UPDATES
ON PUPPETEERS AND COMPANIES
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Unpacked
 Unpacked
is working on a new show, No Obvious Trauma,
with the support of development funding from
Arts Council England. The show is inspired
by histories of psychiatric treatment, case
notes and institutions: trains shriek through
the night, elegant foxtrots float through
incarcerating walls, patients yearn to go
mad and doctors dream of escape. A macabre,
comic and fantastical piece of theatre.
Their debut show, The Fourth Violin from the
Left, has done very well throughout the winter
of 2005 – 2006 with shows in London,
Aberystwyth and Belgium. There is still an
opportunity to see it as they will be going
on a mini tour this spring with performances
in Liverpool, Oxford and Guildford. For tour
dates and further information on both shows
see www.upacked.org
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Green
Ginger
 Green
Ginger's Rust is attracting attention from
promoters all over the world and has been
invited to festivals in Barcelona, Paris,
Lisbon, Calgary, Amsterdam and Nuremburg.
The company also looks forward to performing
at the World Puppet Festival in Charleville-Mezieres.
Please visit our website for full tour dates.
One of Green Ginger’s close collaborators,
Sharron Harries won first prize in the Factual
category of ffresh, the Student Moving Image
Festival of Wales. The winning film Life Line
was generated in a project directed by Green
Ginger's founder Terry Lee, using hours of
interviews with old and young people of South
Wales which were then edited and re-shot using
puppets. For further information on the company,
see www.greenginger.net
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Little
Angel Theatre
The
company’s latest production is Sleeping
Beauty In The Wood, which runs at their Islington
base from 11 Feb – 9 April 2006. Devised
by the company; directed and designed by Joy
Haynes (director/designer of previous success
The Frog Prince), this bold production works
with puppets, projections, machines and music
to weave an irresistible magic. From 12-30
April, Little Angel will be presenting Kazzum’s
The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Directed by Peter
Glanville; designed by Damon Shaw; puppets
by Sue Dacre; music by Suzy Davies. Kazzum's
highly original production of this classic
tale is inspired by Vietnamese Water Puppetry.
The action takes place in, on and around a
set made of water and uses table-top and shadow
puppets. The company continues its successful
community and educational work with the Saturday
Puppet Club and Fun Days for children and
families. Box Office 0207 226 1787.
www.littleangeltheatre.com
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Lost
& Found Theatre
 Lost
& Found Theatre presents The Lost Moon,
which is based on an old folk tale from the
Lincolnshire Fens. Written and performed by
Mandy Travis; directed by Nino Namitcheishvili;
live music composed and performed by Hannah
Marshall.
The Lost Moon features puppetry, performance
and live music devised originally by members
of The Little Angel Theatre who created Jabberwocky
and The Mouse Queen, now in collaboration
with Nino Namitcheishvili, founder member
of The Georgian Puppeteers’ Club at
The Basement Theatre in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Mandy Travis founded Lost & Found Theatre
in 2004. The Lost Moon started out as a ‘work
in progress’ solo performance with puppetry
and live music, directed by Steve Tiplady
of The Little Angel theatre, London, and designed
and made by Peter O’Rourke, with music
by Hannah Marshall. Mandy Travis and Nino
Namitcheishvili are now working on the final
production of The Lost Moon.
Target uudience: 10+ to adult; running time:
1hr – no interval
To book the lost moon - please phone Tamsin
Thomas, administrator on 07742 611634. Email
info@lostandfoundtheatre.co.uk
For more information on the company see www.lostandfoundtheatre.co.uk
|
Improbable
and the National Theatre of Scotland
 Hot
on the heels of the National Theatre of Scotland’s
launch comes The Wolves In The Walls, a collaboration
with Improbable described as ‘a musical
pandemonium’. This ‘visually spectacular,
musically infectious and darkly comic’
piece of theatre is inspired by the book by
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, and brought to
life by a team of innovative and celebrated
theatre-makers led by Julian Crouch and National
Theatre of Scotland artistic director, Vicky
Featherstone, including Nick Powell (Suspect
Culture, Improbable's Lifegame, Animo and
Stars are out Tonight) Iain Johnstone (Wee
Stories), and Steven Hoggett (Frantic Assembly).
