E2: OBJECT, UNIVERSE & LIFE IN PERFORMANCE
Merlin Puppet Theatre
SPACE SIX
Monday 8th - Tuesday 9th April 2019
10am - 5pm daily
Ages 18+ / adults
£120
An approach to all three basic elements that contribute to making a complete visual universe - Object, Universe and Life. OBJECT - puppet, mask, shadows; UNIVERSE - scenography, light and sound; LIFE - how these elements become animate. An exploratory laboratory, which examines through analysis, practice and experimentations, how a harmonious puppetry performance is created. Through improvisations and research on stage individually and in groups, participants will work on how to develop and realise an idea, all the way from scratch to the final desirable result. See here for Merlin Puppet Theatre's show at the festival, "Noone's Land".
Moving Parts
NEWCASTLE PUPPETRY FESTIVAL
Transforming Newcastle into a city of puppetry through our festival for adults, kids and families.
Newcastle Puppetry Festival is our flagship project, which won The Journal Culture Award for ‘Best Newcomer’ in 2018. The ambitious programme of events takes place once every two years across the city and includes performances and workshops for adults, children and families, as well as talks, training and networking events for professionals.
The festival attracts 10,000 people with each edition, a bubbling mixture of local residents, people from around the region and visitors from all corners of the world. The 2019 festival welcomed puppetry enthusiasts from five continents.
“My first time watching a puppet show and I loved it! I would definitely come again.”
– Audience member, 2017
The festival recipe includes free outdoor theatre with giant creatures surprising unsuspecting audiences in Newcastle’s everyday spaces, breaking down barriers so that everyone can experience puppetry. The week of events includes high quality shows for children, including a dedicated family day in the Ouseburn, but equally important the festival also boasts a programme of shows and workshops for adults – changing opinions of who puppetry is for.
Crucial to our aims and objectives, the festival includes a series of bespoke projects that get community groups and students creative and interacting with puppetry. We are passionate about participant-led work and build avenues into the festival programme that allow local residents to get directly involved. We want to incubate a community for puppetry in the North East of England and our festival is a big part of that narrative.
The next and fourth edition of the festival (funding dependent) will be 8th - 15th April 2023, during the second week of the Easter Holidays.
