Max Fulham Comedy Entertainer and

Ventriloquist

Guild member, 17 year old Max Fulham is

already getting rave reviews for his

ventriloquist performances on Face Book and

on his You Tube channel.

He also has a very impressive and professional

website to promote his talents.

David Leech decided to find out more about him.

You can read the interview on pages 2 to 4.

Also in this issue (on page 14):

Meet Lori Hopkins and her innovative new

play The Explorer with a specially

composed soundtrack to accompany the

spellbinding story, it is a play that explores

marionette traditions and bends the rules a bit

too.

After a crash landing on a strange island, the

brave Explorer needs to find her way home.

Watch her travel the high seas, drift into

space and even hitch a ride on an elephant.

“I wanted to generate a level of excitement

for string puppetry,” said Lori, “This is a

performance that breaks out of the

conventions of marionette theatre. I will be

visible to the audience during the show and

the marionette will have a live

voice. Hopefully it inspires the next

generation of puppeteers to create work in a new way.”

With a blue monster called Nigel

Max Fulham - Comedy Entertainer and Ventriloquist.

When and how did you first become interested in ventriloquism?

My parents bought me a puppet for Christmas when I was nine years old, and I

was immediately hooked.

Who do you take inspiration from?

As well as taking inspiration from modern stars such as Paul Zerdin, Steve

Hewlett and Nina Conti, I also think its vital that I look back to older

performers for ventriloquism and comedy in general. I admire the

manipulation skills of the ventriloquist Dan Horn. I spend a lot of time

researching and watching clips from a broad field within entertainment and

comedy, ranging from Victorian Music Hall to Children’s television.

Who would you like to meet?

I have met Nina Conti – once in the street

at the Edinburgh Festival, and once after

her show in Aldershot. I was also lucky

enough to be introduced to Paul Zerdin at

Christmas when he was appearing in

pantomime at the London Palladium. I

have also met Peter Pullon.

I’ve also got to know Steve Hewlett and a

few other variety performers who have

been a great help to me.

Through Facebook I am also in contact

with many children’s entertainers and I’m

presenting some of my ideas at the 2017

Trix in the Stix convention in May.

People I’d like to meet include Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble), Ronnie Le Drew

and Geoff Felix.

www.maxandfriends.co.uk

With Nina Conti

When was your first performance?

When I was at Linlithgow Primary School in

Scotland I performed in several school

assemblies with my puppets. Shortly after

moving to Surrey in 2010. I won the local inter-

schools Talent Show with a mime/comedy

ventriloquism act featuring my puppet ‘Stone

the Crow’ – this led to a wide range of local

bookings throughout my time at secondary

school in Farnham. Earlier this month I won

my Sixth Form’s Talent Show in Farnborough.

Where do you perform now and how often?

I have performed at Farnham Carnival every June for the last four years,

starting when I was 13 years old, this year will be my fifth. I perform at

birthday parties for children and for older people, have performed at a

wedding, at Aldershot Christmas Lights switch on for the past two years, and

have done a couple of corporate gigs.

How do you choose your material/content for your presentations?

I’m very passionate about using puppets and so one of my main focusses is

manipulation, whether that be getting a laugh from a face the puppet pulls, to

just spending a few hours exploring the puppet’s movement. Much of my

material comes through thinking about my audience, and I’ve tailored many

scripts to fit particular situations. I own many puppets and I love projecting

characters in them to suit the show I’m putting on.

How did you hear about the Guild?

I had seen the Punch and Judy May Fair event advertised and saw that it was

connected to the Guild. At first I joined the Facebook Group and from there

became a member.

How do you think the

Guild could be of help

to your performance

and artistic practice?

I think the Guild will

help me to be exposed to

a wide range of

puppeteering, which I

can learn from and use

to help create fresh ideas

that I can put into With ventriloquist legends Steve Hewlett and Ronn Lucas

practice. Simply put, I’m passionate about puppets

and think they can have an incredible impact on an

audience, for comedic or other purposes. I am keen

to learn as much as I can about such a fascinating art

form.