It’s aimed at ‘everyone over 7
who is not a scaredy cat’. For performance
dates and venues see www.improbable.co.uk/show_example.asp?item_id=14
|
Mishimou
– 3 Little Pigs
 Featuring
nudity, alcohol, death and a tree, Mishimou’s
new production, The 3 Little Pigs, uses expressive
scenography, manipulation and illusion to
shift the dynamics of the theatre space. In
this eclectic theatrical experiment of puppets,
animation, shadow and music, all tools, marks
and trip ups-remain bare. The piece mixes
scale and style using rod, hand and bunraku-ish
puppets manipulated by Rachael Ayres and Maria
Ratcliffe. They play with the intimate relationship
between puppet and puppeteer characterising
the dark comic underbelly of the performance.
Paddy Molloy. animator and illustrator, creates
an anthropomorphic landscape in a textured
hand drawn manner. Dramatising the use of
filmed projection, shadow and colour, The
3 little pigs is an adult performance that
promises to fill your eyes and ears with wondrous
things. The company have just received word
that their ACE funding application was successful!
The 3 little pigs is premiering at the Royal
Exchange Studio Theatre in Manchester on 9-10
June. Book tickets through RET Box office
on 0161 833 9833 or online www.royalexchange.co.uk
For further information email mishimou@hotmail.com
|
Pandora’s
Daughter
Pandora’s
Daughter are currently doing a new human rights
project called One World Many Voices, using
puppetry to explore the state of Childhood
round the world. Pandora's Daughter also want
to announce that they have a new website!
See www.pandorasdaughter.com
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Puppet
State Theatre Company - The Man Who Planted
Trees
 Richard
Medrington, best known for his adaptations
of A A Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, has
received Scottish Arts Council funding for
a production of Jean Giono’s famous
story. A puppet show for ages 7 to adult,
which adds smell, touch and sound to visual
images. Performed by Richard and Rick Conte
and designed by Ailie Cohen and Alison Croft,
it tours from May 2006, with appearances at
the Netherbow Arts Centre, Edinburgh, during
August. “Jean Giono’s story surely
belongs among the most moving and endearing
statements of our hope.” Wendell Berry
See www.puppetstate.com
|
The
Puppet Lab
 The
Edinburgh based company, The Puppet Lab, have
received Scottish Arts Council funding for
their new show entitled EH6. This is one of
the first adult puppet shows by a Scottish
Puppet company. Set to an original soundtrack
and with accompanying graphic novel, this
show is performed with Bunraku-style puppets
and shadow puppets. EH6 is an adaptation of
the legend of Orpheus, set in a Scottish tenement
block. It is dramatically staged within a
set which splits open to reveal a cross-section
of the building and the characters who inhabit
the flats. The show will be touring throughout
Scotland in March and April, from Edinburgh,
Dundee, Aberdeen and Cumbernauld.
The Puppet Lab are renowned for their children’s
shows and have recently had a wonderful reception
to Funny Bones. The Autumn/Winter show for
5-9 year olds, Beauty and The Beast (photo),
is in a more traditional format of carved
marionettes, shadow puppets and masks. Beauty
and the Beast is currently being booked by
venues.
To make a booking, or for more information,
check The Puppet Lab website www.puppet-lab.com
, email info@puppet-lab.com
or call us on 0131 554 8923. |
Norwich
Puppet Theatre
 Having
received a royal seal of approval with the
visit of HRH Earl of Wessex in January, Norwich
Puppet Theatre continues to spread its wings
far and wide. After the sell out schools tour
of Jack & the Beanstalk at the end of
March the show will be appearing at Komedia
and Norwich Puppet Theatre before travelling
to the LivingCrafts event at Hatfield House
and Mukamas Festival in Finland during May.
Jack is not the only show on the road as NPT’s
production of Roald Dahl’s – George’s
Marvellous Medicine will travel to Mexico
for the XIX Festival Internacional De Teatro
De Títeres. Meanwhile back in Norwich
we are cooperating with the Norfolk and Norwich
Festival in bringing Blind Summit and their
production Low Life to Norwich on 6th May.
For further details see www.puppettheatre.co.uk
|
An
Evening of Puppetry by Royal Holloway Drama
Students
Workshop
productions of George Bernard Shaw's Shakes
versus Shav: A Puppet Play (1950); Gertrude
Stein's Identity: A Poem (1936); and Edward
Gordon Craig's Romeo & Juliet: A Motion
for Marionettes (1916). Also two workshop
productions of new student work based on Javanese
wayang kulit.
Monday 27 March 2006 at 7pm. Handa Noh Studio,
Department of Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway,
University of London, Egham Surrey TW20 0EX.
Free. Information available from Matthew Isaac
Cohen – email matthew.cohen@rhul.ac.uk
.
