The Ratcatcher

The founder and artistic director of the French puppet group Les Antliaclastes, Patrick Sims, used the classic German legend of the Pied Piper and created a multi-layered story based on it, which not only touches on a broken promise and the kidnapping of one hundred and thirty children from the town of Hameln, but also explores wider themes of manipulation, conscience, and the allure of revenge. At the same time, he also finds bizarrely comic aspects of the whole of history, which he looks at through the filter of comic aesthetics, the humor of silent comedies, and the superhero movies of today.

You will meet not only the Pied Piper, but also the cunning mayor, who hides many secrets. What place do rats have in the story? Are they just unwanted neighbors or is there more to it? Did someone say animal testing? Making mutant superheroes? Dear me! And what is the role of the principal of the flea circus that comes to town? It certainly can’t be that his miniature inmates are carrying any diseases! Did someone say St Vitus’ dance? Uh-oh! And haven’t even got to cats and the toxoplasmosis they carry yet! Oh no, one hundred and thirty kids! In the dark underground tunnels beneath the beautiful houses of the city of Hameln, a feverish life is rampant, and in this vicious circle man is a very species! You can also find such themes in this performance without words that focuses all the more on theater magic, which moves the puppets as well as various machines and devices. It hides the actors behind masks so that the picturesqueness of the story stands out even more.