Do you want to consider turning professional in

future?

It would be a dream come true. I know this is a

cliché, but I’m 17 at the moment and to think I’d be

able to earn a living doing what I love and what I’m

passionate about, and essentially making people

happy, would be one of the best jobs I can imagine.

Have you any interest in other types or forms of puppetry?

Yes, I love Punch and Judy, and think that I could customise the types of

puppets used to fit more into my own style of performance. More obscurely, I

am fascinated by Japanese bunraku because of the movements of the figures,

the focus of the puppeteers and the immense culture behind it.

***********************

May Fayre & Puppet Festival

May 14th from 11.00 am

St. Paul’s Church, Bedford Street, Covent Garden

Puppet Parade at 11am - Church service 11.30

Puppet shows from 12 Noon – 5 pm

The Guild stall will be there, come and say hello!

Marlborough Puppet Festival

8th - 9th July

Watch this space and the Guild website for further details.

Skipton Puppet Festival

September 29th – October 1st

Copy deadline for June/July NL : May 27th

NEW MEMBERS

Max Fulham from Surrey

Damian Jay from Hampshire,

Jan King from Norwich

The British Puppet

&

Model

Theatre Guild

Aims & Objectives

To advocate the practice of

the art of Puppetry and

Model Theatre

To form a means of

communication amongst

its members

To improve the standard

of puppetry in all its forms

*****************

President: Ronnie Le Drew

Chairman : Peter Charlton

65, Kingsley Avenue,

West Ealing,

London W13 0EH

Membership Secretary:

Dave Burgess

183 Bwlch Road

Fairwater Cardiff

CF5 3EE

davejburgess@aol.co.uk

Secretary : Sylvia Peasgood

26, Central Avenue,

Stoneygate,

Leicester LE2 1TB

Archivist : Michael Dixon

4, St John Street, Lowtown,

Bridgnorth,

Shropshire WV15 6AG

Treasurer: Brian Hibbitt

Priors lodge, 3 Priors Wood,

Crowthorne

Berks

RG45 6BZ

Email: davidleech@britishpuppetguild.org.uk

One day before the copy deadline for this Newsletter I

was looking at a large number of blank pages… then,

on the actual day several people came through with

lots of content to the extent that this edition is eight

pages bigger than the Feb/March issue. Thank you!

I’m grateful to one of our newer overseas members,

David Logan - from Australia - who sent a large article

about his work with lots of photographs. I’m afraid

I’ve had to edit his contribution considerably, for

which I apologise, but there is only limited room in the

Newsletter after all!

Details of the Annual General Meeting are on page 9

and pages 22 to 24. There is also a copy of the 2016

Financial Summary on page 12 and a proposal to be

put to the AGM regarding subscriptions on page 13.

It’s always good to welcome new members and I’m

delighted to be able to share an article about Max

Fulham who has recently joined after discovering the

Guild on Facebook, where you will see his video posts

of his performances as a ventriloquist. Max will also

be appearing at the Marlborough Puppetry Festival too.

In fact, there are several young Guild members lined

up to perform at this festival, including Prof Joseph

Peek, (of course!) and there will be local young people

learning to make and use puppets and performing at

this event, so it’s one not to miss!

That’s all for now folks,

Yours puppetually,

David Leech

Editor

Notes from the Guild President Ronnie Le Drew

A few updates re work, and some very pleasurable meetings with members.

On the 12th February I went to see the Tysoe Marionette Group’s, last show at

the Barn Theatre.

Jon and Ann, invited me to Lunch before the show which was very kind of

them, The show performed was the Snow Goose adapted from the Paul Gallico

story. The Marionettes were beautiful to look at, and the audience loved it.

Grenville Middleton travelled with

me to see the performance and we

shared lunch and a tour backstage,

also Jon showed his large collection

of puppets to us and before the day

was over, I was able to present Gren

with this years Presidents Plate.

Many Thanks to Both Ann and Jon for

inviting us.

