Fasoulis

Greece has two traditional comic puppet characters. One is called Karaghiozis and the other Fasoulis (=the bean). Karaghiozis is a shadow figure and arrived in Greece from Turkey. Fasoulis is a hand puppet and is said to be a direct brother of the Italian Fagiolino (and of course a member of the big puppet family of Pulchinella, Punch, Kasparek, Petruska, etc) . He arrived from Bollognia, through Corfu, in 1840. Before the end of the 19th century he was well known to Athens. In the early 20th century and until 1930, he was a serious antagonist of Karaghiozis but a company of him as well, for many performers used to play both characters. Since the influence of the eastern civilization is much stronger in Greece, Karaghiozis has always been the main traditional comic character of the Greek people.

Our performance is not exactly the traditional ‘Fasoulis’: The text has been substracted, the voices have been distorted, the forms have been changed.  The show has kept the “carnavalistic” signs and concentrated to them as a universal characteristic of the popular traditions, aiming to produce a compact comical effect, always familiar and always contemporary.

Ayusaya! Puppet Company
“Ayusaya! Puppet Company” is a professional puppet company based in Athens, Greece. Since 1992, it travels around performing in the streets and in theatre venues, with all kinds of puppets. It has collaborated with other theatre and puppet theatre groups, in Greece and abroad.