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Max Fulham Comedy Entertainer and
Ventriloquist
Guild member, 17 year old Max Fulham is
already getting rave reviews for his
ventriloquist performances on Face Book and
on his You Tube channel.
He also has a very impressive and professional
website to promote his talents.
David Leech decided to find out more about him.
You can read the interview on pages 2 to 4.
Also in this issue (on page 14):
Meet Lori Hopkins and her innovative new
play The Explorer with a specially
composed soundtrack to accompany the
spellbinding story, it is a play that explores
marionette traditions and bends the rules a bit
too.
After a crash landing on a strange island, the
brave Explorer needs to find her way home.
Watch her travel the high seas, drift into
space and even hitch a ride on an elephant.
“I wanted to generate a level of excitement
for string puppetry,” said Lori, “This is a
performance that breaks out of the
conventions of marionette theatre. I will be
visible to the audience during the show and
the marionette will have a live
voice. Hopefully it inspires the next
generation of puppeteers to create work in a new way.”
With a blue monster called Nigel
Max Fulham - Comedy Entertainer and Ventriloquist.
When and how did you first become interested in ventriloquism?
My parents bought me a puppet for Christmas when I was nine years old, and I
was immediately hooked.
Who do you take inspiration from?
As well as taking inspiration from modern stars such as Paul Zerdin, Steve
Hewlett and Nina Conti, I also think its vital that I look back to older
performers for ventriloquism and comedy in general. I admire the
manipulation skills of the ventriloquist Dan Horn. I spend a lot of time
researching and watching clips from a broad field within entertainment and
comedy, ranging from Victorian Music Hall to Children’s television.
Who would you like to meet?
I have met Nina Conti – once in the street
at the Edinburgh Festival, and once after
her show in Aldershot. I was also lucky
enough to be introduced to Paul Zerdin at
Christmas when he was appearing in
pantomime at the London Palladium. I
have also met Peter Pullon.
I’ve also got to know Steve Hewlett and a
few other variety performers who have
been a great help to me.
Through Facebook I am also in contact
with many children’s entertainers and I’m
presenting some of my ideas at the 2017
Trix in the Stix convention in May.
People I’d like to meet include Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble), Ronnie Le Drew
and Geoff Felix.
www.maxandfriends.co.uk
With Nina Conti
When was your first performance?
When I was at Linlithgow Primary School in
Scotland I performed in several school
assemblies with my puppets. Shortly after
moving to Surrey in 2010. I won the local inter-
schools Talent Show with a mime/comedy
ventriloquism act featuring my puppet ‘Stone
the Crow’ – this led to a wide range of local
bookings throughout my time at secondary
school in Farnham. Earlier this month I won
my Sixth Form’s Talent Show in Farnborough.
Where do you perform now and how often?
I have performed at Farnham Carnival every June for the last four years,
starting when I was 13 years old, this year will be my fifth. I perform at
birthday parties for children and for older people, have performed at a
wedding, at Aldershot Christmas Lights switch on for the past two years, and
have done a couple of corporate gigs.
How do you choose your material/content for your presentations?
I’m very passionate about using puppets and so one of my main focusses is
manipulation, whether that be getting a laugh from a face the puppet pulls, to
just spending a few hours exploring the puppet’s movement. Much of my
material comes through thinking about my audience, and I’ve tailored many
scripts to fit particular situations. I own many puppets and I love projecting
characters in them to suit the show I’m putting on.
How did you hear about the Guild?
I had seen the Punch and Judy May Fair event advertised and saw that it was
connected to the Guild. At first I joined the Facebook Group and from there
became a member.
How do you think the
Guild could be of help
to your performance
and artistic practice?
I think the Guild will
help me to be exposed to
a wide range of
puppeteering, which I
can learn from and use
to help create fresh ideas
that I can put into With ventriloquist legends Steve Hewlett and Ronn Lucas
practice. Simply put, I’m passionate about puppets
and think they can have an incredible impact on an
audience, for comedic or other purposes. I am keen
to learn as much as I can about such a fascinating art
form.
Do you want to consider turning professional in
future?
