Bunraku Theatre performances in Melbourne

The renowned National Bunraku Theatre of Osaka will be performing in Australia next month. This ancient Japanese puppetry tradition began in 1684, when Takemoto Gidayu set up the theatre in Osaka. Bunraku today is enjoying a revival. In 1966 it gained what it did not have in almost 150 years when the opening of the National Theater in Tokyo gave it a permanent home. In 1985 this home moved to its origin, Osaka, with the opening of the National Bunraku Theater. Currently there are four performances each a year in Tokyo and Osaka plus a yearly travelling show. The popularity of puppeteers Yoshida Tamao, Yoshida Minosuke and Yoshida Bunjaku helps fill the theaters and the number of younger patrons has begun to rise in recent years. Still, though audiences are important, the aging of the all- important backstage workers - head carvers, costume makers, etc. - and the lack of people to take their place poses an increasing problem for the future of this 300 year old art form. My favourite Bunraku website, with photos and video can be found here!

The performances are being held at the National Theatre, St Kilda on Saturday, 12th August at 7.30pm and Sunday, 13th August at 3.00pm. For bookings, contact Ticketeck

Kermit and friends live on ...

I just discovered this incredible website that webcasts all Jim Henson's lesser known films and TV clips. One of the films featured is Time Piece, shot in 1965. Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this nine-minute, experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson—and starred Jim Henson! Screened for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, Time Piece enjoyed an eighteen-month run at one Manhattan movie theater and was nominated for an Academy Award for outstanding short subject.

Other pieces featured are interviews with Jim and Frank Oz; extracts from The Muppet Show; Fraggle Rock extracts; and many more. Check it out here!

'Siblings' .. a new production in development

Siblings is a new multi-media production currently in development in Sydney. I was invited to view this work-in-progress a few days ago in Redfern, by young Australian puppeteer, Angie Orrego. This one-hander, making use of puppetry in every form, is part of a continuous journey in Australia, that tries to bridge a gap between the white man's world and the Aboriginal world. Siblings uses myth to enter this space and puppets are an ideal medium to accomplish this. Although this production has still a long way to go in development, it has strong potential to asssist Australian puppetry on its journey towards our first major festival, UNIMA 2008, scheduled to take place in Perth, Western Australia in April 2008. Watch this space!

The Newcastle Shoot Out - LIVE

Here we are coming to you live from in New South Wales, Australia. We have just completed shooting Daydream Believer - a new puppet film for this short one-day film competition The Newcastle Shoot Out, held each year in many locations throughout Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

A group of amateur film makers and puppeteers, directed by one of my former puppetry film students, Muz Henstock, together with film maker Daniel Funnell, coordinated our short-film project this year. The film tells the story of two brothers, one of which is confined to a wheel chair. The other often visits his physically challanged brother and entertains him with stories that take him into a world of fantasy. The fantasy world is enhabited by strange and fantastical puppet characters. It was another great event in Newcastle, after last year's entry of Thump and Julie - another short film in which the actors become puppets.