‘Hey, baby it’s cold outside!’…. And what happens when it’s cold? We hibernate. (Not all of us, but maybe most of us.)
It would be too romantic to assume that we are all happy about it. But I love it. It’s time for reflection and new beginnings. Promises made…some achieved and some not…but hey! We tried.
What can we do to pass the time when it’s dark, cold and raining (as it is right now)? Catch up on jobs, snuggle down with a book, binge-watch ‘stuff’ on TV, scroll endlessly on your chosen devices, or go to the cinema?
There is a film screening soon. It’s a Tom Hanks film called ‘Here’. For me, it’s a must-watch.
You must have noticed that I haven’t mentioned puppets yet. Well, here is the tenuous link…. Tom Hanks played the role of Mr Rogers in ‘It’s a Wonderful Day in our Neighborhood’. If you love puppets, you will love this film! Google it.
And of course, Tom is the voice of Woody in the Toy Story films!
But why ‘Here’?… and why now?
The story features one room in one house over a period of 125 years and the changes in occupants as time passes. The introduction even features the same plot of land as it has developed since time began. Computer-generated images recreate Tom and his co-star through the years, from his fresh-faced Forest Gump days to an old man.
So where are the puppets?
Well, the film does ‘what it says on the tin’. It made me think about how fast time flies (this is not an original thought, but one we often forget). I meant to write a Blog each month about the puppet work here, and I haven’t….so here is a catch-up!
ONCE UPON A NOVEMBER
November was a month of celebration and thanks. Where to start?
Well, a BIG thank you to The Arts Council England who accepted my application for the 2025 years Develop Your Creative Practice Grant.
I feel that there is ‘something’ in all of us who wonder what we would do if we had another chance. I cannot regret the choices I’ve made because they led me to ‘Here’ (Get ‘the link?’). But, if I were able to travel back in time, and if the opportunity was available, I would have chosen a more creative career than the nursing profession I followed for forty-eight years. So now that I have reached what many people would regard as the end of their working life, I have the chance to start again!
The grant allows me to follow a fully funded year of bespoke personal training with the internationally acclaimed puppet maker and founder of Puppet Soup Fagner Gastaldon.
Over the next year, I will be immersing myself in the world of puppetry (and that’s a pretty exciting world) learning new skills, making connections and bringing them back to the puppet tree to share with others. Watch this space!
And if that wasn’t enough, I have another shout-out to the Norfolk Community Foundation which has allowed me to develop work here at The Puppet Tree for more advanced puppet-making opportunities for adults and young people. Their funding will help me provide workshops for the community, purchase new equipment and include the skills of creative practitioners.
And as for the November puppets? Here is a taste of some of the fun!
The picture above depicts the famous blizzard scene from the mesmeric Slava’s Snow Show, performed internationally and recently in London’s West End. In seconds most of the front rows were buried in ‘snow’ and grown adults became children as inhibitions were lost in the surprise!
I was so moved by the performance I had a go at creating my own version called ‘The Search for Snow.’
And here are the children from The North Walsham Cub Scout group as they search for the lost baby polar bear’s family as they too enjoy the snow scene.
And following on throughout November here are some of our workshop achievements.
ONCE UPON A DECEMBER
OH NO! The White Witch visited the puppet theatre! Walk through the wardrobe to see what happened!
In our run-up to Christmas, we carried on with our snow story and imported snow from ‘Lapland’ to add to our winter event. We even had the lamp post… and Aslan!
… and now back to January, which is almost over. See you all again in February!