It would be a dream come true. I know this is a
cliché, but I’m 17 at the moment and to think I’d be
able to earn a living doing what I love and what I’m
passionate about, and essentially making people
happy, would be one of the best jobs I can imagine.
Have you any interest in other types or forms of puppetry?
Yes, I love Punch and Judy, and think that I could customise the types of
puppets used to fit more into my own style of performance. More obscurely, I
am fascinated by Japanese bunraku because of the movements of the figures,
the focus of the puppeteers and the immense culture behind it.
***********************
May Fayre & Puppet Festival
May 14th from 11.00 am
St. Paul’s Church, Bedford Street, Covent Garden
Puppet Parade at 11am - Church service 11.30
Puppet shows from 12 Noon – 5 pm
The Guild stall will be there, come and say hello!
Marlborough Puppet Festival
8th - 9th July
Watch this space and the Guild website for further details.
Skipton Puppet Festival
September 29th – October 1st
Copy deadline for June/July NL : May 27th
NEW MEMBERS
Max Fulham from Surrey
Damian Jay from Hampshire,
Jan King from Norwich
The British Puppet
&
Model
Theatre Guild
Aims & Objectives
To advocate the practice of
the art of Puppetry and
Model Theatre
To form a means of
communication amongst
its members
To improve the standard
of puppetry in all its forms
*****************
President: Ronnie Le Drew
Chairman : Peter Charlton
65, Kingsley Avenue,
West Ealing,
London W13 0EH
Membership Secretary:
Dave Burgess
183 Bwlch Road
Fairwater Cardiff
CF5 3EE
Secretary : Sylvia Peasgood
26, Central Avenue,
Stoneygate,
Leicester LE2 1TB
Archivist : Michael Dixon
4, St John Street, Lowtown,
Bridgnorth,
Shropshire WV15 6AG
Treasurer: Brian Hibbitt
Priors lodge, 3 Priors Wood,
Crowthorne
Berks
RG45 6BZ
Email: [email protected]
One day before the copy deadline for this Newsletter I
was looking at a large number of blank pages… then,
on the actual day several people came through with
lots of content to the extent that this edition is eight
pages bigger than the Feb/March issue. Thank you!
I’m grateful to one of our newer overseas members,
David Logan - from Australia - who sent a large article
about his work with lots of photographs. I’m afraid
I’ve had to edit his contribution considerably, for
which I apologise, but there is only limited room in the
Newsletter after all!
Details of the Annual General Meeting are on page 9
and pages 22 to 24. There is also a copy of the 2016
Financial Summary on page 12 and a proposal to be
put to the AGM regarding subscriptions on page 13.
It’s always good to welcome new members and I’m
delighted to be able to share an article about Max
Fulham who has recently joined after discovering the
Guild on Facebook, where you will see his video posts
of his performances as a ventriloquist. Max will also
be appearing at the Marlborough Puppetry Festival too.
In fact, there are several young Guild members lined
up to perform at this festival, including Prof Joseph
Peek, (of course!) and there will be local young people
learning to make and use puppets and performing at
this event, so it’s one not to miss!
That’s all for now folks,
Yours puppetually,
David Leech
Editor
Notes from the Guild President Ronnie Le Drew
A few updates re work, and some very pleasurable meetings with members.
On the 12th February I went to see the Tysoe Marionette Group’s, last show at
the Barn Theatre.
Jon and Ann, invited me to Lunch before the show which was very kind of
them, The show performed was the Snow Goose adapted from the Paul Gallico
story. The Marionettes were beautiful to look at, and the audience loved it.
Grenville Middleton travelled with
me to see the performance and we
shared lunch and a tour backstage,
also Jon showed his large collection
of puppets to us and before the day
was over, I was able to present Gren
with this years Presidents Plate.
Many Thanks to Both Ann and Jon for
inviting us.
Sadly I missed the Guild’s annual
visit to the barge this year, as I was giving a talk on the history of the Little
Angel Theatre. Which went well which pleased me. This was followed by two
sessions for the Little Angels, foundation course. With another two sessions for
The Royal Academy of Music, Their Musical Theatre Students, wanted to know
about Puppets, and were a wonderful receptive group. And over the last few
weeks I have had the pleasure of teaching for The Curious School of Puppetry.