See www.rhul.ac.uk/drama
|
Whalley
Range Allstars New Show
The
new show Compost Mentis features a large compost
heap and the gardener who looks after it.
Their relationship slowly begins to break
down when it's discovered that the compost
heap has a life of its own and harbours thoughts
that are fermenting within. Puppet, mechanical
and musical interventions ensure that the
audience, like the gardener, are led up the
garden path. The show is designed for outdoor
spaces and signals a break from the company's
previous three intimate shows that were designed
for small audiences. The compost heap is constructed
by Bryan Tweddle (who has made many mechanical
contraptions for IOU, Hoodwink, Avanti Display,
Salisbury Art
Centre and Welfare State International . Music
is composed and played by Clive Bell (who
created the soundtracks for the company’s
last two touring shows, Bedcases and Pig)
and de-composed by sound artist Matt Wand
(who created bird soundtracks for their installation
Outside In The Birds and who has worked with
Sonic Youth and Pulp amongst many others.)
Initial ideas for the show have been developed
with puppeteer Steve Tiplady (who has worked
with Faulty Optic, Theatre-rites, Improbable,
as well as Little Angel and his own company
Indefinite Articles, amongst many others).
Compost Mentis was commissioned by Shropshire
County Council with further
funding from Arts Council England, North West.
It opens at the Lyric Hammersmith, 2–4
June, and tours in the UK over the
summer. Dates can be found at www.wras.org.uk
|
Objects
Dart
 Just
in time for April, when it is time to plant
turnips, Objects Dart will be taking a new
show The ENORMOUS Turnip, suitable for 2-7
year olds, into nursery schools, primary schools
and venues. Using the familiar story of the
giant vegetable as a base, the show explores
storytelling through movement, music and non-verbal
sounds. The puppetry includes shadows and
table-top puppets, all performing on and in
a unique light tent. A specially-created score
is being written for the show, and the puppets
are being made by Drew Colby, with shadow
puppets by visual artist Michele Petit-Jean.
For further information and images see www.geocities.com/objectsdart2002 |
Mark
Whitaker
 2005
was a busy year for Mark, dividing his time
between Norwich Puppet Theatre and Horse &
Bamboo, touring the UK, Ireland, Spain and
Portugal. He also took on the role of Membership
Secretary for BrUNIMA – see www.unima.org.uk
He spent the Christmas 2005 season at the
Royal Exchange Studio, Manchester in Horse
& Bamboo’s production of In the
Shadow of Trees. He is currently working again
with Horse & Bamboo as an associate artist
and throughout the summer will be puppeteer/
tour manager for their pPod touring theatre
See www.horseandbamboo.org/frpod.html |
Mervyn
Miller
Mervyn
is currently working on The Odyssey, which
is on at the Lyric Hammersmith until 25 March.
This retelling (after Homer) is by Lyric artistic
director David Farr, with puppets by Mervyn
Millar
Ensemble acting, live music and puppetry combine
to tell the story of one of history’s
most enduring heroes, who won a war but lost
everything in his search for home.
|
The
Theatre of the Small – Small Beginnings
The
company announce a new series of creative
workshops, Small Beginnings, which will run
on Saturday mornings at The Youth Centre in
Sandwich until 1 April 2006. Workshops for
children and young people include storytelling,
puppet-making, model theatre making, junk
music and percussion and dance. For further
information on the company’s activities,
tel 01304 617335 or email puppetmaster@theatreofthesmall.co.uk
|
Barbara
Mélois
 In
her new show Diaphanie or the Memoirs of a
Fairy (which will be on at the Egg in Bath
over the Easter weekend in April), Charleville
graduate Barbara Mélois uses the transparency
of cellophane to take us to the marvellous
world of fairy tales. The crystal palace,
the glass slipper, the diaphanous dresses,
are effortlessly illustrated – and it
only takes a snap of the fingers for the spotlights
to throw warmth and cold, water and fire upon
them. Barbara Mélois transposes Perrault’s
story of Cinderella into a ‘cinéma
paradisiaque’, playing with the contrasts
of poetry and modernity. A show suitable for
aged 6+
See http://barbara.melois.free.fr/ |
Figure
of Speech
 The
Moontime Project is a collaboration between
Figure of Speech and Tineola Theatre. A work-in-progress
show called Moontime, was made as a direct
response to a number of sources centred on
the cultural, and spiritual significance of
the moon and poses the idea: What does it
mean to be influenced by lunar time? Alchemy,
and the images that are used in exploring
esoteric ideas, became the basis for fascinating
hybrid animals and birds in the version of
Moontime performed at various venues in 2005.
