By Tara Nicole Haas In my last post, I talked about some of the puppet companies that have inspired our puppet making for The Selfish Giant. Here are a few more who we would like to share! Blind Summit: "17 years ago Blind Summit started with two guys, one puppet and one story. There was no adult puppetry scene in the UK. There was no Lion King, Avenue Q or War Horse... no one wanted to do puppetry, or to watch it! Since then we have created 30 productions, trained 100 artists and even directed the puppetry in the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. Last year our puppets were seen by over 330,000 people." Mark Down - Artistic Director • Puppetry innovators who are subverting and reinventing the ancient Japanese art form of Bunraku puppetry for contemporary worldwide audiences. • They believe that at a time when theatre is so under threat from the proliferation of new media, puppetry is one of the areas which offers a unique, live experience for audiences. They see puppetry as a radical part of the reinvention of theatre in our time. • Their work aims to challenge people's attitudes towards puppetry. Their puppets are modern and shows tackle contemporary issues that concern them.
Puss in Boots Photo by Richard Termine © 2010. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Faeries Photo credit not found © 2008. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Handspring Puppet Company: • Founded in 1981 and based in Cape Town, South Africa, the company provides an artistic home and professional base for a core group of leading puppetry artists, performers, designers, theatre artists and technicians. Handspring’s work has been presented in more than 30 countries around the world. • The company is widely recognized as South Africa’s pre-eminent puppet theatre company. The company’s work spans three decades of creating theatre for adults and children. Recently, Handspring has been established as one of the most important puppet companies in the world. • Handspring has won several awards, including the 2011 special Tony award for their development of the puppets for Warhorse. • Africa has a rich culture involving puppetry, and Handspring is dedicated to keeping it alive by creating many different forms and types of puppet performance.
Warhorse Photo by Eva Rinaldi ©2013. Some rights reserved