Run by Sarah Wright. Wonderful enthusiastic students, who will I'm sure be an
asset to puppetry.
From April 22nd to July 16th 2017, I will again be performing "Dog's don't do
Ballet" a two hander puppet show for children (2 to 7 years) and their parents.
It would be lovely to meet any Guild members after the show. Just make
yourselves known to the box office and I will pop out and see you.
It won't stop me visiting The May Fayre at Covent Garden on the 14th May,
sadly I will miss the parade this year, but should be there for most of the
afternoon. Let's hope for good weather !
I won't be able to join you all for the AGM this year, as the Little Angel
performances are on the same day. But I do recommend as many people go, as
the venue is the Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.
Don’t forget!!
The Guild has a new
website featuring
videos of recent
events and up-to-date
news.
The Home page also
features the live posts
from the Guild Face
Book page - so you
don’t have to be on Facebook to see what’s been added.
Take a look:
www.britishpuppetguild.uk.com
Lastly I had the pleasure of working my marionette for the Disney Film of
Beauty and the Beast. It helped the CGI people to see where the light fell on
the puppets face, the character I was portraying was "Lumiere" the candle stick.
I have yet to see the movie myself, but it seems so far to have been very
successful.
That's all for now.
Ronnie Le Drew.
THE ERIC BRAMALL
HARLEQUIN TROPHY FOR MARIONETTE MANIPULATION
& PRESENTATION
The Harlequin Award for Marionette Manipulation
and Presentation was presented by Christopher
Somerville in memory of his late friend and
partner, Eric Bramall.
It was first awarded to Paul Doran of
Shadowstring Puppets at our festival in Colwyn
Bay in March 1998. Other winners have been
Movingstage Marionettes, Stephen Mottram,
Ronnie le Drew, Jonathan Broughton and
Michael Dixon.
Who can be nominated?
Any puppeteer of British nationality. Candidates do
not need to be members of the Guild or of any
puppetry organisation. Names may be proposed by
any recognised member of the puppet fraternity. A puppeteer can also nominate
him or herself.
Each nomination must be made by two puppeteers, or people with an
interest in puppetry who have seen the candidate in performance.
The nomination must be supported by a letter giving some details of
performance/performances seen. “He is a nice chap and deserves an award”
will not be judged acceptable!
Adjudication will be made by a two judges appointed by the Chairman of the
British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild and will consist of known puppet
enthusiasts, not necessarily members of puppetry organisations, though at least
one will have specialised knowledge of marionettes. In the case of a ‘tie’ the
Chairman will have the casting vote. The names of the judges will not be
publicised.
Closing date for nominations will be 31 July 2017 so as to give the
adjudicators time to see the nominated candidates in performance and make
their final judgement.
Remember the guiding rule is:
THE ERIC BRAMALL HARLEQUIN will be awarded...to any British
puppeteer deemed to have advanced the cause of the marionette by their
expertise in manipulation and presentation.
Nominations should be sent to: Peter Charlton, Chairman, British Puppet &
Model Theatre Guild, 65 Kingsley Avenue, West Ealing, London W13 OEH.
E.mail: [email protected]
The Harlequin Award is a chance for puppeteers to applaud someone whose work they
admire and wish to encourage - don’t miss the chance to have your say!
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Sunday May 21st
from 11am at
Queen’s Temple
Stowe School
Stowe Buckinghamshire
MK18 5EH
12noon performance by the Stowe Puppeteers
12.45 Lunch (2 course buffet lunch available @ £5 or £10 ph)
2 pm puppetry performance (TBA)
At the AGM, all the Council posts are up for renewal. One post we
have to fill is HON. SECRETARY as Sylvia Peasgood is standing
down after many years of loyal service. We thank her for all the hard
work she has done for the Guild over the years. The secretary is an
important role and we do need someone who has computer skills. So
please send in your nominations, with proposer and seconder, ASAP
for any of the council posts but especially for the secretary.
If there are nominations for any of the positions, you should first gain
permission from the person you wish to nominate and also a seconder
for the proposal. Nominations should be put in writing and sent to the
Hon. Secretary no later than April 21st 2017.
