The wilder side of performance gets aired in Enfield this month as Mimetic festival of international puppetry, cabaret and visual theatre returns to the Dugdale Centre. For the first time, awards will be up for grabs at Mimetic, as the 'Onesies' are introduced, courtesy of One Stop Arts.
There's a bagful of gongs up for grabs and most cross genres. None more so than "Best Performance by a Puppet" whose shortlist could look something like this:
- The nasally augmented protagonist at the heart of a reworking of Pinocchio, set in a 1950's sci-fi horror B movie with not a trace of Disney left behind
- The cut-out paper puppets bringing The Paper Cinema's Odyssey to fragile, flickering silent life
- The "vaudeville tatterdemalion rogues" from Balkan bad boys, Flabberghast Theatre
- Lucien, the lonely London city rat, who lives under Waterloo Bridge
- The superbly daft and very Aberdeeny Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets, touring their new show, Socks in Space
A sideline in comedy makes the programme extra juicy, with a selection of Edinburgh previews including Rachel Parrish — her of the brilliant Austentatious improv group — and the unpredictable whims of Tony Law and his new wild hairdo. There's a fierce line-up of cabaret artistes and, as summer holidays begin, there's also a family theatre strand with bears, balloons and a Superhero Snail Boy to see, among others.
Oh, and on Saturday 14 July, OneTasteCabaret takes Mimetic to Edmonton Festival to join the fairy themed Magical Menagerie Parade and entertain festival goers in Jubilee Park. And that's all free.
It seems unlikely, but Enfield Town appears to be the place to be for an Edinburgh Festival warm-up.
Mimetic 2013 runs from 11-27 July at the Dugdale Centre, Enfield Town.