Sadly I missed the Guild’s annual

visit to the barge this year, as I was giving a talk on the history of the Little

Angel Theatre. Which went well which pleased me. This was followed by two

sessions for the Little Angels, foundation course. With another two sessions for

The Royal Academy of Music, Their Musical Theatre Students, wanted to know

about Puppets, and were a wonderful receptive group. And over the last few

weeks I have had the pleasure of teaching for The Curious School of Puppetry.

Run by Sarah Wright. Wonderful enthusiastic students, who will I'm sure be an

asset to puppetry.

From April 22nd to July 16th 2017, I will again be performing "Dog's don't do

Ballet" a two hander puppet show for children (2 to 7 years) and their parents.

It would be lovely to meet any Guild members after the show. Just make

yourselves known to the box office and I will pop out and see you.

It won't stop me visiting The May Fayre at Covent Garden on the 14th May,

sadly I will miss the parade this year, but should be there for most of the

afternoon. Let's hope for good weather !

I won't be able to join you all for the AGM this year, as the Little Angel

performances are on the same day. But I do recommend as many people go, as

the venue is the Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.

Don’t forget!!

The Guild has a new

website featuring

videos of recent

events and up-to-date

news.

The Home page also

features the live posts

from the Guild Face

Book page - so you

don’t have to be on Facebook to see what’s been added.

Take a look:

www.britishpuppetguild.uk.com

Lastly I had the pleasure of working my marionette for the Disney Film of

Beauty and the Beast. It helped the CGI people to see where the light fell on

the puppets face, the character I was portraying was "Lumiere" the candle stick.

I have yet to see the movie myself, but it seems so far to have been very

successful.

That's all for now.

Ronnie Le Drew.

THE ERIC BRAMALL

HARLEQUIN TROPHY FOR MARIONETTE MANIPULATION

& PRESENTATION

The Harlequin Award for Marionette Manipulation

and Presentation was presented by Christopher

Somerville in memory of his late friend and

partner, Eric Bramall.

It was first awarded to Paul Doran of

Shadowstring Puppets at our festival in Colwyn

Bay in March 1998. Other winners have been

Movingstage Marionettes, Stephen Mottram,

Ronnie le Drew, Jonathan Broughton and

Michael Dixon.

Who can be nominated?

Any puppeteer of British nationality. Candidates do

not need to be members of the Guild or of any

puppetry organisation. Names may be proposed by

any recognised member of the puppet fraternity. A puppeteer can also nominate

him or herself.

Each nomination must be made by two puppeteers, or people with an

interest in puppetry who have seen the candidate in performance.

The nomination must be supported by a letter giving some details of

performance/performances seen. “He is a nice chap and deserves an award”

will not be judged acceptable!

Adjudication will be made by a two judges appointed by the Chairman of the

British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild and will consist of known puppet

enthusiasts, not necessarily members of puppetry organisations, though at least

one will have specialised knowledge of marionettes. In the case of a ‘tie’ the

Chairman will have the casting vote. The names of the judges will not be

publicised.

Closing date for nominations will be 31 July 2017 so as to give the

adjudicators time to see the nominated candidates in performance and make

their final judgement.

Remember the guiding rule is:

THE ERIC BRAMALL HARLEQUIN will be awarded...to any British

puppeteer deemed to have advanced the cause of the marionette by their

expertise in manipulation and presentation.

Nominations should be sent to: Peter Charlton, Chairman, British Puppet &

Model Theatre Guild, 65 Kingsley Avenue, West Ealing, London W13 OEH.

E.mail: peter@peterpuppet.co.uk

The Harlequin Award is a chance for puppeteers to applaud someone whose work they

admire and wish to encourage - don’t miss the chance to have your say!

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Sunday May 21st

from 11am at

Queen’s Temple

Stowe School

Stowe Buckinghamshire

MK18 5EH

12noon performance by the Stowe Puppeteers

12.45 Lunch (2 course buffet lunch available @ £5 or £10 ph)

2 pm puppetry performance (TBA)

At the AGM, all the Council posts are up for renewal. One post we

have to fill is HON. SECRETARY as Sylvia Peasgood is standing

down after many years of loyal service. We thank her for all the hard

work she has done for the Guild over the years. The secretary is an

important role and we do need someone who has computer skills. So

please send in your nominations, with proposer and seconder, ASAP

for any of the council posts but especially for the secretary.

