starts, there's some projected background information, that helps to understand some of the story.
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"The production uses lifelike puppets, multiplying Kokoschka's gesture, and invites three emblematic figures of the 20th century onto the stage: the musical genius Mahler, the monumental painter Kokoschka and the Muse, the Femme Fatale, Alma Mahler. Written in the present, the story of the dancing dolls evokes the memory of a time in which the fictional world still had an influence on reality. Perhaps we are reminded of the last moments of the 20th century, when the concepts of romanticism, expressionism and love were still valid - and muses were still able to kiss."
My experience
I was mostly satisfied with The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt at 2021.08.28. Even though the story was not clear, the actions were interesting, and the dancers were good.
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points). The Doll of Kokoschka has interesting concepts.
Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points). The Doll of Kokoschka was hard for me to understand, and - probably due to the use of the dolls - it lacked the kind of harmonic movements I prefer.
Rewatchability: I'm not sure. I think it's mostly the concept of the performance that makes you feel interested.
Chance of watching it again: Unlikely. Now that I've seen it once, even if I didn't understand the story properly, I don't have the urge to watch it again, even if I'd understand it better.
Chance of watching a sequel: Probably. But I'd read some reviews before going to the performance.
Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
Will you enjoy this?
If you prefer classical ballet, you might still like The Doll of Kokoschka, as there are many parts that can be enjoyed even that way.
If you like modern ballet, you might like The Doll of Kokoschka, as it shows many interesting concepts.
If you like thriller stories, you might like this story, as there are thrilling elements sprinkled in the The Doll of Kokoschka ballet.
If you like Gloria Benedikt, you might enjoy this ballet, solely for watching her.
If you get through the first 10 minutes of the The Doll of Kokoschka ballet still interested, it will be something similar throughout the performance.
If you are interested in the life of either Anna Mahler, or Kokoschka, you might be interested in this story to see an alternative take on it.
If you prefer visuals over story, The Doll of Kokoschka falls into a medium ground, so you might be entertained.
If you hate depiction of sexual abuse, The Doll of Kokoschka is probably not for you.
Things you are required to know to enjoy this
There's a composer, Gustav Mahler. After his death, his widow, Alma Mahler started an affair in 1912 with Oskar Kokoschka. Kokoschka joined the army in World War 1, and they started to get distanced. She left him after two years. However, Kokoschka was still obsessed with her. Kokoschka was seriously wounded, and the doctors considered him mentally unstable. When he got back after the war, he commissioned a life-size doll of Alma Mahler, the so-called Kokoschka's Doll. He brought this doll with him for social occasions, until he decided to destroy it.
There's a novel of the same title by Afonso Cruz, that has parts based on their romance, that is referenced in the beginning of the show. Reading that might reveal further background information that might change your understanding of the performance.
Watching for plot points
I don't think it applies to this performance.
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Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
Review with spoilers - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
I mostly liked the concepts of the The Doll of Kokoschka ballet, although I'm not entirely sure I liked the execution.
The use of dolls was brilliant. At first it was a cross between watching greenscreen puppetry and Weekend at Bernie's (1989), but it took only a short time to get used to it, and then it became a natural part of the performance. It was a nice touch that the puppeteers were part of the story, they were helpers and companions to the puppet characters, and they often interacted with the puppets, beyond just controlling them.
Poster
The preview image for the performance is okay, it doesn't say much, it's a good scene from the show.
The trailer
The trailer is good. Although it gives away glimpses of the story from the beginning to the very end, it still leaves everything open enough to be surprised.
Promise of the first scene
The preview info says that there was Kokoschka, who made a doll. An old man (a doll), accompanied by two helpers came out to meet an audience. Then he feels ill, and falls to the ground. I have no clue what does it mean and where does it lead. Maybe he is the Kokoschka mentioned in the preview info?
Execution: The story went on like that, I never really felt that I understand what's going on. I'm not sure that this is effective storytelling, but at least watching the dancers made it an enjoyable experience.
Plot summary / Synopsis
There's an old man (Gustav Mahler as a puppet), who dies. His widow (Alma Mahler as a puppet), starts an affair with a man (Oskar Kokoschka as Gergye Krisztán).
Things happen.
Kokoschka is in World War 1, where lots of people die, making him mad.
Then we see Kokoschka's Doll (probably played by Barabás Anita), then a fantasy of Alma Mahler, as a doll?
Then things happen, and the performance ends.
Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
Plot summary / Synopsis - What I thought I've seen
There's an old man, a musician (a puppet), who is helped by a female companion (played by Barabás Anita) and a male companion (played by Gergye Krisztán). The musician dies. They erect a statue in his honour. His widow (a puppet) has some affair with the male companion? The widow is lead to his house after the funeral by the male companion, where they find a living doll (played by Gloria Benedikt). They interact with this doll.
The male companion uses this living doll as a circus / sideshow attraction. The companion dresses up as a bear. The male companion takes moves towards the living doll, but she stops him.
Then there's a war, where the male companion has to become a soldier. Then World War 1 starts, and the companion sees a lot of death, making him mad. The living doll probably saves him?
At some point the living doll makes a doll out of the male companion?
Then suddenly there's a strange woman (probably played by Barabás Anita), who lends another woman to the male companion to be used as he wishes. He violently rapes that woman, then leaves her.
Later, after WW1, the companion and the living doll meets, and they reconcile. (Another reviewer says that in the end we are past WW2, this is probably based on the novel.)
The setting
Historical alternate Earth, 1910s (to maybe the 1940s).
There are living dolls that move and think like humans.
Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one.
The structure of the story
The scenes of the The Doll of Kokoschka ballet are probably played in sequence, following the same storyline. I'm not sure there's a single viewpoint character, but Kokoschka is the central figure.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
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Things I liked
- I liked the use of dolls.
- I liked that they used a statue to show the changes in time between the scenes. This was an ingenious move.
- There was an interesting scene where a doll was puppeteered to control the movements of a human dancer.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I think I haven't seen any other works of the creator (Gergye Krisztián).
How does it compare to the original source?
I didn't read the Kokoschka's Doll novel, but as far as I can tell, it's pretty different from that.
How does it compare to the other performances of the Horizont Festival?
It was similar to the other story based show (Forbidden Paths). However, I've found the concepts in The Doll of Kokoschka probably the most interesting in the festival.
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Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
Analysis of the performance - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
As I didn't really understand the story, I didn't find problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Kokoschka's Doll.
The puppets
Some puppets depicted real people. Some actors wore masks, as if they are puppets. The actual dolls were played by human actors, but some human actors also played human characters. It might have made it easier to understand the story, if there were a clear divide by who is human, who is a doll.
Unanswered questions
There are too many to list, but as I think the performance is quite ambiguous, I don't consider this a problem.
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Possibilities of improvement
Just like the background info about the doll was projected, there could have been some snippets of information projected about the characters and the story, so I'd understand what is happening.
How it could have been better?
As the performance focused on dolls, it might have been interesting to see more opportunities to play with that theme.
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Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
Behind the scenes - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
Concept art of the set
Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
image © Gergye Krisztián Company
The life-size puppets
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Uses for the performance - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
Plot
- There are living doll that can be controlled, but they can also act on their own.
- The dolls may turn dead humans into dolls?
Scenes
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
- After the funeral, the inheritor finds a working android / homunculus in the basement of the house. The inheritor might be one of the characters, or they might be hired by the inheritor to help him with this find.
- A man working with androids / homunculi is missing, and thought to be dead, but there are signs that he is still around. The characters get involved (they might be former companions, or they get hired by someone to investigate). The man actually died, but one of his creations turned him into a cyborg / homonculus.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
- Teams of robbers try to get their hands on a treasure stash. The playing area is a building, with treasure pieces scattered around the place (3 piece for each team sounds good). The playing area should be small enough for the teams to confront each other, but it should have enough space or enough corridors to be able to make maneuvers. Even a 30x30cm labyrinth might be fine with tight corridors and small rooms. There is at least one exit. The teams start already in the building, at the edge of the playing area. They do not have to fight each other if they don't want to, and they can consider each other neutral for moving purposes until a team member attacks them. When they find a treasure, roll a d6. On a roll of 6, the "treasure" is an automaton (golem / homunculus / android) that is a lot stronger than any of the robbers. The automaton moves twice as fast as a human, and always attacks the robber closest to it. If the closest robber is out of its moving range, but it's in one regular movement range, than after its movement, it throws a household object at the robber. Its ranged attack skill is as of a regular human, and the attack does minimal damage (throwing dagger / pistol). The winner is the team that gets out of the place with the most treasure pieces, with at least half of their members alive. If they get the same number of treasure pieces, or none of the teams get out with at least half of their members alive, it's a draw.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Dolls: Human-sized (S3) human civilians.
Civilians: Human-sized (S3) historical civilians in period clothing.
