Happy New Year! We hope you had restful and fabulous festive time.
Since our last newsletter, we have continued to send our puppets around the world, from Burgess Hill to Bangkok, and from Sweden to Cirencester. We are delighted to see them being used in a variety of ways not only in schools, colleges and universities, but by therapists and storytellers and in the rehearsal studio. Charlotte Vincent has been using some puppets in her research for Vincent Dance’s new show In Loco Parentis. And storyteller Jess Wilson has been looking at how to use her puppets as part of her practice in a forensic hospital setting. We are very happy to be supporters of Robyn Olivia from Finch Theatre and her research into making puppetry accessible for performers with disabilities. You can find her on Instagram @robynolivia_theatremaker.
We really love hearing from you and seeing how you use your puppets! The Story Cellar group in Bristol created a version of Elves and the Shoemaker, using our puppets and we found our first PuppetBox un-boxing as shared by @RobinGuiver on Twitter. Social Media and word of mouth is a lifeline for us, so thank you for all the sharing you are doing. It makes so much difference.
We had a brilliant day devising with puppets with Beacon Academy in October - the workshop was run by PuppetBox Sophie and local puppeteer Lisa Mills. We had great fun with the students and they produced some inspired pieces. Do get in touch if you would like to discuss booking a workshop in 2020.
In April we will be running a one-day puppetry technique training course for practitioners, performers and teachers at the beautiful Ceyda Tanc studio in Brighton. Places have been booking fast for this - at the time of writing there are around FIVE places left on the course. There is still time to use the Early Bird offer if you book before the end of January.
Meanwhile both Annie and Sophie are on tour performing with Long Nose Puppets who have two shows on tour in the first half of 2020, Arthurs Dream Boat and Out of the Hat. IN May we will be exhibiting some puppets as part of The Coal Hole Open House. Watch this space for further details...
A few snippets from various posts and emails - keep them coming!
‘The puppets are incredible! I’ve been looking for a set of puppets like this for years and now they are available. I cannot recommend PuppetBox enough.’ Alex Curry, Cirencester College.
‘Having such a good time with your puppets! Really impressed by the quality of them and how easily the students and children have breathed life into them. They really are exactly what I’ve been looking for in all my years as a director and facilitator.’ The Story Cellar, Bristol.
“The workshop was engaging from start to finish and gave the students a real understanding of working with puppets.’ Annie Wallace, Beacon Academy.
Thanks for reading!
Annie & Sophie xxx