The urge to dive headlong into the realms of fantasy and to succumb to the comfort offered by escape into dreamland domains has, for obvious reasons, been more present and compelling in recent times. Since Oct. 7 – not that we didn’t have our existential trials and tribulations before that – the desire to find solace and a few moments of inner peace or abstraction has been almost irresistible.

Youngsters generally have a yet unsullied propensity for losing themselves in the here and now, and setting more pressing matters to one side for a while. They and their parents can indulge themselves in some of that at this year’s Jerusalem International Puppet Festival, overseen by the Train Theater company in the Liberty Bell Garden for the 33rd time of asking, August 18-22.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone somewhere could wave a magic wand and make all the bad stuff go away, even if just for a while? A breather from all the pain, sorrow, and tension would be a priceless – at least temporarily – recuperative boon in these dark times.

That is precisely what is being laid on in the Hocus Pocus slot of the festival program. Some may already be familiar with, or even hooked on, the alfresco event, as this will be its fourth edition under the festival’s auspices.

If you have experienced the multifarious spread of works and activities at the outdoor complex in Liberty Bell Park in previous years, either as an enthused young visitor or an accompanying adult relative, you will have some idea of the sort of wonderland you can step into across four days, from August 19, daily between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

The diurnal scheduling suggests that, hopefully, the mercury level will have dipped past its zenith when the complex opens for business. In any case, the lush foliage draped across the leafy arcades in the park provide ample protection from the relentless August sun.

Dafna Kron who, along with Train Theater head Shahar Marom, crafted the Hocus Pocus spread, says she was looking to create an alternative world within a safe environment. Both of those elements sound like just what the doctor ordered as violence and uncertainty continue to rage all around us.

She adds that the accent is on allowing kids, from the age of three, to simply go with the flow, physically and thematically, as the various installations and other works catch their eye and imagination, stopping when and where they want, for as long as they want.

“There are ongoing installations that people can sit down and experience. There are things that you can stay and watch as you wish. That is very powerful for young children, that they can see the same thing over and over. Normally, you go to a show and it runs through until it ends.” Anyone who has read the same bedtime story to their offspring umpteen times will get that. “Last year I remember there was a young girl who sat in front of the same work throughout the evening,” Kron recalls. “She watched, sort of in a loop, again and again. There is something powerful in the fact that kids are free to do what they want in the complex, go where they want, and even stay with the same work.”

All told, the complex will include contributions by some 11 artists across a broad range of creative fields.

“The outdoor compound will present a world in which the imagination generates a different reality,” Kron explains. “The eight works include a magical restaurant, aerial acrobatics, witches brewing potions, enchanted fountains and wonder swans, and lots more,” she enthuses.

Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

KRON, MAROM et al. pulled out all the stops to ensure that everyone gets their money’s worth, and all duly lose themselves in the Hocus Pocus moment. 

“One of the special aspects of this project is that it is entirely made up of original works,” Kron states. “We always accept artists and collectives that make multidisciplinary works. There is sound, object animation, and puppetry. And there is a circus, which we haven’t had before.”

The whole, Kron believes, adds up to far more than the sum of its individual artistic and entertaining parts. She says it is basically about the experience and the atmosphere through which the children will make their way.

“We set off on our journey, each of their own,” Kron notes.

She says it is all very much about what the children make of what they see and hear, and what they do with that. This is clearly not about just sitting around and passively marveling at what the artists have put together.

The clue lies in the brace of words in the program moniker that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever been a kid.

“‘Hocus-pocus’ is a magic spell,” the festival organizers say. “Once you whisper those words, anything is possible. Yes, you can fly in the sky, dive into the pages of a book, plant a seedling of courage, read minds, or cast a magic spell over flowing water.” 

Kron is, understandably, enthused about everything the public will encounter in the complex. However, there is one particular spot she feels stands out above the rest.

“There is one work which is literally hocus-pocus. It is by one of the most experienced magicians in Israel, called Magos Cagliostro. For the past eight years he has engaged in immersive art experiences, and has worked with museums all over the world.”

He has produced the goods for this year’s Jerusalem International Puppet Festival, too.