Moontime is now looking for significant funding
to work with the artists involved and a new
show will be produced as an international
project – making use of workshop skills
of both Tineola and Figure of Speech. It is
hoped that with the right funding performances
will be run along exciting multimedia workshops
combining 3D, shadow puppetry, and animation
effects. Week-long performances will be shown
in Prague, Berlin and the UK in 2007/8. For
further information, contact Jonathan Hayter
on joffe@figureofspeech.org.uk
See www.figureofspeech.org.uk
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NEWS
FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS
|
Tate
Britain presents Lali Chetwynd: The Fall
of Man - A Puppet Extravaganza!
Wednesday
19 April 2006, 19.30–21.30
Part of Tate Triennial 2006: Live Events
Lali Chetwynd presents a temporary theatre
installation that reveals a narrative puppet
show in three acts drawn from key literary
sources including the Bible, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau and Karl Marx’s Das Kapital
(1867). In common with the carnivalesque flavour
of her previous works, the costumes, props
and scenery are assembled from found materials
to create fantastical moving tableaux. The
accompanying music is composed by Alexander
Tucker.
Free, but booking recommended. £1.50
booking fee. For tickets book online on www.tate.org.uk
or call 020 7887 8888.
|
World
Day of Theatre for Children and Young People
On
20 March, every year since 2001, the World
Day of Theatre for Children and Young People
has been celebrated all over the world by
the international community of theatre practitioners
for children and young people. The main purpose
is to attract the attention of a wider public
to the art of theatre for children and young
people. Events during the World Day may be
special performances, open rehearsals,
lectures, exhibitions, articles in newspapers
and magazines etc. Events are primarily organised
by national ASSITEJ centres or by theatre
companies or theatre organisations.
|
TRAINING
AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
|
Puppetry
and Object Theatre in Performance: an introductory
course
At
Stratford-Circus Theatre Square, London E15
1BX
10-week course begins the week starting 8th
May 2006
This is an introductory course to puppetry
and object theatre. Through the use of specific
exercises, play and movement, the first part
of the course will concentrate on the techniques,
focus and sense of play needed as a performer
of puppetry and object theatre. The second
part of the course uses the experiences and
discoveries from the previous lessons as a
springboard to develop work using materials
and objects chosen by the group or individual.
No previous experience of puppetry required,
just an openness and willingness to play...
a maximum number of fifteen students will
be enrolled.
Contact Tony Coleman at Stratford Circus on
020 8279 1007 or e-mail him at: tony@stratford-circus.org.uk
|
La
Capra Ballerina – Nori Sawa Workshop
Held in Acquapendente (Viterbo – Italy)
from 26 – 30 May 2006.
The workshop includes five hours a day of
construction of a paper machè bunraku
puppet.
Cost is 230€ including a place to sleep
in the hostel in the beautiful landscape
of the Natural Reserve of Monte Rufeno.
We can host no more than 23 people, so book
soon on: 0039 0763 730225 or (mobile) 0039
338 5907774.
Full details can be found on Nori’s
website at www.puppet-house.co.jp/nori/sawa8.html
|
The
Moveable Feast Company and Network
On
Saturday 22 April there will be a large
gathering for all South West participatory
arts workers. This will be the tenth gathering
over a five-year period and will be called
Re-Membering the Feast. It is for artists
involved in participatory arts – artists
for whom workshop is important. It will
be a day-long event and there will be lots
of doing, talking, walking and eating. The
Moveable Feast Workshop Company generates
and manages creative events both inside
and outside the MF Network and promotes
workshop as an art form in its own right.
They are in the process of identifying a
suitable venue and organising the day but
please register interest either by emailing
info@themoveablefeast.co.uk
or by joining the community pages of the
website at www.community.themoveablefeast.co.uk
|
Forkbeard
Fantasy 2006 Summer Schools
 The
Forkbeard Fantasy Summer Schools, held at
Forkbeard Fantasy’s Waterslade Studios
in rural Devon, provide a unique opportunity
to discover new ways of working in a stimulating
creative environment. The week-long courses
give participants a hands-on introduction
to the diversity of practice - prop &
model-making, set design, animation, film-making
& interaction, introductions to Final
Cut Pro, sound design and other media and
technology - which exists within Forkbeard’s
work. Dates are: Friday 9th – Friday
16th June 2006 and Friday 7th – Friday
14th July 2006. Cost: £600 for each
6 day course. This includes accommodation
and all meals and refreshments. Contact
Deborah Harrison, Administrator, Forkbeard
Fantasy, PO Box 1241, Bristol BS99 2TG.
