With Mummenschanz, expect the unexpected

Mummenschanz creates characters from everyday objects, and tell little stories, all without saying a single word.

By HELEN KAYE
Anybody who's ever seen these magicians of the poetic, the wildly comical, and the super-imaginative, will happily admit that Mummenschanz are unique. They create characters from everyday objects like toilet paper, foil, wire, corrugated cardboard, fur and foam-rubber to name just a few. Then they get into, under, behind and on top of these amazing masks to tell little stories, all without saying a single word. From May 14 to 23 they'll be here once again with 3X11, a 33-year retrospective of their best acts. They started out as a trio - Bernie Schürch, Floriana Fraschetto and Andres Brossard. Brossard died in 1992, a blow from which it took a while to recover because Mummenschanz always worked very closely together, doing everything themselves. They still do, but now they're four. Jacob Bentsen and Raffaella Matteoli joined some years back. 3X11 premiered in Sydney in 2006 and continued on with an Australian tour. Here they'll play in Tel Aviv from May 14 to 16, Petah Tikva on May 17, Haifa on May 19 and 20, Jerusalem on May 21 and 22, Herzliya on May 23, Modi'in on May 24, Ashkelon on May 27, Gan Shmuel on May 29 and Rishon Lezion on May 31.