If there are nominations for any of the positions, you should first gain

permission from the person you wish to nominate and also a seconder

for the proposal. Nominations should be put in writing and sent to the

Hon. Secretary no later than April 21st 2017.

Please send your nominations to:

Sylvia Peasgood

Hon. Sec. BPMTG

26 Central Avenue

Stoneygate Leicester

LE2 1TB

Directions to are on page s 22 & 23 of this Newsletter. Agenda on

back page.

Apologies to readers who inadvertently

had a picture of Gordon Murray

attached to my ‘obit’ for Murray

Clarke. I think Gordon may not have

been amused. But it reminded Darryl

Worbey that Judith Shutt told him of

a long stick that was kept by the

“Thunderbirds” bridge called “The

Murray prodder” as it was used to prod

Murray when he fell asleep.

*************

German puppeteer Anna Klinge gave

an outstanding demonstration of foot

puppetry on TV’s “Britain’s Got

Talent.” Only a heel could fail to be

impressed. It must be on YouTube

somewhere.

*************

GEOFF FELIX

As some of you will know, Punch &

Judy professor and puppet maker Geoff

Felix suffered a stroke early in March.

He is making a steady recovery but still

has a long way to go before he’ll be

swazzling again. He is currently in

Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow

(Haldane Ward, Level 8).

Letters and cards will be appreciated.

If you are able to visit, visiting hours

are 2-4 and 6.30 – 8 pm.

In the meantime keep him in your

thoughts and prayers.

Rainbow Productions is looking for

people with ‘soft prop sculpting skills’

and that includes puppet making. If

you are such a person get in touch with

Crispin Lowry at

crispin@rainbowproductions.co.uk

*************

There is an exhibition of the puppetry

and mask work of Margaret Robinson

(see last Newsletter) at Chertsey

Museum until April 22nd

*************

Sesame Street is to feature a new

puppet, Julia, a character with autism.

She will make her screen debut on

April 10th

*************

The Puppet Centre (resident at BAC

– Battersea Town Hall) are looking for

some voluntary help, answering

general enquiries and up-dating social

media feeds. If you would like to get

involved email

pct@puppetcentre.org.uk

*************

The Halifax (of Building Society fame)

have a new commercial starring no

lesser personages than Lady Penelope

and Parker. The pair will also feature

on posters, social media and the like.

Stephen Mottram’s Animata was one of the

puppetry shows in this year’s London

International Mime Festival with a couple of

most entertaining pieces, “The Parachute” and

“Watch the Ball.”

I think this is the only time I’ve seen Stephen

perform without marionettes. “The Parachute”

was a journey through life illustrated by a

number of white shining balls. With music by

Sebastian Castagna as witty and magical as

Stephen’s manipulation of the ‘puppets’ - I had

to keep on telling myself “there must be

someone back there helping him, you can’t do all that with just one pair of

hands!” - this was a most entertaining and thoughtful show.

“Watch the Ball” was a table-top performance with one puppet changing faces

and then slowly dismantling itself. In the words of the programme “It shows

that ultimately the job of the puppeteer is to manipulate the audience rather than

the puppet.”

He certainly succeeded in that.

*********************

Horace Walpole’s novel “The Castle of Otranto” was published in 1764 and

dramatized by J.R. Planche being staged as a pantomime which premiered on

Boxing Day 1840 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Those were the days of

lavish scenery and hundreds of actors and extras which we would just have to

imagine had it not been for the ingenuity and artistry of toy theatre makers like

J.K. Green who produced his “Penny Plain, Tuppence Coloured’ version of the

play in 1841.

It is still no mean feat to produce it in paper theatre form as there are many

scenes and hundreds of figures. Pollocks Museum Trust has never been scared

of a challenge and we were treated to a most vigorous performance of the play at

Dr Williams’ Library, just a short stroll from Euston Station.

