'Being Elmo' released at Sundance

A bright new documentary film Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey was released this week at Sundance Festival. It is a light-hearted documentary about the puppeteer behind Elmo. His name is Kevin Clash and this is his story.
Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who dreamed of working with his idol, creator of 'The Muppets', Jim Henson. Displaying his creativity and talent at a young age, Kevin ultimately found a home on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.

There are a few previews of this fascinating film on the web. You can meet the directors here and get a taste of the film here!  The crowds at Sundance Festival went crazy when Kevin Clash discussed his life and adventures with Elmo. You can get a taste of this here!
Thanks to PuppetVision.

A Happy Puppetry New Year...

Trust that you all had an excellent Xmas. We are ready to get into an exciting and curious 2011. We are all asking what will the new year bring? I am optimistic. Before we discuss the new year, we do have one more short workshop this year. In fact we are running our end-of-the year workshop, for those that will be in Australia, at Pete's Ridge on 30 December. What's Pete's Ridge I hear you asking?  It's a great music festival in New South Wales and we are performing in a venue called Boudoir de la Fox on 30 December at 11am to 1pm.

But what are your plans for 2011? If you have anything exciting planned, please let us know and we will be happy to share this with everyone. We have another Asian Tour coming up soon and many other exciting tours planned for later in the year too, but one step at a time. As usual, we in Australia will be leading the world in bringing in the new year, as we are still way ahead of everyone else. Wishing you all a wonderful 2011...

WikiLeaks Global Puppetry

During the past months, WikiLeaks have been targeted by the US government and more recently many other country's condemnation of the whistle-blowing website which landed it's director, Julian Assange in hot water. But let's look at Assange, who comes from a family of puppeteers.

Today I spoke to his mother, Christine Assange, who runs the Fairytale Puppet Theatre in Queensland. She told me about Julian growing up with his roots in theatre and masks, even in the days before she embarked on her puppetry journey. While growing up in Australia, both Julian and his father used mask and theatre as a means of making social comment. It seems like this must have had a profound influence on his later choice of career, in which he developed his social commentary into the infamous whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

But what is it about puppeteers that drive them to become involved in social and political commentary in our world. The truth is this tradition goes way back. In eighteenth century England, actor, writer and puppeteer Samuel Foote took his traditional Punch and Judy Show onto the streets of London to critique the British Monarchy, after actors criticizing the monarchy had been banned. When the police came to arrest him, he calmly stated "It wasn't I that said a word, it was these puppets here that should be arrested!"

This tradition has continued to our very day when puppeteers throughout the world have brought their puppets onto the streets to comment or critise the regime, as I even did during those dark days of Apartheid in South Africa. United States puppetry troupe 'Bread and Puppet'
and the British television series in the nineteen-eighties, 'Spitting Image' both used their media to criticise and protest against the government of the day.

In 2005, see my post here, a British Punch and Judy man was banned from using Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden puppets in his Kent seaside show in England and in 2004, see my post here,  during George W Bush’s re-inauguration campaign puppetry was banned in the United States. Now what does that say?

Meanwhile, Mr Assange remains remanded in custody in Britain pending proceedings to extradite him to Sweden to face sex crime allegations. Revelations embarrassing to governments all over the world, divined from the hundreds of thousands of US State Department cables leaked by Mr Assange, continue to be published by media organisations internationally.

Back in Australia from an Asian Adventure

My apologies for not keeping you all updated on our SE Asia Tour during the past six weeks. It was just a really hectic time and especially traveling with a twenty-month old and doing 'Paper and Puppetry' workshops throughout Malaysia and Singapore, followed by a two-week break in Bali, which was great, despite the fact that I fell in the rain in the last week and fractured my spine. It was a really memorable tour and I believe it opened up the Asian market to our Creativity work.

The highlight of the workshops was our two-week stint at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU). Our topic was ‘Demystifying Creativity and Moving beyond the expected, and into a space of novelty and uncharted territory in every aspect of life’.  Our brief was to carry out a pilot programme of study in the use of puppetry to break down barriers that currently exist: thus overcoming inhibition and establishing a 'safe' environment for unleashing innovative potential.

