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I can’t divulge what giant character I’ve been working on for the last eight months, but in a few weeks the result goes public. The brief has been exacting. It has to represent in ways that people young and old can be proud of: to bridge biology and legend, and carry echoes of the first…
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I recently presented with the wonderful Dr Tanja Beer on Ecoscenography and Sustainable Puppetry Practice. Some interesting questions were raised by the network of artists and designers involved in the EU-based Impulse Project. One was about longevity: when proposing salvaged materials for theatre design, clients often question whether it will last. There are several ways…
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There are many approaches to developing a sustainable practice. Mine I would loosely describe as ‘frugality’, a practice of using precious resources – even if they’re junk – with respect and caution. This has led over time to the necessity of materials-informed design: allowing the available materials to influence the design, and to be inseparable…
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In May and June I granted myself a three week residency. Artist residencies can be excellent for rigour and focus, but they are often an impossibility for sole parents. Applying also involves a lot of paperwork, uncertainty and waiting, and contorting to fit the terms. So instead, I granted one to myself and stayed home!…
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I’ve been thinking about the old Waste Heirarchy – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – for years, and how it needs more levels to reflect the need to push it upstream to where decisions are made. So here’s one I’ve developed for theatre. It’s a helix now, so the different layers can talk to each other. Please…
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As part of Arts on Tour’s Green Touring Online series I co-presented a session on sustainable making practices. Here’s the gist. I’ve been developing techniques for working with salvaged and low-impact materials for the last 27 years, and my work for performance has toured nationally and internationally to theatres, schools, festivals, galleries and museums. There…
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Making a show is a deeply iterative process. In the second creative development for Feathers, a room full of people thrashed out the potential and the limitations of the puppets we’ve built, and tested them against Dan Giovannoni’s boisterous script. A list of tweaks and changes emerged, some necessary for narrative or performer comfort, some…
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Five great humans joined me the workshop last week to sample the ageless storytelling potential of shadow puppetry. In training to deliver Terrapin’s new series of intergenerational workshops, the participants were thrown in the deep end: I told them a story from my own childhood, and they had two hours to figure out how to…
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We’re in the countdown to rehearsals for Terrapin’s next touring show, Feathers. In the role of puppet designer, mentor and lead maker, I’ve been working with Danny Miller and Mads Hillam for almost a year to build seven characters, all technically challenging in their own way. The emphasis, as always, has been on using materials…
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After three years as Lead Maker and Head of Workshop at Terrapin Puppet Theatre, I’m handing over the reins. In that time the workshop has gone from a corner of the waterfront rehearsal room to a well equipped unit in the industrial area. I’ve taught, worked with and learned from many makers in the network…