Apart from this somewhat austere setting, this could have been a Victorian

drawing room performance with figures flying across the stage, getting lost,

falling over, occasional moments of chaos but the verve and vigour never

flagging.

Our thanks to Alan Power and company for a most entertaining time.

Copy deadline for June/July NL : May 27th

Proposal to Revise Annual Subscriptions

The Annual General Meeting is the time when we need to review our annual

costs and expenditure.

We also need to consider the criticism we have received from some members

who have opted to receive the Newsletter in pdf form and are concerned that

they have received no financial recognition for the associated savings in printing

and postage costs, and it is in our interest to encourage more people to select this

option.

However, we do have to consider that our costs will inexorably rise in the com-

ing year and although we have generated a surplus in the last year, a modest up-

lift in total subscription revenue is still necessary.

My proposal to meet both of these issues is to introduce a two-tier fee structure

raising the membership fee by £3 for those continuing to require printed news-

letters (£5 for Groups) but freezing the membership fee at the existing levels for

all those opting for the pdf delivery option. For overseas members, the same

principal would apply but at a lightly higher differential of £5 for individuals (£7

for groups) to reflect the higher postage costs and the fact that their subscrip-

tions have actually fallen by 16% due to the fall in the value of the pound fol-

lowing the Brexit decision.

The proposed rates effective from October 2017 are therefore summarised as

follows:

Annual Subscription Rates for UK members

Printed Newsletter PDF Newsletter

Class A Adult member £25 £22

Class B Retired member £23 £20

Class C Junior member £18 £15

Class G Group members £35 £30

Annual Subscription Rates for overseas members

Printed Newsletter PDF Newsletter

Class A Adult member £39 £34

Class B Retired member £37 £32

Class G Group members £49 £42

In summary therefore, for those opting for the pdf delivery option there is no

increase proposed for the coming year.

Lori Hopkins and the Explorer

Lori is a puppeteer and performer based

in London.

She has recently premiered her solo

marionette performance for families

entitled The Explorer. This production

was supported by Little Angel Theatre's

FIRSTS programme and will be touring

Finland in October and the UK in 2017.

Lori is also operating Foster the Dragon

for a brand new TV series entitled Fairy Sarah and Friends that will air online

later this year.

When not performing, Lori acts as Puppetry

consultant for Shakespeare's Globe Education.

The Explorer is inspired by the curiosity of

young children, science fiction and the

wonderful movement of string puppets. The

Explorer crash-lands on an unusual island and

encounters rough seas, wild beasts and even a

spaceship. Transformation and surprise drive

along the narrative as almost everything that

the Explorer interacts with becomes something

entirely different – a rock becomes a friendly

elephant, a bench instantly turns into a boat and

a secret control panel is revealed leading to her

exciting escape from the island.

After the show Lori hosts a fund and

interactive Q&A session that is specifically

designed to unlock some of the secrets behind

the show for the younger viewers.

Remaining Tour dates:

Wednesday 12th April - mac, Birmingham

0121 446 3232

Sunday 30th April - North Wall, Oxford

01865 319450

Saturday 6th May Hackney Children's Theatre

020 8525 5476

Sunday 7th May - artsdepot, North Finchley, London

020 8369 5454

www.artsdepot.co.uk

Saturday 17th June Eastleigh Unwrapped

023 8065 233

The Red Balloon - The Puppet

Theatre Barge

Review by Neil Wilkin

The 14th March was the Guild’s gathering

for the puppet barge event at Little

Venice. Strings were performing the show

"The Red Balloon” which you may have

come across in the film of the same name

released in 1956 and created by Albert

Lamorisse.

The show on the night was magic and

took me back to my child hood.

The story is set in Paris originally,

although it could have been set in any big

city or town.

The story follows a little boy who

encounters a red balloon near a park

bench. The story had some nice touches

including a small bird (even heard it pecking for food) a dog and a lovely scene

with an acrobat who seemed to be swinging off a chimney sweep's brush.

I loved the magic of the play when the boy meets a girl and she has a blue

balloon. the two balloons play with each other. Both balloons seem to have

minds of their own.