Please send your nominations to:
Sylvia Peasgood
Hon. Sec. BPMTG
26 Central Avenue
Stoneygate Leicester
LE2 1TB
Directions to are on page s 22 & 23 of this Newsletter. Agenda on
back page.
Apologies to readers who inadvertently
had a picture of Gordon Murray
attached to my ‘obit’ for Murray
Clarke. I think Gordon may not have
been amused. But it reminded Darryl
Worbey that Judith Shutt told him of
a long stick that was kept by the
“Thunderbirds” bridge called “The
Murray prodder” as it was used to prod
Murray when he fell asleep.
*************
German puppeteer Anna Klinge gave
an outstanding demonstration of foot
puppetry on TV’s “Britain’s Got
Talent.” Only a heel could fail to be
impressed. It must be on YouTube
somewhere.
*************
GEOFF FELIX
As some of you will know, Punch &
Judy professor and puppet maker Geoff
Felix suffered a stroke early in March.
He is making a steady recovery but still
has a long way to go before he’ll be
swazzling again. He is currently in
Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow
(Haldane Ward, Level 8).
Letters and cards will be appreciated.
If you are able to visit, visiting hours
are 2-4 and 6.30 – 8 pm.
In the meantime keep him in your
thoughts and prayers.
Rainbow Productions is looking for
people with ‘soft prop sculpting skills’
and that includes puppet making. If
you are such a person get in touch with
Crispin Lowry at
*************
There is an exhibition of the puppetry
and mask work of Margaret Robinson
(see last Newsletter) at Chertsey
Museum until April 22nd
*************
Sesame Street is to feature a new
puppet, Julia, a character with autism.
She will make her screen debut on
April 10th
*************
The Puppet Centre (resident at BAC
– Battersea Town Hall) are looking for
some voluntary help, answering
general enquiries and up-dating social
media feeds. If you would like to get
involved email
*************
The Halifax (of Building Society fame)
have a new commercial starring no
lesser personages than Lady Penelope
and Parker. The pair will also feature
on posters, social media and the like.
Stephen Mottram’s Animata was one of the
puppetry shows in this year’s London
International Mime Festival with a couple of
most entertaining pieces, “The Parachute” and
“Watch the Ball.”
I think this is the only time I’ve seen Stephen
perform without marionettes. “The Parachute”
was a journey through life illustrated by a
number of white shining balls. With music by
Sebastian Castagna as witty and magical as
Stephen’s manipulation of the ‘puppets’ - I had
to keep on telling myself “there must be
someone back there helping him, you can’t do all that with just one pair of
hands!” - this was a most entertaining and thoughtful show.
“Watch the Ball” was a table-top performance with one puppet changing faces
and then slowly dismantling itself. In the words of the programme “It shows
that ultimately the job of the puppeteer is to manipulate the audience rather than
the puppet.”
He certainly succeeded in that.
*********************
Horace Walpole’s novel “The Castle of Otranto” was published in 1764 and
dramatized by J.R. Planche being staged as a pantomime which premiered on
Boxing Day 1840 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Those were the days of
lavish scenery and hundreds of actors and extras which we would just have to
imagine had it not been for the ingenuity and artistry of toy theatre makers like
J.K. Green who produced his “Penny Plain, Tuppence Coloured’ version of the
play in 1841.
It is still no mean feat to produce it in paper theatre form as there are many
scenes and hundreds of figures. Pollocks Museum Trust has never been scared
of a challenge and we were treated to a most vigorous performance of the play at
Dr Williams’ Library, just a short stroll from Euston Station.
Apart from this somewhat austere setting, this could have been a Victorian
drawing room performance with figures flying across the stage, getting lost,
falling over, occasional moments of chaos but the verve and vigour never
flagging.
Our thanks to Alan Power and company for a most entertaining time.
Copy deadline for June/July NL : May 27th
Proposal to Revise Annual Subscriptions
The Annual General Meeting is the time when we need to review our annual
costs and expenditure.
