MOVING THEATRE TO STREETS

Continually exploring new dimensions in visual /mask theatre, in 2012 Iva & Petar launched BIG BUGS SHOW, a ‘Kafkaesque’ crawling spectacle featuring four  giant lifelike beetles. The spectacle is set on street, right amongst the audience. By taking some popular themes – such as ‘junk food’ and ‘food waste’ – and turning them into a form of a satirical urban legend – the authors create a contemporary street theatre that communicates with broad audience. Big Bugs Show has been in repertoire since 2012 and has been played with a great succes at many International (Street) Theatre Festivals, Puppet Festivals, City Festivals and environmental events ever since.

The authors about street theatre: “We believe that street theatre should not be merely ‘entertainment’. It should be in the same time engaging, it should reflect current matters and carry  a message or comment. We see street theatre as an opportunity to create a form of true LIVING THEATRE, a  ‘happening-like’, direct theatre.“

URBAN LEGEND

Big Bugs is a satirical urban spectacle about the beetles who grow to enormous proportions because of the consumption of junk food and breathtaking amounts of food-waste being available to them on the streets in the big cities.
Four huge lifelike beetles show up in the middle of the city. The ‘Kafkaesque’ parade, consisting of a giant Cockroach; an enormous Lady-bug; a Stag beetle and a Jewel beetle go on the rampage through the streets, causing excitement and ‘mass-hysteria’ amongst the public. The act, which starts as electrifying chaos-generating happening among the audience, culminates in a hilarious circle-performance on a city-square.
The story gets a satirical dimension through the character of The Forester (a spokesman of the environmental organization G.R.E.E.N.) as he reveals a special bugs-fitness/lifestyle program which will reduce them back to their normal size. A  solution to the giant- beetles-issue which is causing widespread panic and unrest amongst the population.

BIG BUGS BEHIND-THE-SCENES

“A special challenge with this production was to transform an actor into a realistic looking insect. We spent some time examining the anatomy of insects and creating a number of prototypes before we finally managed to create a structure/body-suit that enables a performer to animate it in such a way that it mimics the movement of a real insect.”

“We are very glad with the result and amazed how people react; Frequently the crowd is following us after the show all the way to the backstage to find out how did we do it; some people even think that the Bugs are some kind of super advanced remote controlled robots and are totally astonished when they figure out that the Bugs are actually performers” .

Photo Gallery

Showreel

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Publications

Big Bugs Show - Brochure