Masks | Puppet Lady

Having cleared enough space to get a shadow screen, a camera (actually a smart phone with a special tripod) and an O.H.P.(over-head projector for those not in the know) into our Rough Magic Theatre store cupboard we were ready to start experimenting.

We wanted to find out where to put these three things in relation to each other to get the pictures that we want.

We also were particularly keen to try out a shadow face on the flat-bed of the projector to see what size we would need to make all of the characters faces for what we are calling our “hero-face” puppets. These will be for creating close-up facial expression shots of our main characters and will hopefully have moving eyes, eyebrows and mouth to create a wide variety of expressions. This will hopefully save time on puppet making as we will not need to create a new puppet for each facial expression. We will have “hero-face” puppets for all of the main characters both “face on” and in profile.

Here is a picture of my earliest experiment creating a generic moving facial expression puppet (e.g. this was just a face and not intended to represent a particular character)

I made a start on making one based on my drawings for the bodyguard daughter of the main character and it is this partially complete puppet that we did several experiments with (checking the size and a few other things). You can see videos of this in the subscriber only content for this week (or perhaps I should say last week as we are a little late this time).

Unfortunately we have been having lots of trouble with our washing machine which has broken for the 3rd time since lock down so I have been having to take time out to go to the launderette. I have also been turning up trousers for my son who has started at the nursery attached to our local primary school this week where they wear the same uniform as the older primary school pupils and the smallest size is still a bit large on Anthony (bless him).

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I was invited to provide the family entertainment for a new festival in Lancaster (organised by Lancaster BID) by “The Melodrome Mobile Stage“. It was an Italian themed festival called “Festa Italia” with food and entertainment in an Italian theme which would also hopefully promote interest in Lancaster’s Italian businesses.

I was invited to perform my two Shadow Puppet Suitcase shows “Edward Lear’s Nonsense” and “Jabberwocky!”, unusually with both shows within each 30 minute set. I normally stick to one show per set to avoid having to swap 2 sets of puppets over mid-set.

My first set was in Church St. where a lot of the Italian businesses are and I started off with the Edward Lear’s Nonsense (as this has more puppets) and swapped to Jabberwocky afterwards. This was relatively manageable as even though this show has scenery it only uses 8 puppets and Edward Lear has at least twice as many. I also had Rough Magic Theatre’s Tim Austin as puppet wrangler (aiding me getting the two sets of puppets swapped around).

It had looked like it could be raining all day when we set out and we were worried no-one would be there but there were plenty of crowds and the occasional showers did not put people off. We were also fortunate that it was dry at the times we were performing.

We met lots of the other acts in the Green Room in Lancaster Museum including a group promenading in Venetian Carnival inspired costumes:

Our second set at the Melodrome Stage in the Market Square attracted much larger crowds and we, the audiences and the Melodrome Stage were all very pleased. We were very fortunate that at the time of day we were due to perform at the Market Square the sun was going in the right direction so we did not have to rely on artificial lighting and got really clear shadows. Normally speaking when we perform this show that is not an issue as we just perform in the right direction for the sun and get the audience to move to the right position, (or perform for people who are already in the right position) but in this case there was already an area for the audience with seating etc. set up for the Melodrome stage so it was convenient things turned out as they did!

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It seemed to be a very successful day all round and there were crowds there for the bands and food etc. long after we had finished at 4.45pm. This was great as at most festivals I’ve attended people start to head home at around 4.00pm!

We had a great day and were well looked after by the Melodrome team. It was also a first successful outing for the Shadow Puppet Suitcase shopping trolley!

I had had an idea some time ago to do a new version of the suitcase theatre with a bigger screen and puppets by converting a pram, (you can see the previous post about it HERE). I had been concerned that it might be too low down and David Goboff suggested I look into shopping trolleys instead.

It occurred to me recently that I needn’t wait to build a whole new theatre on top of the trolley but that I could simply strap my existing theatre to the trolley and be able to use it right away. Feedback I have had so far suggests that not having the theatre strapped to me makes the shadows clearer as it is not moving around as much. It is also easier to operate the puppets though slightly more challenging to lower the “curtain”.

I decided to try this set-up now as I am currently expecting another baby (due in February) and so did not want to be strapping the fairly heavy suitcase to me. I am available for bookings up to the end of this year and from September next year and Rough Magic Theatre’s Tim Austin will also be available for his solo shows: Mad Hatter’s Tea Party walkabout, The Interrupted Wedding shadow puppet show and Jolly Rodger Pirate Parties for summer next year.

Please get in touch if you are wanting shadow puppet workshops in schools this year and family entertainment for Christmas events or Festivals of Light.

Puppet Lady

An Insight Into The Life of a Puppet Theatre Professional

Category Archives: Masks