I felt for some reason more sorry for the boy at the time when other children

took the mickey out of him and near the end when the boy gets chased by other

children. I should have felt sorry more for the Balloon.

I have never enjoyed a show as much at the Barge and that is saying a lot having

seen other shows there..

There is no spoken word's just a musical backing, the main instrument seems to

be a xylophone. I thought the puppets were handled really well, but

occasionally, early on, they seemed to float rather than walk naturally, perhaps

they were just above the ground rather than touching the stage, which was a

little off-putting to me.

Overall though a very enjoyable show, well worth going to see.

*********************

The Puppet Theatre Barge is a unique, fifty-seat marionette theatre on a

converted barge in London. The theatre presents puppet shows for children and

adults and is moored in Little Venice throughout the year and in Richmond-

upon-Thames during the summer.

Diana East

17th June 1952 – 29th January 2017

“I love to teach, especially with complete beginners.

The joy of discovery on people’s faces as they learn

is what really inspires me.”

Diana had a wonderful warm personality and was a

gifted artist and close family friend for many years.

Her father was a famous Silversmith and her mother

whom he met at the Royal College of Art was a

book illustrator.

After working for over twenty years as a freelance

jewellery designer/maker Diana turned to working in glass in 1994, finding it ‘a

wonderful medium for personal expression’ and taught the technique of

flamework soon becoming a pioneer in bead making in Leicester.

Her talent and reputation led to worldwide travel teaching in Switzerland,

France, Germany, Holland, Spain, New Zealand and USA as well demonstrating

in her purpose built home studio. One of her many accomplishments was being

commissioned by the Tate Museum to design bead jewellery for sale at a new

Turner exhibition. These pieces were inspired by the colours in Turner’s

paintings.

Diana’s involvement with the Puppet Guild and interest in Paper Theatre began

via a chance meeting with Peter and Sylvia Peasgood whilst working at

Specialist Crafts (formerly Dryad), where she set up and ran their new

showroom producing work to illustrate their varied craft products which

‘entailed becoming proficient in many craft disciplines’.

Encouraged by Peter, some original paper theatre shows followed over the years

and on several occasions accompanied the Peasgoods to the International Paper

Theatre Festival in Preetz, Germany.

Diana is fondly thought of by Paper Theatre friends and is still remembered for a

little show she performed ‘Swim Sam Swim’.

I shall miss Diana greatly both as a friend and creative spirit who will be

remembered as a talented and accomplished artist across the International

community.

Sarah Peasgood

1. Chris Somerville. 2. Aardman Animations. 3. Rainbow 4. International. 5. Crocodile. 6.

Animal. 7. Topo Gigio 8. Underground. 9. Ray Alan. 10. Exhibition. 11. Thomas The Tank

Engine. 12. Hector. 13. Education. 14. Anton Aicher. 15. Twizzle. 16. Rolls Royce. 17. Extra

Terrestrial. Answers to the Crossword on page 21:

Cabaret Puppet Theatre

by David Logan

David Logan is Artistic Director of Cabaret

Puppet Theatre, based in the Brisbane and

Redlands area of south-east Queensland in

Australia.

He is also an experienced Drama and

Theatre Arts educator having trained at

Victoria College, Melbourne, Trinity

College, London and the University of

Newcastle.

Many years ago, as a young boy, I saw a

sign that I have never forgotten in the

office of the once great amateur theatre

company, Twelfth Night Theatre, in Brisbane, that read, "You don't have to be

mad to work here, but it sure helps!"

Of course people who work in the arts are far from

mad, but they do possess, on the whole, an

incredible sense of humour and a great

determination to succeed. Certainly, there are many

ready to criticise and watch someone fail, but few

are there when necessary to provide meaningful

support.

To be actively involved in the arts requires not only

ability and good training, but perhaps more

importantly a strong belief in their enormous value

in a society.

My own interest in the arts started as a child way

back in the mid-1960s being involved in the Lady Mayoress of Brisbane's

'Christmas in Storyland' a large scale pantomime, held each year on the stage of

the vast auditorium of Brisbane City Hall.

