Tag Archives: light and shadow

More shadow puppets for Little Red Riding Hood story take shape

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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This is another update on the progress so far on the “Fairytales of Wit, Wisdom & Witchcraft” show.

After trying out all of the puppets that I have made so far with the Over-Head Projector and shadow screen I have been working out what extra puppets are needed to tell the stories. In many cases it is different sizes and arrangements of puppets I’d already made. You can see from the pictures that what I have been working on were larger scale articulated versions of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf which are to be used directly against the screen itself rather than on the flat bed of the OHP. I have also created a large scale head for Little Red Riding Hood to talk to the wolf, with an articulated mouth, (this is for the “Ooo Grandma what big eyes you’ve got” scene).

We have also decided to make two versions of the show, firstly a 30 minute version that I can do by myself which will feature “Little Red Riding Hood”, “The 3 Billy Goats Gruff” and “The Enormous Turnip” and an hour long version which will use two puppeteers (myself and Tim Austin) which will include the other three stories as well (“Goldilocks”, “The Frog Prince” and “Chicken Licken”).

Please feel free to leave a comment or a question about the puppets and how they are made. 😊

Please take a look at my WHERE YOU CAN SEE ME page for info. about free shadow puppet making workshop and shadow puppet suitcase performances at Skipton Puppet Festival coming up Sunday 19th of October.

Nearly all puppets complete!

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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Nearly all the puppets are made for the show (just one tiny mouse and various props and backgrounds to go). The ones in the pictures here are from Chicken Licken and The Enormous Turnip stories. Please see the previous 2 posts to see earlier updates about the “Fairytales of Wit, Wisdom and Witchcraft” show.

What I really need to do now is to get my shadow screen and OHP (overhead projector) out and have a play to see how best to use the puppets and put the show together. I will then be able to see what more things need making and Tim Austin and I will be able to put a script together too. Finding a space to do this in is the tricky part at the moment as we do not have a suitable space of our own.

If you would like to book this show we are putting dates in our diary now so please CLICK HERE to get in touch!

We will be visiting The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford on Saturday the 12th with a drop-in Shadow Puppet making workshop and performances of my suitcase shows. This is part of a family day to celebrate the opening of their (long awaited) new “Sound & Vision” gallery space. CLICK HERE for more details.

I am also talking to a festival about a shadow puppetry commission for next year; I won’t go into detail as a funding bid has to be put together. I’ll let you know all about it later if the funding bid is successful.