“His work is funny and charming, which tells a sort of story about an enchanted roadside diner where absolutely everything that happens there is unexpected and strange. A man goes there. He is hungry and thirsty, but he doesn’t find food or drink there. Everything that happens there is weird and doesn’t work properly, and is full of magic.”

It is a multi-sensory act. “There is original music that goes with it. It is a definitively hocus-pocus creation,” Kron laughs.

There are more curative energies in the compound lineup. “There is a work by Rotem Goldenberg and a designer-comics artist named Keren Katz. It is called Mitzim Le’Amitzim [a neat rhyming moniker which translates as “juices for the brave”]. They designed a sort of wonderful garden which is full of animated healing herbs. There is a witch who is the landlady of the garden.”

The witch in question is of the benevolent variety. “Any child can tell her about some fear they have, and she then concocts a potion for them, made using the herbs she has growing there.” Sounds alluringly soothing and supportive.

There’s more to the “herbal” offerings than meets the beguiled eye. “Each plant, of course, has its own story,” Kron continues. “The plants are scared, and so is she. So they share that. But it is also very beautiful and funny. Everything comes to life, using wonderful object animation.”

The kids will get some enlightenment about the benefits of natural – as opposed to Big Pharma-devised – solutions for our ailments and means for preventing them. But this a didactic rather than a dogmatic exercise. Hebrew linguistic fun comes to the fore here. 

“There will be the Narkichss [a play on narkiss – daffodil – with an expletive suffix that suggests distaste], and there is the Wawawow plant, and the Baishan Lamed [“shy lamed”].” That should leave the youngsters wide-eyed and with their interest duly piqued.

But the idea is to draw them into the thick of the natural dynamics while avoiding a sense of insecurity which can ensue from a lack of knowledge about the subject matter to which they have just been exposed.

“They get a plant guidebook at the end,” says Kron, noting that the plan is to also get the children and youth in on the act, and to provide them with some much-needed emotional succor. “They will get a small bunch of flowers, and they can whisper their fear to the flowers and plant them in the ground. Then a [animated] Courage Tree sprouts out to help them overcome their fears.” 

Hocus Pocus may even put a few child psychologists out of business. With all due respect to the said learned professional practitioners, perhaps that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all – empowering children and enabling them, as it were, to heal themselves.

Circus acts also feature in the Hocus Pocus agenda. Kron says the young patrons can look forward to some quality entertainment in that department, too. “Shahar Marom added a lot of contemporary circus this year. It is amazing how many gifted circus artists we have in this country. There is the Kavei Dimyon [Lines of Imagination] work with a tightrope artist. She doesn’t walk on it, she hangs from it and does all sorts of things up there. That happens seven full meters above the park. It is a multidisciplinary sort of performative act, with sound and movement.”

Lofty performing position notwithstanding, Kron says the members of the audience will not strain to appreciate the airborne action. “They will always feel a connection between the ground level and the tightrope.”

We will also be drawn into the acrobatic evolution. “The artist immerses herself in a world which, in fact, is made of nothing – acrobatics and sound and how we, the viewers, complete everything with our own imagination.”

There will also be the odd reference to less harmonious areas of life, as befitting any cultural endeavor at this painful juncture of our national timeline.

“There is another pair of circus artists in the program – Irit Haruvi and Yariv Solomon. They are called Kirkas Hachnunim (The Nerds Circus). They created an original work for the festival which addresses conflict, about a couple that is always arguing, like all of us,” Kron laughs. “They call it the What About? and Why? – it is not clear why they are fighting and what about.”

THIS IS no cotton wool-wrapped affair. Then again, this is not a gratuitous-strewn work, either. “The artists take the situation of conflict to the extreme, through acrobatics and acrobalance. You can do a lot of things with them that you can’t do in real life.”

Kron doesn’t just hope Hocus Pocus provides the younger generation with a timeout from the bad stuff around them in these here parts as their summer vacation winds down. She tenaciously clings to the hope that the program spirit may very well send some positive ripples beyond the cloistered confines of Liberty Bell Park.

“The artists produce a hocus-pocus spell and end their dispute. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that could happen for all of us?”

Hope springs eternal. ■

For tickets and information about the Jerusalem International Puppet Festival: traintheater.co.il/en/festival/2024