'Sacred Space'

'Sacred Space' explores the ephemeral nature of gender and the many issues and preconceptions surrounding gender conditioning, sexuality and feminism through a combination of interviews with real people and a fusion of puppetry and visual theatre. By engaging with the ancient roots of theatre and religion in dramatic rites and rituals, the performance will take the audience into a sacred space and there confront fears and explore prejudices.

The opening image from 'Sacred Space'

'The first thing that happens when you're born, is that people ask "is it a girl or a boy" and that immediately comes with a lot of connotations.

The puppeteer interacts with the child, manipulating where the child moves on stage

'I was certainly brought up being given a certain blue print, I can still feel that imprint on me'

A character created from plastic bags with a wooden skeleton

The puppet gazes into the mirror, despite not having any eyes. She reflects on her appearance

Rope man

Here i created a table top style puppet which appears to the audience to made entirely of rope. 

 ‘Like the cord and all bonds, the rope both binds and limits yet provides the possibility of infinite extension and freedom; it can give access to heaven and is associated with rites of passage, hence with the ladder, bridge, tree etc.’

Below are a series of photos explaining how this puppet was created

The legs are made from a combination of plastic piping and guttering. Elastic is used to counter balance the feet and also in the hips to allow maximum flexibility.

The hands are made using a basic template as they will be covered in rope there is no need to carve them. Here also a counter balance elastic is used to allow the hand mechanism to move the hand forward and backwards.

The process of covering the puppet in rope took a number of hours. I used four different sizes of natural rope, sash cord and pieces cut from a mop head and dyed with fabric dye.

Puppets in the making

My marionettes are carved using lime wood, then sanded and stained

 Arm joint

 Legs

 Legs and body

 Half finished head of Weevel

Finished head of Weevel

 Hands drawn onto the wood

 Hands carved next to head design

 Finished hands

 Finished hands

 Head carved in blue styrofoam

 Head mounted on body

Almost finished!

The Giving Tree

In 2012 i made a small production based on The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. For this show the puppets were made out of perspex and painted with french enamel varnish.

 View from backstage

 The rabbit

 Young boy

 Teenage boy

 middle aged man

 Old man

International Touring

Over the past 3 years i have toured to international puppet festivals across the world with my company String Theatre.

 India 2011, manipulation workshop for children in Bangalore

 India 2011, manipulation workshop for children in Bangalore

 India 2011, performance for children in Mumbai

 Serbia 2012, setting up at Golden Sparkle Puppet Fetsival

 Serbia 2012, receiving an award for manipulation

 Indonesia 2011, performance for slum children

 Indonesia 2012, workshop for local children in Bandung

Indonesia 2012, meeting audience members after our performance at Pesta Boneka puppet festival in Jogjakarta

 Istanbul 2013, out door performance

Istanbul 2013, the poster created by the festival for our show

France 2012, the poster for our show at Charleville Meziere International Puppet Festival

The Marionette Insect Circus

In 2012, myself and Soledad Zarate carved puppets for a production entitled The Marionette insect Circus with our company String Theatre. The show consists of insect marionettes performing tricks and turns inspired by victorian marionette techniques.

 Violin playing grasshopper

 Juggling weevel

 Tight rope walking damselfly

 Disecting grasshopper