Author Archives: Collette Knowles

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About Collette Knowles

I am artistic director of Rough Magic Theatre, and I have been performing and making puppets since 1999. I have a Drama and Arts Education degree from the great Bretton Hall College, (Yay!). I started the great loves/obsessions of my life in about 1997, (Celebratory Arts, Street Theatre and last but definitely not least Puppetry). I am also an actor, artist, musician and all the other different roles necessary in the field of puppet theatre.

“Alice in Wonderland” show visits Blackburn Primary School for end of term treat

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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I received an email request for a puppetry “roadshow” from a primary school, as a reward for improved readers, and having responded that we did tour our work – and yes we could travel to Blackburn – it was suggested that we chat over the phone. The upshot of this was that they wanted our “Alice in Wonderland” show for the whole school plus a workshop for the improved readers. I obviously agreed to this but with a certain degree of apprehension.

This would be the first live performance (not to family members) since Festa Italia in 2018 (I was pregnant with Miranda at the time). I had planned to start ramping up my Rough Magic Theatre business after my maternity leave ended at the beginning of 2020, (and you all know what happened then).

After having Anthony in 2017 and then Miranda in 2019 I had imagined that “Alice” was a show I might never do again. I had imagined that we would create a new body of work focussing on shows that could be done using just 1 performer, (leaving one parent free for childcare duties).

“Alice” is a two hander show and contains a plethora of props, costumes and puppets. When we first started touring it in 2008 we designed it so it would all fit into the back of 1 small van, (a ford escort van I think initially). When we had children, we made the decision to change my vehicle to a Vauxhall Zafira car. This had seats that folded flat to allow for a large amount of storage space but crucially had seats that you could use a child car seat with as well. I was aware that we probably couldn’t fit the rig for “Alice” in this, due to the shape, but would be suitable for most of our other work, (I figured we could hire another vehicle if necessary).

Now we have two vehicles in the household, a fully electric Nissan Leaf and a fully electric Renault Zoe. Tim’s immediate response on finding out that we had a request for the Alice show was to use both cars (figuring that there would be enough room for the “Alice” rig and workshop equipment between them). I agreed and thought this would be much better than hiring a non-electric van as it is less polluting and would allow us to keep our costs down.

The Cheshire Cat in the “Puppet Hospital” having his tail repaired.

In order to be at the school on time we would have to set off at 6.30am in the morning; so we had to organise a childminder to pick up Anthony and Miranda and drop them off at their grandparents (where we would collect them at the end of the day). I was not entirely happy about the idea of waking the poor children at 6.00am but we made a point of getting them to bed nice and early too.

I also had to arrange a local rehearsal space as we had not performed the show for a very long time and a rehearsal with the actual props/puppets in a larger space than our house was necessary. It also allowed me to check over the props/puppets for damage in time to do any repairs. We also needed the practice loading/unloading into the two cars and setting up. We would need to set-up in a maximum of 1 hour and the same for striking and re-loading.

The completed mend

Having got to the rehearsal venue (which has no car park so we had to unload one car at a time and then take each car to the nearby carpark and bring the second car in) we discovered that we had forgotten the folding chairs which we use for sitting the OHP and shadow puppets on. These were crucial; so Tim had to return while I set-up on my own. The folding chairs had (God forbid) been in use for their intended function as garden furniture and had been moved into the garden (which is why we forgot about them). This, disappointingly, meant we only had time for a single run through.

We had also previously re-purposed my theatre storage room as a digital shadow theatre performance space and a gigantic shadow screen was bisecting the room. This had to be (very carefully) dismantled so that we could access the props/puppets etc.; so, that was another job before we could load the cars up.

Another issue with doing this show again was, that previously I had kept my hair in a certain style which I used when we were performing the “Alice” show. Whenever we had a gig coming up, I would get my hair trimmed to a bob style and then I would match all of the puppet versions of Alice which were based on me. We based this on the hair style of the real girl, (Alice Liddell) for and about whom the “Alice in Wonderland” story was written.

While I was pregnant/on maternity leave I figured I could have whatever haircut I wished for a bit and got it cut into a style I had been fancying for years, (a short pixie cut). This was also more convenient/quicker for washing when you have babies/small children.

Now, I had a problem; my hair was too short and the wrong style to match the puppets and would not be long enough by the time of the gig.

