PuppetCraft News

Last updated 5th Dec 2009.

Perseus and the Gorgon's Head will be performing on Saturday 12th December at Rattery Village Hall, Devon at 3pm.
This is the only chance locally to see a revival of PuppetCraft's "best show" … just back from festivals in Bath and London.

Bookings 01803 867778
Tea & cakes will be on sale after the show
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Added 3rd November 2009.

I can't believe how fast this year has flashed by... it has been crammed full of running puppet workshops, making for TV and theatre, touring and reviving 2 shows.

3 very busy weeks of Puppet Carving Courses were run in Devon by John in a beautiful new location.
Next years courses are already filling up, even before dates have been set! See WORKSHOPS.

Horse and Bamboo hosted a week of puppet carving in their lovely base in Lancashire...
and a week of carving was well attended in London at The Little Angel Theatre.

A TV advert had us making a Meerkat and a Businessman. Look at YouTube for Meerkat puppet theatre.

John designed the set and carved marionettes for The Little Angel Theatre's production of Petrushka.

110 performances of The Tin Forest were completed. This is PuppetCraft's first non-verbal show, so was a challenge. It has had a great response.
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Perseus and the Gorgon's Head has just been revived for Bath International Puppet Festival and London's Suspense Puppet Festival... and has just completed 5 sold-out performances.
A grant from The Lottery through the Arts Council England has made it possible to resurrect this show.
Catch this show if you can... see DIARY.

The Selfish Giant has just opened and will be touring all over the place for the next 8 months. We hope you meet you at a show.

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Added 31st August 2008

Busy Workshops
Three weeks of busy workshops took place at Dartington in July and August, with 20 puppet enthusiasts coming from around the world - from USA, Spain, Turkey and Britain.

Two weeks were devoted to carving wooden puppets, with a wonderful range of inventive puppets being designed and created.
Comments from participants:"Brilliant.. don't think the course could be improved...except too many biscuits!" "Very relaxed atmosphere... spot on... fantastic...exceeded expectations." " Emphasis was on producing a puppet of high quality with attention to detail."


One week was a "Finishing and Performing" course.
For people who had nearly complete puppets this was a chance to be guided through painting, stringing, wig and costume making and the devising of a short performance that was shared with the public of our local town, and even made it onto BBC TV.
Comments: "Exciting to see my puppet come to life." "Such fun.. and informative. Gave me the push I needed."

See WORKSHOPS for details of these courses... and book early for next years!

See GALLERY for pictures from the courses

Added 12th July 2008
Tin Forest has opened
Our latest show and workshop The Tin Forest opened at the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth on 28th June and then rushed off
to Dorset to Beaminster Festival, then all the way up to Yorkshire to perform in a puppet festival in the lovely town of Beverley.

Audience response has been excellent: "The workshop was just brilliant and
the performance of The Tin Forest was enchanting, witty
and colourful... everyone was absorbed and delighted by it." Beaminster Festival Director.
"absolutely loved it... what an enchanting show it was." audience comment.

Click here for details.

Added 4th June 2008

Brains dances
The hit advert of Thunderbird puppet character BRAINS dancing was a very fast making job for PuppetCraft: in 3 weeks John Roberts carved two puppets to closely copy the original TV puppet, but with the ability to perform the fantastic dance that had been choreographed for him. Martin Corbin painted the puppet, Jane Eve made controls, Sue Field made costumes and Sarah Wright painstakingly made a wig.
Rehearsals and filming took place in London, followed by weeks of postproduction cgi work to erase the 5 puppeteers that worked around the puppet. Puppeteers were: Ronnie LeDrew, Sarah Wright, Sue Dacre, Libby Granger and John Roberts.

Click here to see The Making of Brains

Added 23rd March 2008

Arts Council has awarded a grant for PuppetCraft to work on a new project.
The Tin Forest will be a show and linked workshops based on the book by Helen Ward, illustrated by Wayne Anderson, published by Templar.
Reviewers have described The Tin Forest as "a beautiful, thought provoking, inspirational book. A fantasy and morality tale about a dream that can make a world of difference. It not only tells a good story, it might even inspire you to run out and transform the next rubbish heap you see into paradise."

We will tour the show nationally performing 110 times.
Bookings are now being taken.

Click here for details.

Added 9th March 2008
PuppetCraft is offering 2 different courses this summer.

Puppet carving courses: A few spaces are left on these very popular workshops with John Roberts. Two separate one-week workshops: 27th July to 1st August or 3rd to 8th August. Click here for details.

"A Bit Of A Show!" Create a performance with your puppet. After years of being asked to arrange this PuppetCraft has put together a 6-day course for anyone who has a finished or nearly finished puppet to adjust, paint, wig and costume, learn to operate and get the most from their puppet…. and then devise a short performance and try it out. 10th to 15th August. Click here for details.

Added 25th November 2007

From BUNRAKU ..........towards a future theatre.
A performance-based course with Japanese master-puppeteer Nori SAWA.

25th to 29th March 2008 at Dartington, Totnes, Devon, England.
For Puppeteers, Actors, Designers, Arists, Dancers, Musicians.