It was pure magic with a different traditional fairy tale being staged each year

with four performances over a single weekend.

My late Mother, Gloria Ida Logan, an artist and lecturer in art, made the huge

carnival masks used for over two decades in the show. In later years I worked

alongside her, learning so much. I also attended weekly drama workshops at

Twelfth Night Theatre, appearing in different productions.

Later, I opted to take the drama teaching route, training initially through Victoria

College in Melbourne. While in Melbourne I conducted a puppet making

workshops for young children. No substantial teacher training in Drama was

available in my home city of Brisbane, sadly.

David Logan with Curious Koala

My first encounter with professional puppetry

occurred via the late and great Peter Scriven, who

founded, the Marionette Theatre of Australia. His

large scale full length marionette productions such

as 'Little Fella Bindi', 'The Tintookies', 'The

Explorers' and 'The Water Babies' toured widely in

Australia and overseas in the late 1960s and early

1970s. These productions were absolutely amazing.

In 1974, I attended a Queensland Arts Council

puppetry workshop run by the late Bill and Barbara

Turnbull of Bilbar Puppet Theatre. They toured

with the Queensland Arts Council, a Queensland

state government funded arts organisation, for

many years in primary schools.

There I carved my first marionette, 'Afro.’

Years later I made another marionette, 'Curious

Koala', under the expert guidance of Mirek Tretjnar at his workshop, 'Puppets in

Prague' in the Czech Republic.

Along the way I included puppetry in my own drama teaching and wrote a

reference book, 'Puppetry'. Puppetry brings with it the enormous gift of taking

the emphasis off the student and placing it on to the puppet. It's such a fabulous

way of building self-confidence in young people. Puppetry also has the unique

ability to reach out to audiences in a magical

way that live theatre for whatever reason

does not.

After a great many years of teaching puppet

making and performance with young people

and writing puppet plays as well as seeing

more and more theatre and puppetry in

Australia and Europe, I made the brave

decision to concentrate more on my own

puppetry rather than merely teaching.

Like many others involved in puppetry, I

took the risky decision to use my own funds

to start a professional touring puppet

company, Cabaret Puppet Theatre, based in

Brisbane and the Redlands district of south-

east Queensland, in 2015.

It started from absolutely nothing to its

current status as a growing puppet theatre

company, with now over 100 rod puppets

Our very talented Master of

Ceremonies makes everyone

always feel welcome with his

sparkling talent at Cabaret

Puppet Theatre

and a portable professional theatre, with a varied repertoire for the young and

young at heart. I perform using mostly my own puppets.

Like many puppeteers, I relate much better to the puppets I have made as I know

what has inspired their creation. Using another puppeteer's puppet is something I

prefer not to do. Their ideas and mine rarely coincide. I think it is crucial for a

puppeteer to do their own work rather than attempt be a clone of another.

I always think it's rather sad when puppeteers limit themselves to only perform

for children. Puppetry is hopefully far more than that.

While performing for primary and secondary audiences, Cabaret Puppet Theatre

also presents an extensive range of adult

cabaret. One particular age group, sadly often

neglected, are those in homes for the aged.

Currently Cabaret Puppet Theatre has three

fixed shows available for our primary school

audiences, 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Frog

Prince' and 'Hey Diddle Diddle.’

The real stars of Cabaret Puppet Theatre are the

puppets themselves. They are mostly rod

puppets made from scrunched up newspaper,

sometimes polystyrene balls, masking tape, a

wide range of different coloured fabrics,

brocades, wool, wooden dowel rod, old wigs,

buttons and costume jewellery, paint,

corrugated cardboard and cardboard tubing,

wire, stitching and using the good old electric

glue gun. The key to each puppet is good initial design and light weight. A

puppet must not only look good, but also be able to move according its own

special character demands via the puppeteer.

Any puppet company needs to adopt its own identity. Without this it has no real

reason for being. Cabaret Puppet Theatre started off with a single idea. This was

to bring cabaret and puppetry to audiences that are usually deprived of any

theatre experience due to prohibitive costs.