So, I ordered a cheap wig off Ebay that seemed to be as much of a match as possible to my natural hair colour. When it arrived, the hair colour was not as good a match as I’d hoped but would do well enough. I then cut it more to the correct style. I did this quite quickly, as I had had some practice cutting my own (and the children’s) hair during lockdown and had ordered some proper hair-dressing scissors for the purpose. Having the right scissors does make a big difference.

We were then left with the peculiar scenario of having a small puppet of me which uses a wig made out of my own, natural hair and me wearing a wig made out of fake hair! #puppeteerslife 😉

I was a bit concerned about whether the wig would stay on sufficiently well through all the action involved in the show, (dancing, crawling through rabbit holes, costume changes etc.; so, I made a point of getting it before our rehearsal to test it and I was very pleased with how well it held up. I did find myself feeling a bit “Maxine Fulcrum” as I spat ends of fake hair out of my mouth, however. I think, I also didn’t have a prescription for glasses the last time I did the show; so, that was another novelty this time around. I don’t have a very strong prescription, so, I could see a lot better than Tim who was also performing without glasses on.

I also play the guitar in this show which I had been using exceedingly rarely for about 4 years. I had been playing a bit of ukulele for the kids now and then as these are a more manageable size for their bedroom/playroom and less of a faff to get out, (the ukuleles are also a lot cheaper, with nylon strings that won’t hurt pudgy kiddy fingers). I had been surprising myself recently, however, at how much I do remember with the guitar. It is really like riding a bike, it does come back to you, though practice is necessary to do more challenging stuff. I think riding a bike is probably more difficult and I’m not convinced that would come back to me as easily.

We used a video from an early performance of the show at the Victoria Institute in Low Bentham to remind ourselves of the lines and of what we do with the puppets etc. in different parts of the show. I had forgotten how many things we had changed and improved since we took that video and had to keep reminding ourselves of the changes every time we watched it. I watched this on days when I was looking after Miranda as something I could do to prepare on non-work days.

I thought at first, that Miranda wasn’t too impressed by the video as she wandered off to play part way through, (but she is only 2 and a half and the show is an hour long). Since we have done the gig, though, Miranda has asked to watch the “Alice” show again on numerous occasions,(even wanting it twice in one day, which I drew the line at). Anthony has not seen the video as much and finds the story (like so many stories) a bit scary, because he is worried about Alice getting back to her correct size again. It is funny how much he is invested in the character, even though he must know it’s not real, considering it’s his mummy and daddy acting out the parts. Miranda is now convinced that anyone with a bobbed haircut “looks like Alice” since seeing me giving the wig a haircut and watching the video.

Anthony wanted attention after coming home from school when we were still trying to rehearse on a “work day” so got drafted in to be the audience. We were rehearsing in half of our kitchen with as many of the puppets/props as we could in the space. Anthony did enjoy this and was very enthusiastic in his audience participation, (he wanted to see the rest of the show when we reached the end as he had only seen the last couple of scenes).

All of this has made me feel more like a puppet theatre professional again and realise that it is possible to have children and do this as well. I have been feeling like a part of my identity was missing, having taken this rather extended break to concentrate on motherhood. Having the children see what I do for a living and that their mummy is more than just a mummy has been very liberating (not that I am dissing mummies and the job we do in any way). They are also very inspired to be involved in puppetry and performance themselves, (particularly since they have been to a number of live puppetry performances by other people recently too).

I was asked to do a workshop for children from the most improved readers group which would be children of all ages from across the school. So, I planned something that would allow the younger children to make simpler insect themed puppets based on the design I came up with for workshops at Buxton Puppet Festival and allow the older children to make more complicated drawing and cutting out, silhouette type puppets. I also created a set of basic fairy tale based puppets out of recycled cereal packet card for the kids to have a play with and give them ideas. The teachers seemed very pleased and thought that the children had all enjoyed themselves very much.

The show in the morning went brilliantly. Thanks to our extensive preparation and setting off in good time, we were there early so we could unload everything into the space and give ourselves a clear hour for setting everything up.

The kids were a hugely enthusiastic audience (I was expecting this based on our previous school performances of this show) and were particularly hyped up for a number of reasons:

  • The children were in the hall all together for the first time since lockdown.
  • They were all dressed in Halloween costume (including the teachers).
  • This was probably the first live theatre performance for them for over a year, (possibly the first ever for a lot of the children)!

