Tag Archives: Thats the way to do it

Mr. Punch gets a new body (upcycling a vintage vinyl Punch head).

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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I traced my hand template on some left over white material I had
Then I remembered this other thicker material I had in a nicer colour. I made the neck wider than my fingers so it would fit round the bottom of the head
I got my two pieces all nicely sewn up and then realised I couldn’t get my hand inside so made a new template with a wider “body” section.
The top picture is my first attempt and the bottom one is the wider version
The original puppet body did not have any legs, but I thought Mr. Punch would look better if I added legs.
1 leg complete and attached
Checking how it looks with the head
Both legs attached
The head is attached to the body.
“That’s the way to do it!”

I was doing some sorting out the other day and decided to investigate the box on top of my wardrobe in which I kept my treasured, old, childhood toys.

Amongst other things, I found this old vinyl toy puppet head of Mr. Punch. My mum got him for me from a charity shop a very long time ago and he originally had a very simple two coloured fabric body with some fabric “buttons” up the front. After a while the stitching failed and Mr. Punch’s body came off and then went missing altogether.

I gave it a clean and set the head aside with the thought that I could make him a new body and then give the puppet to my kids at some point. They already have one Punch puppet but his slapstick is a little felt one attached to his hand so this one would be able to pick up and put down objects (including a slapstick if I make one).

Then I decided to get the old sewing machine that has been taking up space and gathering dust fixed and I was requested to try it out for myself to make sure it was working properly. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to fix up Mr. Punch with a new body.

I decided to use my own hand for the template rather than using my son’s hand as his hand would be too small for the proportion of the head and by using mine they shouldn’t outgrow the size of the glove.

As you can see from the captions above I had a few false starts. I intended to make the neck of the body the width of the widest point of the cone shape at the bottom of the head and then to use a gathering stitch to pull in the fabric at the top to the width of the narrowest part of the cone to fix it in place.

This didn’t quite work out as I intended as the neck turned out to be narrower than I wanted it to be. I am not a very practiced sewer, so all these errors were to be expected. I have, however, been learning a great deal about making glove puppets.

I didn’t want to remake the body a third time and thought I would try and get away with it by squashing the neck through the opening, (this was possible because of the material it is made of and wouldn’t have worked with a rigid material like wood or papier mache). It was a great deal of faffing around to get it in and the stitching is straining somewhat but I am happy enough with it.

As you can probably tell, it isn’t finished yet. I shall be adding hands, clothes and trimmings to it. I may or may not add a longer sleeve to hide the arm, it depends what we decide to use it for. I have to admit, however, that I am seriously considering keeping it for me rather than letting the kids have it 😉.

Watch this space for further updates/developments on the build! If anyone knows of a good way to get rid of the marks on his face, let me know. I could try repainting it but I’m not sure which paint I would use and if it would be better to leave it alone. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions!

P.S. Black Friday Sale in the merch shop 30% off everything, today only! CLICK HERE to browse and grab a bargain.

Monsters in Redcar, Woven Grass and Mrs. Santa

Posted on by Collette Knowles
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Horse + Bamboo’s Angus Mcphee

You have probably noticed that I have gone a bit quiet for a few weeks, but that is not because there’s been nothing going on.

We had a lovely time performing at the “That’s the Way to Do It” puppet festival at Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar.  Our giant Jabberwocky monster enjoyed getting out of the Rough Magic Theatre shed and menacing people.

Unfortunately as is often the case, both Tim and myself were performing at the same time so we could not take any decent photo’s.  There are however a couple of quite good shots in a slideshow at the bottom of the page in this local newspaper,  (click here to look).

We did struggle a little with the glass roof in the performance space for “Alice” which both let in a bit too much light for the best viewing of the shadow puppets and also leaked water onto us when there was a sudden downpour.  But I am told that they are looking to replace the roof next year and they are looking forward to it being a much improved performance space as a result.

On Sunday, as you’ve probably guessed from the picture, we went to see one of the extremely few performances in England of Horse + Bamboo’s Angus Mcphee – Weaver of Grass.  There is a link to Bob Frith’s blog about the show on my blogroll.

I have been a very big fan of Horse + Bamboo’s work for many years.  I first I saw them perform “Harvest of Ghosts” at Streets Ahead in Manchester some years back.  I liked that show because it combined powerful imagery, atmospheric music and a deeply affecting moral message.  I had also been impressed with the dark humour and the way the story was expressed so clearly with such minimal use of words.  Indeed, spoken words were entirely absent but there was some use of written signs to express meaning.

Angus Mcphee had a very different atmosphere to that particular production though it had some of the same hallmarks.  It was a biography of a real man, Angus Mcphee, a crofter.  It covered his childhood in a very joyful, energetic and funny way.  It made good use of a variety of different types of puppet as well as masks, including glove puppets, some lovely horses and a cow with an udder made from a red rubber glove.

They used something which I think is a relatively recent innovation for them, which was shadow puppet film.  It was beautifully done and achieved effects that would have been impossible to do live, but I think they lacked the life and immediacy of live shadow puppetry.

They dealt with the darker areas of Angus’s history very well too and I was particularly impressed by the way they portrayed Angus’s treatment in the mental institution.

I ended the play being intensely interested in the real Angus Mcphee and although his story was sad I was not swept away emotionally.  This was partly because, as a puppeteer and theatre practitioner, I was busy dissecting the techniques they were using and working out how things were done.  The other part though, was that I think the show achieved perfect Brechtian alienation through the use of masks, puppets, puppeteers and singers on view, non-realistic scenery, projections etc.  I don’t know if this was the same for everyone who watched the piece, but I felt entertained and instructed but not swept away by emotional empathy, (Brecht would be proud).

I am also back working with the infamous Leo Nolan, (Rough Magic Theatre’s former artistic director).  After a break doing other things he is returning in the charming guise of the hilariously inept Ralph the Elf.  Together with Mrs. Santa, (yours truly) they decide to put up a Christmas tree, just as they do every year.  What could possibly go wrong?  Stuffed to the brim with slapstick, this is a cheery little show for younger children.  You can see more information on this, and other shows and workshops for Christmas on the new Christmas Events page, (CLICK HERE).

Don’t forget we have a page with shows and workshops for Halloween events too, (CLICK HERE).