Look out London,….Here I come!!!

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If you have been wondering if I’ve fallen down a deep well for the last few weeks, due to the lack of fresh news on my blog, then you’d be wrong.

What I have in fact been doing, (amongst other things) is making the costumes you see in the photos above.  These are for the “Feast of St. George” GLA Festival.  I shall be doing my “Jabberwocky!” shadow puppet suitcase show in Trafalgar Square on Saturday the 20th of April between 1 and 6pm.  Click HERE for news article.

I will wear the St. George themed costume for this event but the medieval dress costume can be used for performing the “Jabberwocky!” show at any other medieval themed events.  We can also use it for one of the new children’s party ideas we are working on.

This is the first performance I am doing through the street arts agency Continental Drifts and also my first performance in London.  It will be interesting to see how (if at all) the London audiences differ from audiences elsewhere in the country.  I was very amused, when I was in London once, that a local was puzzled by my Northern accent and asked if I was from Scandinavia!

The “Jabberwocky!” show is, of course, perfect for St. George’s Day because it involves the slaying of a big nasty monster by a brave hero with a sword.  The singing that I do in the show also has the feeling of a medieval folk ballad about it.

The journey is going to be suitably epic as we will be departing from Lancaster by Megabus at 3.20am and arriving back at 2.05am the next day.  It is not as bad as it sounds, because we should be able to have a snooze on the bus.  A gallant knight, (in the form of my husband, Tim) is coming too and will hopefully be able to take some photos during the day.  Wish us luck on our arduous quest!  I shall report back on how it went in my next blog post.

I have also finally got confirmation of what shows we will be doing at Mintfest this year in Kendal.  We are very pleased to be presenting our fabulous “Fred Fettler’s “Pony 3000” – The Transport of the Future!” show.  This was originally commissioned and performed in High Bentham as part of “My Last CARnival” last year.  We will be doing the show on the 31st of August and the 1st of September 2013 there will be more details as and when they become available on the “Where You Can See Me” page.

We shall also be doing a new show for Child Safety Week at the end of June.  We have been doing a lot of negotiations with a publisher to see if we can secure permission to do a show based on a famous modern children’s book and we hope to be able to tell you more about that very soon.

More on suitcase/pram theatres etc.

Collette Knowles's avatar

Here’s a nice email from one of my readers David Goboff:

Hi Collette

I wrote to you once before about the suitcase shadow theater.  I’m still knocking about with the idea but have not put one into a show.  About your idea using a pram; sounds good because they can go over rough ground, and you do seem to do lots of outdoor gigs.
I have been noodling around with a shopping cart.  I don’t think it would do as well over grass, but I like the way it can fold up.  Here’s a picture that is like the one I’m adapting:
Dave Goboff's shopping cart

Dave Goboff’s shopping cart

It folds, does well over paved areas and indoors.  I have cut a door into the back so I can get to the cart itself without going through the top.  I have a plywood top that fits onto the cart.  The handle comes apart and the plywood has 2 holes cut into it so the handle can pass through.  I haven’t attached a screen, but I have used a small toy theater that I stored inside the cart, but placed on the top.  Setting it up is part of the show.
I too have a battery operated PA that will fit below.  Its weight gives the cart stability.
When it is further along I’ll take some photos and send them along.
Here’s a search for more pictures of the folding shopping carts.
dg
Dave Goboff
(954) 667-3283
http://www.simplypuppets.com

http://www.facebook.com/SimplyPuppets

If you can imagine it, we can make it happen.