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Similar stories - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
Novels
Afonso Cruz: Kokoschka's Doll (2012): Some parts of the novel deal with Kokoschka.
Gyertyán Ervin: A kiberneroszok tündöklése és bukása / The Rise and Fall of the Cyberneros (1963): The story deals with automatons created for being partners instead of real people.
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818): The story deals with a created being.
Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968): The story deals with automatons created as slaves.
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Frequently asked questions - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
Is the The Doll of Kokoschka performance based on a movie, book or comics?
I'm not sure. Kokoschka's Doll might be influenced by the Kokoschka's Doll novel by Afonso Cruz.
Where can I watch The Doll of Kokoschka online?
As of 2021.09.09, The Doll of Kokoschka can only be seen at live performances.
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I have received complimentary tickets from the Miskolc Ballet, I'd like thank them for the opportunity to visit this festival!
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Resources - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
Official
Horizont Festival: Kokoschka babája / The Doll of Kokoschka: Official article. (It's in Hungarian by default, but you can switch the website to English in a new window, and refresh the article.)
Gloria Benedikt: The Doll of Kokoschka: Official article.
Gergye Krisztián: The Doll of Kokoschka: Video about the puppets.Ł
Background information
WikiPedia: Oskar Kokoschka: Database article.
Information
Port.hu: The Doll of Kokoschka - A love story immortalised (in Hungarian): Database article.
English version by Google Translate
Creation
Gergye Krisztián Company: From inception to realization: Concept art article.¤
Gergye Krisztián Company: From inception to realization: Concept art article.
Fidelio kultúrpercek: Kultúrpercek 09. 11. (in Hungarian): Video about the ballet.¤
M.I (for színház.hu): "It's a magical expericence to work with puppets" – Interview Gergye Krisztián (in Hungarian): Interview article, in Hungarian.§/Ł?
English version by Google Translate
Gallery
Gergye Krisztián Company: The Doll of Kokoschka: Photo gallery of a previous performance by Dömölky Dániel.
Horizont Festival Day 5: The Doll of Kokoschka: Photo gallery by Éder Vera.
Horizont Festival: Photos from Saturday's performance: Photo gallery by Gálos Mihály Samu.
Puskel Zsolt Fotó: The Doll of Kokoschka - A love story immortalised - Gergye Krisztián Company - MÜPA: Photo gallery of a previous performance by Puskel Zsolt.Ł
Previews
PR preview (in Hungarian) on: kultúra.hu - Ma este Színház - pluszminusz - Tiszatáj Online - zene.huŁ
Szász Emese (for Fidelio): Are we able cut our own puppet cords? (in Hungarian): Interview article, in Hungarian.
English version by Google Translate
Reviews with no spoilers - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt
Kérchy Vera (for Revizor (The Auditor)): LAST DANCE WITH MRS. MAHLER (in Hungarian): Review article with minor spoilers about a previous performance, in Hungarian.
English version by Google Translate
Kutszegi Csaba: Cosmic Dollhouse (in Hungarian): Review article with no spoilers about a previous performance, in Hungarian.
English version by Google Translate
Öblei Lívia (for Art Limes): The Doll of Kokoschka, when Gergye Krisztián is 40 (in Hungarian): Review article with no spoilers about a previous performance, in Hungarian.Ł
English version by Google Translate
Reviews with spoilers - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt
Szász Emese (for Fidelio): Our intangible puppet cords (in Hungarian): Review article with spoilers about a previous performance, in Hungarian.
English version by Google Translate
Tóth Emese (for memoriaonline.hu): This will cause everyone to fall in love (in Hungarian): Review article with spoilers about a previous performance, in Hungarian.
English version by Google Translate
Turbuly Lilla (for Dance Reviews): Turbuly Lilla: The doll that was danced into life (in Hungarian): Review article with spoilers about a previous performance, in Hungarian.
English version by Google Translate
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Buying the product - The Doll of Kokoschka by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt, ballet (2021.08.28)
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| eBay US - eBay UK - eBay CA - eBay DE - eBay FR - eBay IT - eBay ES - eBay AU - eBay IE - eBay AT - eBay CH - eBay BE - eBay NL |
| Buy dance related ebooks and audiobooks from Kobo (USA) Buy dance related books from AbeBooks (USA) Buy dance related books from Book Depository Buy dance related products from Aliexpress (China) |
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Have you seen the The Doll of Kokoschka ballet by Gergye Krisztián Company and Gloria Benedikt? How do you like the performance? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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