During the NTU season, we worked with Administration staff of NTU Ventures, a department which offers assistance to business start-ups in Singapore. We also had a two-day workshop with the Entrepreneurs of these start-up companies. (See the short video above!) We held a workshop for the Faculty of the university, where we worked with professors and lecturers from Engineering, Business School, Education, Humanities & Social Sciences and Arts. Even the Associate Provost of the university attended. The final workshop was the only arts-related one for stop-frame animation students. You can view a slide show of each workshop by clicking on the name links!

The evaluation outcomes of the workshops were extremely positive. One of the comments from the  faculty of education stated: "The workshop reminded me of the importance of communication and team work – critical in a big organization and in the area of education. It was also a humbling experience (there are so many creative colleagues around me!) It was a comfortable platform for me to meet people of other nationalities and from other schools within NTU. I also took comfort that creativity need not be in the form of a patent for a product which the engineers produce, but that we teacher educators are also being creative as we teach and prepare teachers for the next generation (abstract and not so measurable). My greatest take-away would be the reminder to celebrate life and humanity. I will make sure I pass this passion and compassion on to our student teachers."

We look forward to continuing our creativity work in Asia early next year. Watch this space!

Our Asian Puppetry Advenure begins here

Our Asian adventure is about to begin. On Wednesday we fly off to Malaysia, where we'll be conducting workshops for primary, high school students, as well as teachers in Penang. We'll be giving them a taste of creative thought and expression through our 'World of Paper'.  Exploring creativity is moving beyond the expected and into a space of novelty and uncharted territory.

After Malaysia, we'll be working ion Singapore at the Nanyang University for a few weeks. The purpose is to inspire creativity amongst students, faculty and small business start-ups. (You can read my previous post here when this work was first commissioned). After Singapore we are scheduled to explore Bali for a few weeks.

But let's discuss the creative process and reflect on the archaic educational system that still exists in most countries today. Universities and educational institutions that are worth their weight are starting to realise that a new approach is desperately needed. According to research (Watch Sir Ken Robinson's take on this here!) about 70% of jobs in the next twenty years, don't exist yet. So what does this mean in real terms? It means that we need to stimulate a new way of thinking and problem solving in our youth. Often our natural-born talents are ignored and the creativity that we may develop when we are young, gets forgotten as we are molded by our educational institutions. These skills will be most important, if we are going to be able to cope with an unknown future that faces us. So we have to encourage our youth to find their talent and passion and really nurture these soft skills to enable themselves to think creatively. What we are trying to do is harness these often-lost talents and assist our students in re-discovering their own natural creativity. Stay tuned to my Asian reports from next week!

Wake up UNIMA China

Today I received an email, via UNIMA Australia, with the first information about the UNIMA 2012 Congress and Festival to take place in Chengdu, China from 28 May to 4 June 2012. On searching the web for an official UNIMA China Congress website, I discovered that there actually isn't one! The only UNIMA China website is outdated and last updated in 2002.

The last time I discussed Chengdu 2012 Congress was a month after the 2008 UNIMA Congress in Perth, when the region was hit by a terrible earthquake in Sichuan province, (see here), which left the fate of the next UNIMA Congress to anyone's guess. Well, it looks like the region was quickly rebuilt and the Congress & Festival will be going ahead and now we wait in anticipation to view all their details on the website. In the interim, you can download the PDF festival application forms for Chengdu from the UNIMA-USA website here.
(But please note that the closing date for applications is the end of November 2010, which doesn't give much time to those interested in participating!)