We also need to consider the criticism we have received from some members
who have opted to receive the Newsletter in pdf form and are concerned that
they have received no financial recognition for the associated savings in printing
and postage costs, and it is in our interest to encourage more people to select this
option.
However, we do have to consider that our costs will inexorably rise in the com-
ing year and although we have generated a surplus in the last year, a modest up-
lift in total subscription revenue is still necessary.
My proposal to meet both of these issues is to introduce a two-tier fee structure
raising the membership fee by £3 for those continuing to require printed news-
letters (£5 for Groups) but freezing the membership fee at the existing levels for
all those opting for the pdf delivery option. For overseas members, the same
principal would apply but at a lightly higher differential of £5 for individuals (£7
for groups) to reflect the higher postage costs and the fact that their subscrip-
tions have actually fallen by 16% due to the fall in the value of the pound fol-
lowing the Brexit decision.
The proposed rates effective from October 2017 are therefore summarised as
follows:
Annual Subscription Rates for UK members
Printed Newsletter PDF Newsletter
Class A Adult member £25 £22
Class B Retired member £23 £20
Class C Junior member £18 £15
Class G Group members £35 £30
Annual Subscription Rates for overseas members
Printed Newsletter PDF Newsletter
Class A Adult member £39 £34
Class B Retired member £37 £32
Class G Group members £49 £42
In summary therefore, for those opting for the pdf delivery option there is no
increase proposed for the coming year.
Lori Hopkins and the Explorer
Lori is a puppeteer and performer based
in London.
She has recently premiered her solo
marionette performance for families
entitled The Explorer. This production
was supported by Little Angel Theatre's
FIRSTS programme and will be touring
Finland in October and the UK in 2017.
Lori is also operating Foster the Dragon
for a brand new TV series entitled Fairy Sarah and Friends that will air online
later this year.
When not performing, Lori acts as Puppetry
consultant for Shakespeare's Globe Education.
The Explorer is inspired by the curiosity of
young children, science fiction and the
wonderful movement of string puppets. The
Explorer crash-lands on an unusual island and
encounters rough seas, wild beasts and even a
spaceship. Transformation and surprise drive
along the narrative as almost everything that
the Explorer interacts with becomes something
entirely different – a rock becomes a friendly
elephant, a bench instantly turns into a boat and
a secret control panel is revealed leading to her
exciting escape from the island.
After the show Lori hosts a fund and
interactive Q&A session that is specifically
designed to unlock some of the secrets behind
the show for the younger viewers.
Remaining Tour dates:
Wednesday 12th April - mac, Birmingham
0121 446 3232
Sunday 30th April - North Wall, Oxford
01865 319450
Saturday 6th May Hackney Children's Theatre
020 8525 5476
Sunday 7th May - artsdepot, North Finchley, London
020 8369 5454
www.artsdepot.co.uk
Saturday 17th June Eastleigh Unwrapped
023 8065 233
The Red Balloon - The Puppet
Theatre Barge
Review by Neil Wilkin
The 14th March was the Guild’s gathering
for the puppet barge event at Little
Venice. Strings were performing the show
"The Red Balloon” which you may have
come across in the film of the same name
released in 1956 and created by Albert
Lamorisse.
The show on the night was magic and
took me back to my child hood.
The story is set in Paris originally,
although it could have been set in any big
city or town.
The story follows a little boy who
encounters a red balloon near a park
bench. The story had some nice touches
including a small bird (even heard it pecking for food) a dog and a lovely scene
with an acrobat who seemed to be swinging off a chimney sweep's brush.
I loved the magic of the play when the boy meets a girl and she has a blue
balloon. the two balloons play with each other. Both balloons seem to have
minds of their own.
I felt for some reason more sorry for the boy at the time when other children
took the mickey out of him and near the end when the boy gets chased by other
children. I should have felt sorry more for the Balloon.
I have never enjoyed a show as much at the Barge and that is saying a lot having
seen other shows there..
There is no spoken word's just a musical backing, the main instrument seems to
be a xylophone. I thought the puppets were handled really well, but
occasionally, early on, they seemed to float rather than walk naturally, perhaps
they were just above the ground rather than touching the stage, which was a
little off-putting to me.
