AO28 Editorial
Festivals are very much on my mind for this edition of Animations Online…
As I write, we are on the verge of the Suspense festival – London’s first dedicated puppetry festival in 25 years. The last one was produced by our very own Penny Francis (contributing editor to Animations, amongst many other roles), and this one is the brainchild of Little Angel Theatre’s Peter Glanville, who has written an article for us previewing the festival.
And it should also be said that although London hasn’t had its own puppetry-specific festival for over two decades, we have in the meantime had the London International Mime Festival every January, an essential date on the calendar for anyone interested in puppetry. Co-directors Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan tend nowadays to use the term ‘visual theatre’ to describe the work they programme – and puppetry, animation and object theatre have always been a strong feature of the festival’s programme. Find out what delights are in store for 2010 in the LIMF Special News Preview in this edition!
For those of us south of the big smoke, the biennial Visions festival was always something to look forward to. Based in Brighton, but with a national and international remit, Visions was where I first saw the likes of Faulty Optic, Green Ginger, and Steven Mottram – and it was also my introduction to puppetry from far and wide across the globe. Sadly, Visions is no more – but the enterprising Director of the Visions festival, Linda Lewis, has just recently taken up her new post as Director of the Puppet Centre Trust. Having worked with Linda over many years, in many different contexts, I would like to say publicly how pleased I was to learn of her appointment to PCT, and also to hear that the organisation now includes Animations as a core activity – which will mean further support and the opportunity to develop the magazine over the coming year.
Evidence of that development is already here in the greatly extended Reviews & Round-ups section, which – continuing the festival theme –brings us reports from Charleville-Mezieres, Bristol, Skipton, Santander, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The next issue of Animations Online will be posted Spring 2010, and we will then be bringing you reports from Suspense and from the 2010 London International Mime Festival – and will also have travelled up to Scotland for the Manipulate Festival of Visual Theatre, which takes place in Edinburgh 2–6 February (full details not available as I write, but can be found on the Manipulate website.
May I also say that we are currently building up our databases (with the help of PCT’s new administrator Emma Leishman), and trying to extend the number and geographic range of our reviewers and feature writers.
So whether you are a programmer setting up a festival, a company organising a tour, or a would-be reviewer – we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch!
Dorothy Max Prior
Editor
animationsonline@puppetcentre.org.uk
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