A perfect blend of Puppetry and Dance

What recently caught my eye and not even knowing that they had performed at the Sydney Festival 2010, was Canadian dancer/ choreographer Crystal Pite and her company Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM. They have also been performing in the United States with their piece, Dark Matters. The title refers both to astrophysics and human impulses, exploring the idea of undetectable forces at work in cosmology. With original music by composer Owen Belton, this stunning theatrical hybrid of puppetry and dance opens as a sinister fable in which an artist creates a puppet with fateful results, and culminates in electrifying contemporary ballet. Pite's choreographic language—edgy, gorgeously fluid—shows the influence of years dancing with William Forsythe's Ballet Frankfurt, but is seasoned with her own humor, intelligence, and intensity.

The puppetry and dance blend in so perfectly together and I was very impressed by the choreography and manipulation. It is the perfect combination of the arts in this visually striking piece. Keep your eyes open for this troupe!

Their new production 'The You Show' invites you recover the body of the dancer, to witness the translation of your own stories in an expressive body language and watch it yourself, as you fall and fly as the hero of your own existence. Whether you're a Superman or a simple man, life is an epic.
It reminds me a little of the choreography of Phillipe Genty. It is set to perform in Los Angeles in February 2011 and May 2011 at The Clutch in Vancouver. You can join them on FaceBook here or view an extract of their new work here!
Our thanks to Puppeteers Unite!

Iranian Puppet Master will hold masterclass in Georgian Republic

Iranian Playwright, director and Master Puppeteer, Behrooz Gharibpour has been invited by Tbilisi State University in the Georgian Republic to hold a ten-day master class from 24 January 2011, according to our sources at the Tehran Times.  Gharibpour will discuss methods of staging puppet opera and discuss his Aran Puppet Theatre's opera performance of 'Rustam and Sohrab'.  

“There are many experts on puppetry in Georgia, but due to the lack of skills in staging opera puppet in the country, they have invited me to share my experience with them,” Gharibpour explained.
In addition, he shall assess the potential of Georgian artists in performing puppet shows. He plans to use his puppets and the films of the shows he has previously directed in the master classes.

According to Gharibpour, “Rustam and Sohrab” was warmly received by Georgian theatergoers and the Georgian press gave wide coverage to the opera puppet show during the Tbilisi Festival of Theater.
Gharibpour has previously staged the opera puppet shows “Macbeth”, “Ashura” and “Rumi” in Iran and internationally.  For those who weren't aware UNIMA Iran is said to have the highest membership of any of UNIMA's 64 member countries, which shows the popularity of the puppetry art in Iran.

Cårven Der Pümpkîn for Halloween

On Halloween, people from certain cultures undertake a process of Cårven Der Pümpkîn, which make use of dangerous objects. Disney's Muppet Studio released this short viral video in time for the festival yesterday, which already has over a million hits, which only goes to show how far American culture permeates our world. The Swedish Chef has finally got his green card! Enjoy.
Thanks to Muppets Studio.

Montenegro is Haff the Man

I remember the day in 2007, that we visited Chicago puppeteer, Michael Montenegro. He actually doesn't live in Chicago, but in the beautiful leafy burbs, his home surrounded by trees and wooden sculptures. And then I haven't heard much news from Michael, until I read that he has gone back into his exciting symbolist theatre with two new pieces, Haff, the Man and Falling Girl. Theatre Zarko is said to revive the meaning and value of Symbolist theatre in Chicago. The Chicago Theatre Blog discusses the fact that the show provides the best of both worlds. It contains all the immediacy and risk of live theater, while integrating light (Scott Lee Heckman), music (Jude Mathews), sound, projections (Ellen O’Keefe) and movement to almost pristinely pure cinematic effect. Even the performers’ stately movements – setting up between scenes – take on a ritualistic element within the overall performance, replicating the economy of modern poetry. Nothing is wasted. Every word, every sound, every puppet’s shaky gesture or turn of the head generates deep and lasting poetic impact. It runs until 21 November.

Haff, the Man: written and directed by Michael Montenegro
Falling Girl: co-directed by Ellen O’Keefe and Michael Montenegro  Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes, Evanston, Chicago, USA. You can watch a preview of the production here!

Improbable 'Panic' comes to Sydney Opera House

After provoking Sydney audiences in 2006 with The Hanging Man, UK-based Improbable Theatre returns to Australia with their latest production Panic. You can catch a preview of the show here!