Overall though a very enjoyable show, well worth going to see.
*********************
The Puppet Theatre Barge is a unique, fifty-seat marionette theatre on a
converted barge in London. The theatre presents puppet shows for children and
adults and is moored in Little Venice throughout the year and in Richmond-
upon-Thames during the summer.
Diana East
17th June 1952 – 29th January 2017
“I love to teach, especially with complete beginners.
The joy of discovery on people’s faces as they learn
is what really inspires me.”
Diana had a wonderful warm personality and was a
gifted artist and close family friend for many years.
Her father was a famous Silversmith and her mother
whom he met at the Royal College of Art was a
book illustrator.
After working for over twenty years as a freelance
jewellery designer/maker Diana turned to working in glass in 1994, finding it ‘a
wonderful medium for personal expression’ and taught the technique of
flamework soon becoming a pioneer in bead making in Leicester.
Her talent and reputation led to worldwide travel teaching in Switzerland,
France, Germany, Holland, Spain, New Zealand and USA as well demonstrating
in her purpose built home studio. One of her many accomplishments was being
commissioned by the Tate Museum to design bead jewellery for sale at a new
Turner exhibition. These pieces were inspired by the colours in Turner’s
paintings.
Diana’s involvement with the Puppet Guild and interest in Paper Theatre began
via a chance meeting with Peter and Sylvia Peasgood whilst working at
Specialist Crafts (formerly Dryad), where she set up and ran their new
showroom producing work to illustrate their varied craft products which
‘entailed becoming proficient in many craft disciplines’.
Encouraged by Peter, some original paper theatre shows followed over the years
and on several occasions accompanied the Peasgoods to the International Paper
Theatre Festival in Preetz, Germany.
Diana is fondly thought of by Paper Theatre friends and is still remembered for a
little show she performed ‘Swim Sam Swim’.
I shall miss Diana greatly both as a friend and creative spirit who will be
remembered as a talented and accomplished artist across the International
community.
Sarah Peasgood
1. Chris Somerville. 2. Aardman Animations. 3. Rainbow 4. International. 5. Crocodile. 6.
Animal. 7. Topo Gigio 8. Underground. 9. Ray Alan. 10. Exhibition. 11. Thomas The Tank
Engine. 12. Hector. 13. Education. 14. Anton Aicher. 15. Twizzle. 16. Rolls Royce. 17. Extra
Terrestrial. Answers to the Crossword on page 21:
Cabaret Puppet Theatre
by David Logan
David Logan is Artistic Director of Cabaret
Puppet Theatre, based in the Brisbane and
Redlands area of south-east Queensland in
Australia.
He is also an experienced Drama and
Theatre Arts educator having trained at
Victoria College, Melbourne, Trinity
College, London and the University of
Newcastle.
Many years ago, as a young boy, I saw a
sign that I have never forgotten in the
office of the once great amateur theatre
company, Twelfth Night Theatre, in Brisbane, that read, "You don't have to be
mad to work here, but it sure helps!"
Of course people who work in the arts are far from
mad, but they do possess, on the whole, an
incredible sense of humour and a great
determination to succeed. Certainly, there are many
ready to criticise and watch someone fail, but few
are there when necessary to provide meaningful
support.
To be actively involved in the arts requires not only
ability and good training, but perhaps more
importantly a strong belief in their enormous value
in a society.
My own interest in the arts started as a child way
back in the mid-1960s being involved in the Lady Mayoress of Brisbane's
'Christmas in Storyland' a large scale pantomime, held each year on the stage of
the vast auditorium of Brisbane City Hall.
It was pure magic with a different traditional fairy tale being staged each year
with four performances over a single weekend.
My late Mother, Gloria Ida Logan, an artist and lecturer in art, made the huge
carnival masks used for over two decades in the show. In later years I worked
alongside her, learning so much. I also attended weekly drama workshops at
Twelfth Night Theatre, appearing in different productions.
Later, I opted to take the drama teaching route, training initially through Victoria
College in Melbourne. While in Melbourne I conducted a puppet making
workshops for young children. No substantial teacher training in Drama was
available in my home city of Brisbane, sadly.