A rare opportunity to engage with the traditions of the ancient art of Japanese "Bunraku" puppet theatre…
and to bring these skills up to date and make work relevant to today's theatre..

10 places are reserved for people living and/or working in the South West.
Grants will be given to allow 3 people from the South West to pay only £50.

Please express an interest as soon as possible, so PuppetCraft can show funders that there is a need to run this course.

For more details: click here.

Added 20th September 2007
A new project
PuppetCraft has got permission (after 2 years of trying) to adapt a book "The Tin Forest" into a show and workshop.
The book is by Helen Ward, illustrated by Wayne Anderson, published by Templar.
Reviewers have described The Tin Forest as "a beautiful, thought provoking, inspirational book. A fantasy and morality tale about a dream that can make a world of difference. It not only tells a good story, it might even inspire you to run out and transform the next rubbish heap you see into paradise."

We have applied to the Arts Council for a grant to fund this project... so we are holding our breath till we get news ... towards the end of February 2008.

Added 20th August 2007

More Carving Courses

Another batch of carving courses have produced yet more amazing wooden puppets.
These courses are getting more and more popular, and people are booking earlier each year....so
book early to avoid missing out. The next courses will be in July/August.

Added 16th August 2006

Carving Course
A selection of pictures from 2006

Added 17th March 2006

New show is a wow!
Perseus and the Gorgon's Head had its world premier on Saturday 11th March at a festival in Dorset.
It was a packed audience, who declared the show to be " a wow!... beautiful, funny, the best theatre we have seen for years..."
We have teamed up once again with renowned poet/playwright Adrian Mitchell who has adapted this Greek myth specially for PuppetCraft's style. We are also working with talented composer Andrew Dickson who has produced songs and music, all performed live, to drive the drama on. We are so lucky to have had a painting made for the show by one of the world's great illustrators - Ralph Steadman.
Click here to go to the show page.
To see dates available click here.
To see when this show as well as other shows can be seen..... go to the DIARY page.

Added 18th November 2005

Perseus and the Gorgon's Head
Bookings are now being taken from theatres, festivals, arts centres and schools, for our new show.
Only 40 performances of this production will be given... so make a booking soooon to avoid missing out!

Added 16th October 2005

The Gorgon begins and the Unicorn takes flight.
Work has started on "Perseus and the Gorgon's Head" with Adrian Mitchell working on the first draft of the script, while Andrew Dickson composes the dozen or so songs, while John Roberts is designing and scheming how to make the most of the possibilities of this epic story. Musicians, puppeteers, writer and composer will try out the show during November, using mockup puppets and set, to test how it is all coming together. The premier will be in March 2006.

Meanwhile... "Nobody Rides The Unicorn" is touring to villages, theatres and schools - to wonderful audience response:
"A lovely gentle story which captivated the children's imagination."
" Superb, simply wonderful. Fantastic puppetry and sound effects"
"Very poetic, Very professional, Excellent production."
" Fantastic. Intriguing sets. Wonderful puppets and incredible performers. An enchanting and magical experience."

See photos of a week of touring.

Copies of the beautiful book, that the show is based on, are selling fantastically fast. These books are NOT available any longer through book shops - PuppetCraft has had 1000 copies printed especially for the tour of the show.
You can order copies from PuppetCraft by email: books@puppetcraft.co.uk or ideally come to a show, and get your copy then!

To catch the shows look on the DIARY page.
To book the shows go to ENQUIRIES.

Dedicated Puppet Maker
Michael Spurgeon has been coming to PuppetCraft Carving Courses run by John Roberts for many years...
This year was his 10th PuppetCraft course!!!!
"One of the most enjoyable and helpful I have attended. There was a relaxed atmosphere and everyone was encouraged to contribute.
Challenging and inspirational!!."
Over the years Michael has made a fantastic array of wooden puppets, each year adding some new element of complexity or innovation.

Added 5th July 2005

Premier of New Show
Our new show "Nobody Rides The Unicorn" had its first performance at a sold-out show at Beaminster Festival on 26th June... and the response from organisers and audience has been great. They loved the combination of puppetry made by a team of puppeteers, sumptuous looking set by Sue Field and a rich sound world created by Rachel Miller's magic on acoustic instruments and use of the latest digital sound sampling technology.
The authors Adrian Mitchell and Sasha Mitchell were there, along with composer Andrew Dickson and the illustrator of the book that inspired this project, Stephen Lambert.
An extract of the show was performed today for the Arts Council ArtsMark award ceremony.

To catch this show look on the DIARY page.
To book the show go to ENQUIRIES.
See COMMENTS page for people's reaction to the show.

Up to Scotland

PuppetCraft toured to Scotland to take part in the 21st year of the Scottish Puppet Animation Festival. 
We performed "The Amazing Adventures of Sindbad" to amazed audiences in cities, 
towns and villages and always had a warm reception.

  



Unicorn takes a leap forward.

This new show  is coming along in leaps and bounds.  

Click here to see how.