There was no need to coax responses and audience participation out of this lot; the difficulty was waiting for quiet moments to get the lines in! The acoustics in the hall were great and we had no trouble projecting our voices when the hall was empty, but there is no competing with 200 odd shouting/screaming children. Tim said that it was his favourite ever performance of the show and it was wonderful that all the children and teachers enjoyed it so much. The teachers had given us a marvellous introduction, saying that they had scoured the internet to find the best possible show for their end of term treat (which was very flattering).

All the childcare arrangements came off okay and we have now proved to ourselves that it is still possible for us to do 2 hander shows when necessary.

We are, however, thinking about new work and what new shows/ways of working will work better for our new situation. I think, in an ideal world, we need a show that (while not diminished in quality) has less props and puppets is easier/quicker to set-up, can be performed by one person, yet is suitable for performance to a large audience such as this. If anyone has any suggestions about things they would like to see us do; or suggestions for good subject matter, please leave a comment on this blog post! 🙂

Jack and the Beanstalk at Upfront Puppet Theatre

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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The last time we visited Upfront Puppet Theatre we were there to watch their production of Aladdin and Anthony was 2 year old and Miranda was just a little baby. You can read about our previous visit when we watched “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” HERE.

The reason we didn’t have a post about that production was that our viewing of that was far more disrupted. I had hoped, with Anthony being 2, that he would manage to make it through the entire “Aladdin” show without having to be removed from the auditorium but instead of being better, it was worse. He had reached the age where he had to ask lots of questions about everything that was going on, AT THE TOP OF HIS VOICE. He was also finding it a bit scary too I think as it started off with the evil magician and a bit of stage pyrotechnics going on (if I remember rightly) and going into the scary cave etc. We reluctantly reached the decision for Tim to remove him as he was stopping the rest of the audience from hearing the voiceover recording of the characters and story. I did stay in to watch the rest with Miranda, but as I was trying to keep her occupied I did not feel like I had a good enough quality viewing of the show to write a proper review of it.

This time Anthony was 4 and Miranda was 2 and a half. I had a little word with her the night before the show. I told her that we were going to see a Puppet Show and that we would have to be nice and quiet so that everyone could hear what was going on and that if she made too much noise she would have to be taken out so that everyone could hear the story properly. She seemed to take this very much to heart and when I asked if she thought she could be nice and quiet during the show she said “Yes” very solemnly and said that she would be very quiet.

The next day when we were getting ready to go out she remembered what I had said without me mentioning it and said again that she was not going to make a noise and would be very quiet during the Puppet Show. I told them it was going to be “Jack and the Beanstalk” and asked if they remembered the story from when they did it at nursery, (they had made pictures of the Beanstalk with little cotton wool clouds and a cut out giant’s castle etc.) and Anthony had also brought home a story book with some little puppets in to act out the story. They had also learned what the giant said and had been chanting it to each other in the car on the day they had learned about it, so I reminded them of this.

I also told them that we would be having lunch at Upfront’s excellent vegetarian cafe before we so the show so they wouldn’t be disappointed at not seeing the show right away. They were still chomping at the bit to see the show, even though I had warned them in advance that we were eating first, and were asking when they would see the show; before, during and after the food. They examined the pictures on the leaflets attached to our table number with great interest which showed Jack, his cow and the Giant.

I wasn’t sure quite how long before the performance time we should be waiting outside to go in but didn’t want to leave it too late and so were waiting at 15 minutes before. Not many people were around and I was a bit concerned, then Anthony and Miranda made friends with a girl who had a hummingbird puppet from the shop and were comparing the different types of stones in the gravel outside (we had been asked to wait outside at the back of the theatre to avoid overcrowding in the foyer). We almost had a meltdown when Miranda did not want to give the hummingbird puppet back to the girl but promised her that we would visit the shop and find puppet that she would like after the show, (I had been intending to this anyway – it wasn’t just to keep her quiet).

Just as it was time for the show lots more people turned up and we started to go in. The seating was all socially distanced and the lady who was seating us was concerned that our teeny tiny children might not be able to see and moved our seats sideways a bit, (found out after it was Sarah from Noisy Oyster). So, it was a good while after the start time when we were all in and two blocks of seating in front of us were still conspicuously empty.

