Tag Archives: street theatre

Shadow Puppet Suitcase Theatre 2 – A Riveting Commission!

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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Hi everybody, I know once again I’ve gone quiet for ages.  But this was not because not much has been going on, (far from it).

I have been very busy working on a second Shadow Puppet Suitcase Theatre for a fellow puppetry professional.  They have asked to remain anonymous for now as they are working on a secret show!

Below are photo’s of the stages converting a vintage suitcase into a suitcase theatre like mine, though you will notice that as the suitcase is a different shape.  The screen is more of a landscape/widescreen kind of shape whereas mine is squarish.

As with my original suitcase theatre is was a joint effort between myself and Rough Magic Theatre technical expert Eddie Knowles.  If you’re an avid reader of my blog you may remember that Eddie worked on creating the “Pony 3000” horse automaton out of junk materials with me as well.

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Don’t forget my two Shadow Puppet Suitcase shows “Jabberwocky!” and “Edward Lear’s Nonsense” are available to book for your event CLICK HERE to contact me.

Rough Magic Theatre “Lights Up the Streets” of Lancaster

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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I had a lovely time performing my two shadow puppet suitcase shows “Jabberwocky!” and “Edward Lear’s Nonsense” at the “Light Up the Streets” event in Lancaster on Friday.

I had created light up hat decorations, (using my new top hat that I bought from a stall at Glastonbury Festival) and a light up buttonhole decoration specially for this event.  It was a bit of a challenge working out how to illuminate my costume for the event.  I couldn’t use anything that would catch on the shoulder and waist straps of the suitcase when I take them on and off and I couldn’t use anything so bright that it would interfere with the lighting for the shadow play by creating multiple shadows.  I think the overall effect, (using a combination of battery operated fibre optics and miniature fairy lights) was very attractive and worked very well.  I did get a number of compliments on my hat 🙂

I did my performances in the area between Lancaster Castle and The Storey Institute.

When it rained (a lot) I retreated inside the Storey and did a few performances in there for the wet and bedraggled audiences who swarmed inside to escape the weather.

I think people appreciated that they weren’t missing out on the entertainment by coming indoors.

Altogether it was a fantastic and friendly atmosphere and the rain did not dampen people’s spirits.

A big thank-you once again to Tim Austin for taking photographs of the show and generally helping out.  And a big thank-you to George Harris and The Duke’s for the use of their lovely dressing room, (quite a treat for a street performer).  And thank-you to all my audiences for turning out in the wet.