T: 0117 930 9933. E: ff@forkbeardfantasy.co.uk
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Glasshouse
Mask Academy Summer Workshops
Eurythmy
and the Mask with Maren Stott and Mike Chase
13-14 May
Mask Making – Establishing Archetypes
with Stephen Jon and Mike Chase 10-11 June
Mask Summer School 2006 18-22 July &
24-28 July
For further information contact: Glasshouse
Mask Academy, The Glasshouse, Wollaston
Rd, Stourbridge, West Midlands DY84HF
Tel: +0044 (0)1384 399458. Email: theatre@ghc.rmet.org.uk
|
Sandglass
Theater and The University of Connecticut
The
Summer Intensive is a three-week Puppet
Arts Training Programme which runs 22 July
– 11 August 2006. The workshop is
offered to puppeteers, teachers, actors,
directors, designers and writers who want
to expand and deepen their skill and understanding
in the art of the puppet. The objective
of the training programme is to inspire
theatre artists to understand and to experience
the puppet at a theatrical medium. Sandglass
believes in integrating this understanding
of the puppet within the larger picture
of expressive theatre. Key to the training
is the link between the approach to manipulation
and the content of the performed work. Daily
sessions will include body training and
breath development with relation to puppet
performance, training in manipulation technique
an its relation to artistic statement, and
training and discussion in theory and aesthetics.
All sessions, including improvisation workshops,
will provide the opportunity for participants
to develop their own pieces. Participants
will also receive open workshop time for
puppet building. Institute director is Eric
Bass, co-founder of Sandglass Theater and
recipient of five Citations of Excellence
from the Union Internationale de la Marionnette
(UNIMA).
Application deadline is 15 April 2006. A
$30 application fee is required
Fee for the 2006 Sandglass Institute is
$1400.00 U.S. For further information email
info@sandglasstheater.org
|
Morinesio's
Midsummer Pageant
 The
5th Annual Pageant Puppetry Workshop in
Northern Italy! Join us for a one-week workshop
in pageant puppetry, culminating in a community
procession for the Summer Solstice and the
Feast of St. John the Baptist. Collaborate
with international participants and local
residents to enact age-old traditions of
ritual celebration in Morinesio, a remote
village in the Piedmont region of the Italian
Alps.
Master Puppeteers Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles
will guide you through the production of
the pageant. As a group, we will draw inspiration
from the lives, history, and folktales of
the village as we design and construct giant
puppets, lanterns and musical instruments.
At the end of the week, local villagers
will join in helping bring our creations
to life, for two events - an illuminated
Midsummer's Night procession and a Pageant
of the Solstice the following day.The workshop
will be hosted by Christa Gaebler at Casa
dei Fiori, a newly restored complex of traditional
stone houses. An international chef, Christa
will introduce participants to the delicate
tastes of Italian summer cuisine, with gourmet
meals prepared daily with fresh, local herbs,
produce, and mountain cheeses.The workshop
runs from Saturday June 17th to Sunday June
25th. The fully-inclusive cost per person
for the week is 1450-1950 Euro (depending
on accommodation. To make a reservation,
contact: Pia Petruzzi USA/ (203) 756 2517,
email pia@superiorconcept.org
For more detailed information, see www.superiorconcept.org/Morinesio
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The
7th International Shadow Theatre Festival
A
highlight for all shadow theatre players
worldwide, the 7th International Shadow
Theatre Festival will be held in Schwaebisch
Gmuend (Germany) from 16 – 21 October
2006. This is the only festival for contemporary
shadow theatre in the whole world. Fourteen
of the very best shadow theatre companies
will present work. There will also be workshops
which will be run by some of the best experts
in this field. For further information,
tel (00) 49-7171 / 86467, email isz@schattentheater.de
or see www.schattentheater.de
|
Ripstop
Productions seek Puppeteer
Puppeteer
with experience in shadow work required
for interactive and intimate shadow puppet
show for 3-7 year olds performed in a domed
tent. We are looking for someone who is
adaptable, has a good speaking and singing
voice and is interested in performing for
young audiences. Two weeks rehearsal and
five week London run (Polka, Half Moon,
Arts Depot, Harrow Arts Centre, Croydon
Clocktower) 27th March – 14th May
2006. Fee £350 per week. CRB enhanced
status will be required. Send CV to Zannie
Fraser at info@ripstoptheatre.co.uk
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