John Parkinson came out front and explained that we were still waiting for some people to arrive and that they had phoned explaining they were stuck in traffic and that it was so awful for people when they were trying their best to get to a show like this in time. To keep us entertained he found some puppets that I had noticed in a storage area at the side of the auditorium and gave us a little impromptu puppetry demonstration, (I think they were puppets from Stanelli’s Super Circus which I reviewed in another previous blog post – CLICK HERE to read). The first puppet was a dissecting skeleton marionette. If you are not familiar these were/and are very popular type of cabaret type* trick marionette, (*performed on shorter strings with the puppeteer on full view). The second was a “mystery” puppet, (in that they were stored in bags to stop the strings tangling and John had forgotten which one it was!) which turned out to be a violinist who would get so caught up in his violin playing that his trousers would fall down!

Eventually it was decided that we would have to start without the delayed audience members and we were upgraded to some seats right at the front, mostly because of their concern that our teeny tiny children would be able to see properly I think!

When the show was about to start Miranda spent some time saying “shhh!” over and over quietly, (to make sure the rest of us were behaving properly I think) and after that settled down and was quiet throughout the first half. Anthony sat beautifully still and attentive without a word as well, (I was very relieved after my previous experiences with him at the Puppet Theatre, but I had been fairly confident that Anthony was old enough to cope with it now).

We then had a small tub of yummy Lakeland ice cream each at the interval and after that watched the second half of the show. Miranda was still eating hers when the show started again and was not entirely successful at getting all of the ice-cream into her mouth in the dark, but did pretty well over-all.

In the second half (I think it was at the moment when the Giant spots Jack and said he was coming to get him) came the moment I had been worrying about…Anthony shouted out “Oh NO!!” and I feared we would have a meltdown from Anthony due to his concern for Jack. We reassured him that everything would come out well for Jack in the end and I think the fact that Anthony already knew the story may have helped here.

We have been struggling with Anthony and watching films or television with any kind of dramatic suspense, (Miranda has been fine with it and often says “don’t worry, Anthony” to him). Once he has seen something already he is generally fine but otherwise can go into full on trauma saying “Oh No! What’s going to happen?” and shaking and wailing etc. Examples of traumatic content include the “Shaun the Sheep Movie” and the “Thunderbirds are Go” CITV series. Even Mr. Tumble putting his foot in a bucket of water for washing the car (CBeebies “Something Special”) has been upsetting for him whereas Miranda seems to understand slapstick humour far better.

Books are not a problem and he loves watching the “Thunderbirds” episodes over and over now but is largely anti watching fiction films. His favourite thing is watching factory videos about how Jelly Beans etc. are made and other non-fiction content about how things work like “Maddie’s Do You Know” from CBeebies. We intend to persevere, however, as otherwise he will never get used to watching fiction stories on TV and film and he is doing better with it generally speaking as this trip to the theatre shows.

But, back to the “Jack and the Beanstalk” show itself. Highlights of the show for me were the staging and special effects (which John always makes very special) Jack’s little dog and Daisy the dancing cow.

We particularly enjoyed the lighting and the scenery which moved smoothly to one side to show different locations and the clever way they showed Jack climbing the beanstalk. They not only had Jack move up the beanstalk but also had the scenery move downwards to show his progress up away from his house and above the clouds to where the Giant’s castle was. We also had smoke effects for Jack moving into the clouds as well, (Anthony was very impressed with this and wanted to know how it worked, of course).

Another lovely dramatic touch was the pyrotechnics accompanying the dramatic transformation of the Fairy Godmother puppet. It was one of those trick marionettes that turns upside down to reveal a costume change and was, in my opinion, a very appropriate dramatic use for such a puppet.

It was a smaller and more intimate stage (similar in size to the one that John started out with in the converted barn originally, according to John) than the one used for the performances we had seen at Upfront previously but I felt the smaller scale of the show and smaller number of puppets meant that the puppeteers were a bit less stretched perhaps and I felt like the quality of the puppeteering was particularly good, (I found out at the end that as well as John and Elaine Parkinson; Nik Palmer and Sarah Rowland-Barker of Noisy Oyster were also puppeteering on the show).

The only small issue I spotted was a moment when I think the dog puppet must have got tangled or stuck somehow, but I imagine that it would be an exceptionally rare marionette performance that would be completed without technical hitches of any sort. I have had performances where some of my shadow puppets have got stuck with their legs in a funny position or some such but you just have to carry on and hope the audience don’t notice or try to fix it as you are going along. This I guess is one of the joys of live performance. If you are a performer or puppeteer, perhaps you would like to share an example of how you have coped with technical difficulties/things going wrong in your performances in the comments section below, or you could share something you have seen as an audience member!