Drawn from personal stories and current obsessions, this tale of love is Improbable with puppetry, pratfalls, aerial feats and the longest list of self-help books ever announced on stage. Suggested for mature audiences, Panic embodies a childlike imagination blended with an adult’s wistful meditation on love, sex, life and death. Conceived as an improvisatory vaudeville, the production represents a return to intimate scale by the freewheeling troupe whose talents helped collaborate on the international hit Shockheaded Peter and Philip Glass’ opera Satyagraha.

PuppetryNews subscribers can buy tickets for the special price of $20 + booking fee. (Use the promo codes FRINGE when booking online or call the Sydney Opera House Box Office on 02-9250 7777).

Feist does more with puppets!

I remember so well Feist's debut into the puppetry scene, when in 2008, she was first featured on Sesame Street with her hit song '1, 2, 3, 4'.
Now the pop icon has a new music video out. Honey Honey sung by Feist, features puppetry by the Old Trout Puppet Workshop from Calgary, Canada.

The Banff Centre, in collaboration with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop, is offering a two-week exploration into the creative art of puppet theatre from 26 December to 11 January 2011.

The Old Trouts are a company founded on the collaborative nature of ensemble-based creation, they build their shows through a process of consensus, which shall be the thesis of this workshop. Over the 17-day period of the workshop, participants will explore exercises that identify the physical awareness and synchronicity of an ensemble, as well as participate in an arena of debate and building that facilitates an effective sharing of ideas. These exercises will in turn support the foundation of original, theatrical, puppet performances to be developed in the subsequent part of the workshop. The Banff Puppet Theatre Intensive will address elements of design (both set and puppet), scripting the silent narrative, collaborative directing, and manipulation of puppets. 

Participants will create individual puppets, engage in small ensembles, and, in the nature of collective creation, create short experimental projects to be presented publicly. The workshop shall launch forth from the position that there are no right or wrong answers, but rather, through conversation and execution, that there is a way to discover the most inspired and effective solutions. The Banff Puppet Theatre Intensive is open to puppeteers, actors, dancers, directors, designers, teachers, visual artists, writers, and anyone with a willing spirit. To apply, contact The Banff Centre here!

The life of a British Muppeteer

I discovered this fascinating short documentary by Max Clendaniel, on the life of British puppeteer, Mak Wilson, who has worked on many of Jim Henson's iconic films, such as Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Storyteller series, Babe and Dinosaurs. He describes his work with Jim Henson and how when he really started getting close to Henson, was the time when Henson suddenly passed away. Mak played some great characters and describes some of these fantastic opportunities in his life, a life in which he also battled with depression. It's a great little doco. Enjoy.

Giant Puppet in Old City of Jerusalem

The Old City of Jerusalem is a fascinating place with its mixture of cultures, foods, religions and languages all bound by its ancient walls. What you wouldn't expect to find is a wondering giant puppet. Last night while taking in a visual display of sounds and lights in the Old City, I stumbled upon Meir the Giant. Created by young Israeli artists, Michal Ben-Anat and Oded Davidovitch, Meir has emotional perception and his heart beat and blushing is controlled by the main puppeteer, who manipulates the head. It was quite fascinating to watch the Giant interacting with the crowds and seeing his emotions through the coloured lights inside his body. You can watch a video clip of Meir the Giant here!

Muppet Workshops in Atlanta

It only came to my attention today, thanks to a great post by Puppatoons in the States, that renowned Mupeteer Steve Whitmire held two fascinating workshops at the Centre for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta in January. Whitmire took over performing Kermit the Frog when Jim Henson passed away in 1990. (For those of you who've already seen the post, apologies for the repeat). The notes by Puppatoons seem extremely interesting to anyone involved in puppetry for the screen.

In Steve Swanson's weekly podcast MuppetCast, both Part One and Part Two the workshops were wonderfully covered, together with an interview with Steve Whitmire in Part Two.