David Logan with Curious Koala
My first encounter with professional puppetry
occurred via the late and great Peter Scriven, who
founded, the Marionette Theatre of Australia. His
large scale full length marionette productions such
as 'Little Fella Bindi', 'The Tintookies', 'The
Explorers' and 'The Water Babies' toured widely in
Australia and overseas in the late 1960s and early
1970s. These productions were absolutely amazing.
In 1974, I attended a Queensland Arts Council
puppetry workshop run by the late Bill and Barbara
Turnbull of Bilbar Puppet Theatre. They toured
with the Queensland Arts Council, a Queensland
state government funded arts organisation, for
many years in primary schools.
There I carved my first marionette, 'Afro.’
Years later I made another marionette, 'Curious
Koala', under the expert guidance of Mirek Tretjnar at his workshop, 'Puppets in
Prague' in the Czech Republic.
Along the way I included puppetry in my own drama teaching and wrote a
reference book, 'Puppetry'. Puppetry brings with it the enormous gift of taking
the emphasis off the student and placing it on to the puppet. It's such a fabulous
way of building self-confidence in young people. Puppetry also has the unique
ability to reach out to audiences in a magical
way that live theatre for whatever reason
does not.
After a great many years of teaching puppet
making and performance with young people
and writing puppet plays as well as seeing
more and more theatre and puppetry in
Australia and Europe, I made the brave
decision to concentrate more on my own
puppetry rather than merely teaching.
Like many others involved in puppetry, I
took the risky decision to use my own funds
to start a professional touring puppet
company, Cabaret Puppet Theatre, based in
Brisbane and the Redlands district of south-
east Queensland, in 2015.
It started from absolutely nothing to its
current status as a growing puppet theatre
company, with now over 100 rod puppets
Our very talented Master of
Ceremonies makes everyone
always feel welcome with his
sparkling talent at Cabaret
Puppet Theatre
and a portable professional theatre, with a varied repertoire for the young and
young at heart. I perform using mostly my own puppets.
Like many puppeteers, I relate much better to the puppets I have made as I know
what has inspired their creation. Using another puppeteer's puppet is something I
prefer not to do. Their ideas and mine rarely coincide. I think it is crucial for a
puppeteer to do their own work rather than attempt be a clone of another.
I always think it's rather sad when puppeteers limit themselves to only perform
for children. Puppetry is hopefully far more than that.
While performing for primary and secondary audiences, Cabaret Puppet Theatre
also presents an extensive range of adult
cabaret. One particular age group, sadly often
neglected, are those in homes for the aged.
Currently Cabaret Puppet Theatre has three
fixed shows available for our primary school
audiences, 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Frog
Prince' and 'Hey Diddle Diddle.’
The real stars of Cabaret Puppet Theatre are the
puppets themselves. They are mostly rod
puppets made from scrunched up newspaper,
sometimes polystyrene balls, masking tape, a
wide range of different coloured fabrics,
brocades, wool, wooden dowel rod, old wigs,
buttons and costume jewellery, paint,
corrugated cardboard and cardboard tubing,
wire, stitching and using the good old electric
glue gun. The key to each puppet is good initial design and light weight. A
puppet must not only look good, but also be able to move according its own
special character demands via the puppeteer.
Any puppet company needs to adopt its own identity. Without this it has no real
reason for being. Cabaret Puppet Theatre started off with a single idea. This was
to bring cabaret and puppetry to audiences that are usually deprived of any
theatre experience due to prohibitive costs.
Substantial funds have been invested in not only the building of the theatre, but
also in making a large number of puppets.
Apart from performing, I also run puppet making and writing workshops for
different age groups. One such workshop was held for adult educators at the 6th
International Drama and Theatre Education Congress in Hong Kong.
The book, 'Puppetry' is still available.
Further information can be found via its website www.cabaretpuppettheatre.com
as well as on it’s Facebook page.
'The Little Mermaid'
Marlborough Puppetry Festival
Progress Report
by David Leech
We have now established a good local team who are working
hard to help with fundraising opportunities and Brian Hibbitt and
I meet regularly with the Town Clerk and the local volunteer
team in Marlborough.
