I Love You When You're Breathing

I Love You When You're Breathing is a meta-theatrical puppet presentation by Basil Jones (original text), Jason Potgieter and the Handspring Puppet Company.

The original text

I Love You When You're Breathing features a verbose puppet, with a sharp sense of humour, who vividly explores the nature of puppets, their makers, critics, and the illusion of life they evoke in performance. It is based on an academic treatise written by Basil Jones, founder of the Handspring Puppet Company. The text of the 2010 version was published in Puck, the journal of the Institut International de la Marionnette in 2010.

From Handspring Puppet Company's Website:

" I Love You When You're Breathing audiences have the unique opportunity of seeing a puppet deliver a meta-theatrical address to critics and the general public. Using comedy and generous amounts of self-reflexive humour, this presentation gives insight into the behind-the-scenes life of a puppet, as an object in the world of international theatre. Often humorous and sometimes irreverent, this short ‘lecture’ looks at what it’s like to be inanimate while also considering the special role of the audience and its part in making meaning."

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

2010/2011: The first version of the piece was performed at the 2010 Out the Box Festival by Basil Jones, Adrian Kohler and Jason Potgieter. Potgieter then reworked and adapted the text for 2011 with a new cast and is now credited as the adaptor and director. The 2011 production is considered the show’s debut.

It has been performed numerous times since its inception, often in the context of academic and art circles, for example at the ‘Love and Revolution’ conference and at the opening of the Community Arts Project (CAP) exhibition, both hosted by the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape.

2012: Presented at Hiddingh Hall (UCT) and at the National Arts Festival.

2015: Presented at Infecting the City at the Castle of Good Hope by Handspring Puppet Company, directed by Jason Potgieter; puppet crafted by Adrian Kohler; costume by Phyllis Midlane; performed by Gabriel Marchand, Roshina Ratnam and Beren Belknap.

2016: Performance at the media launch of Science Forum South Africa 2016 at the Cape Town Science Centre