Extraordinary War Horse last night

Joey, the main horse from War Horse leading the Royal Household Cavalry in a Royal Salute past the Queen at the Windsor Castle

Since arriving in London this week, the highlight of our visit has been attending a performance of War Horse at the New London Theatre last night. After two sold-out seasons at the National Theatre, War Horse moved to the New London Theatre and it continues to play to full houses every night. The National Theatre together with Handspring Puppet Company in South Africa produced the show in 2007 and the extraordinary horse puppets were designed and built by puppet-master, Adrian Kohler.

A few birds, a goose and a handful of horses make up the puppet cast, which are joined by a large human cast in the show. From the moment the goose waddles on to the stage, you can see the wonderful puppetry skills that Handspring have imparted. When Joey, the young foal, makes his first appearance, the three young puppeteers breathe in unison, which really breathes life into this young horse and the illusion is complete. The breath, sounds, together with ear and tail movement give the horses an extraordinary life that makes one believe that it's actually the horses manipulating the puppeteers and not the other way round. As strange as this might sound, it's very difficult to believe that they are puppets at all.

Set in the backdrop of World War 1, this powerful story is carried by great performances and manipulation, which together, produce the best piece of theatre I have seen for a very long time.
Steven Spielberg has apparently chosen War Horse to be his next film, which is due for production next year and this seems to be when the live production will open at the Lincoln Centre on Broadway.

“This level of puppetry hasn’t been seen on Broadway before, and this is what audiences are going to find riveting,” said Handspring's Basil Jones, last year, in an interview here.

You can watch the trailer here and the making of War Horse here and a Channel 4 report here!

Workshops in Vienna

Our first two weeks in Europe were spent in Vienna. We ran workshops at both the Vienna Inter- national School and the American International School all of last week. During our three days of workshops at the VIS, besides our paper and object improvisation, we also ran a short puppetry for film workshop with film students. On Friday we ran paper workshops at the American International School. The participants were IB theatre students from years eleven and twelve and their creativity was extraordinary. I am working on a short film of their work which I'll post as soon as it's done.

This week we are working in Slovenia. Based in Velenje, we are working with schools, teachers and puppeteers throughout Slovenia, before heading to Italy. Keep tuned for our news on the road!

Easter Bunny Muppet Special

The gruesome Easter Bunny has finally been released. Instead of eating chocolate Easter eggs, it feasts on cute little bunnies. How grotesque! Wishing you all a bunny-free Easter. Enjoy.

Out the Box Festival - African Puppetry Hit

Having just wrapped up the biggest festival of Puppetry and Visual Theatre on the African continent, Out of the Box continues to inspire and attract new puppeteers. Not only does UNIMA South Africa host the festival but it also ensures there is a developmental aspect - such as ongoing education in the field of puppetry.

At the opening, The Handspring Puppet Company, made the unprecedented announcement that they would be handing out annual awards for productions at Out the Box at the end of the festival.

The festival included an adult and a family programme bursting with local productions and international offerings from Israel, the Netherlands, Mozambique and Belgium.

Highlights included Inua, a production by Jori Snell from Denmark and the Netherlands. Snell's physicality is astounding, as is the production's magical realism in its storytelling and use of music as she looks for the essence, the 'Inua' of things, through creative use of light and shadows. Out the Box 2010 provides an inspiring journey into the rich world of puppetry and visual performance that South Africa has to offer. I'm only sorry I couldn't be there for it this year!

Artists in Residency Puppetry Program Interview

After two month's of daily workshops in three North Sydney schools, the Artists in Residency Puppetry Program has finally come to an end. During the workshops at Curl Curl North Public School, Assistant Principal, Ms Jan Warhurst, was interviewed and in this short film she discusses her feelings about the project and what she believes makes this type of work important in stimulating the creativity of both students and teachers. The project is a creative partnership between Sydney North Demonstration School, Gary Friedman Productions, The Department of Education and Training, The Australia Council and Arts NSW.

Our next project begins in Vienna at the end of next week. Keep tuned for our regular European tour reports!