There is a lot of local support and enthusiasm for the festival and
we have received a generous donation from the Town Council, in
addition to them providing the Town Hall and the Priory
Gardens, (local park) free of charge and the local Historical
Society have also made a generous donation to the festival fund.
We’re very grateful too, to Johnathan Sayers for his support and
his donation as well as the local Merchant’s House Trust who are
making available exhibition space in Marlborough’s new Museum which is due to open
after Easter.
While we await the Arts Council decision on our re-application for funding, our priority
is to secure funding from other sources which are proving very encouraging, especially
after we received a good turn-out to our Public Meeting on March 16th.
Whatever happens, we will have a weekend puppetry festival on July 8th 9th!
We are also seeking Guild members in particular, to volunteer to help with ‘bottling’ for
the outdoor shows and serving as ushers for the indoor shows on a shift system on both
days. Please email me in advance if you think you could help out with these duties.
Marlborough Town Council are fully behind the project so the more members of the
Guild can be involved the better. Also, if you wish to perform at the event, please let me
know, but of course at the time of writing, with have limited funding so I’ll not be able
to confirm arrangements and draw up contracts until mid - May, but I do make every
effort to keep everyone informed of developments by email.
Finally, I would like to make clear it is not only a “Pelham Puppet Festival” - although
there will be an Exhibition of Pelham Puppets and a Pelham Puppet Theatre.
Marlborough Puppetry Festival is a celebration of English puppetry, that involves
working with experienced professionals within the puppetry sector who will
provide emerging artists, as well as other young people, a major opportunity to
work alongside them to gain insights and experience in developing their artistic
practice
It is also a celebration of the rich and unusual heritage of Marlborough, Wiltshire
the birthplace of the world-famous Pelham Puppets, which were made there
between the 1947-1987
Spanning four venues the festival comprises of quality indoor and outdoor
performances, interactive exhibitions and talks, two education projects, networking
events, and an Opening Parade, “The March of the Marionettes.”
A Puzzle Page from Dave Burgess.
The first letter of each answer, when read from top to bottom, will spell out
the name of a Welsh Puppet Venue founded in the 1960’s.
1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _
4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
5 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
6 _ _ _ _ _ _
7 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
8 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
9 _ _ _ _ _ _ _
10 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
11 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
12 _ _ _ _ _ _
13 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
14 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
15 _ _ _ _ _ _ _
16 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
17 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
CLUES
1 He’s at home in the Harlequin.
(5) (10)
2 Creator’s of Wallace & Gromit.
(7) (10)
3 Zippy & Bungle starred in.. (7)
4 World famous rescue service.
(13)
5 He ate all the sausages. (9)
6 Muppet drummer. (6)
7 A mouse made from foam. (4) (5)
8 Ratty & Mole may live there.
(11)
9 Famous British ventriloquist.
(3) (4)
10 Show your work at one of these.
(10)
11 TV locomotive. (6) (3) (4) (6)
12 Paul Bacon was the voice of this TV
dog. (6)
13 Using Puppet’s for teaching is
called.. (9)
14 Founding Artistic Director of The
Salzburg Marionette Theatre. (5) (6)
15 Her limbs were like elastic.
(7)
16 Lady Pen’s motor. (5) (5)
17 Elliott’s friend was one. (5) (11)
Directions for the
Annual General Meeting
to: Queen’s Temple
Stowe School, Stowe MK18 5EH
Copy of Agenda on the Back Page
Queen’s Temple here:
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SUNDAY MAY 21ST 2017
11 am
Queen’s Temple, Stowe School, Stowe, Buckinghamshire MK18 5DF
A G E N D A
Apologies for absence
Approval of Minutes of 2016 AGM
Matters arising (not included on agenda)
President’s report & awarding of the President’s Prize
Chairman’s report
Secretary’s report
Treasurer’s report
Archivist’s report
Membership secretary’s report
Newsletter Editor’s report
Puppet Master Editor’s report
Election of officers
Proposal for the revision of subscriptions
Proposed: Brian Hibbitt Seconded Dave Burgess (see page 13)
Future events
Any other business