Substantial funds have been invested in not only the building of the theatre, but

also in making a large number of puppets.

Apart from performing, I also run puppet making and writing workshops for

different age groups. One such workshop was held for adult educators at the 6th

International Drama and Theatre Education Congress in Hong Kong.

The book, 'Puppetry' is still available.

Further information can be found via its website www.cabaretpuppettheatre.com

as well as on it’s Facebook page.

'The Little Mermaid'

Marlborough Puppetry Festival

Progress Report

by David Leech

We have now established a good local team who are working

hard to help with fundraising opportunities and Brian Hibbitt and

I meet regularly with the Town Clerk and the local volunteer

team in Marlborough.

There is a lot of local support and enthusiasm for the festival and

we have received a generous donation from the Town Council, in

addition to them providing the Town Hall and the Priory

Gardens, (local park) free of charge and the local Historical

Society have also made a generous donation to the festival fund.

We’re very grateful too, to Johnathan Sayers for his support and

his donation as well as the local Merchant’s House Trust who are

making available exhibition space in Marlborough’s new Museum which is due to open

after Easter.

While we await the Arts Council decision on our re-application for funding, our priority

is to secure funding from other sources which are proving very encouraging, especially

after we received a good turn-out to our Public Meeting on March 16th.

Whatever happens, we will have a weekend puppetry festival on July 8th 9th!

We are also seeking Guild members in particular, to volunteer to help with ‘bottling’ for

the outdoor shows and serving as ushers for the indoor shows on a shift system on both

days. Please email me in advance if you think you could help out with these duties.

Marlborough Town Council are fully behind the project so the more members of the

Guild can be involved the better. Also, if you wish to perform at the event, please let me

know, but of course at the time of writing, with have limited funding so I’ll not be able

to confirm arrangements and draw up contracts until mid - May, but I do make every

effort to keep everyone informed of developments by email.

Finally, I would like to make clear it is not only a “Pelham Puppet Festival” - although

there will be an Exhibition of Pelham Puppets and a Pelham Puppet Theatre.

Marlborough Puppetry Festival is a celebration of English puppetry, that involves

working with experienced professionals within the puppetry sector who will

provide emerging artists, as well as other young people, a major opportunity to

work alongside them to gain insights and experience in developing their artistic

practice

It is also a celebration of the rich and unusual heritage of Marlborough, Wiltshire

the birthplace of the world-famous Pelham Puppets, which were made there

between the 1947-1987

Spanning four venues the festival comprises of quality indoor and outdoor

performances, interactive exhibitions and talks, two education projects, networking

events, and an Opening Parade, “The March of the Marionettes.”

A Puzzle Page from Dave Burgess.

The first letter of each answer, when read from top to bottom, will spell out

the name of a Welsh Puppet Venue founded in the 1960’s.

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CLUES

1 He’s at home in the Harlequin.

(5) (10)

2 Creator’s of Wallace & Gromit.

(7) (10)

3 Zippy & Bungle starred in.. (7)

4 World famous rescue service.

(13)

5 He ate all the sausages. (9)

6 Muppet drummer. (6)

7 A mouse made from foam. (4) (5)

8 Ratty & Mole may live there.

(11)

9 Famous British ventriloquist.

(3) (4)

10 Show your work at one of these.

(10)

11 TV locomotive. (6) (3) (4) (6)

12 Paul Bacon was the voice of this TV

dog. (6)

13 Using Puppet’s for teaching is

called.. (9)

14 Founding Artistic Director of The

Salzburg Marionette Theatre. (5) (6)

15 Her limbs were like elastic.

(7)

16 Lady Pen’s motor. (5) (5)

17 Elliott’s friend was one. (5) (11)

Directions for the

Annual General Meeting

to: Queen’s Temple

Stowe School, Stowe MK18 5EH

Copy of Agenda on the Back Page

Queen’s Temple here:

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SUNDAY MAY 21ST 2017

11 am

Queen’s Temple, Stowe School, Stowe, Buckinghamshire MK18 5DF

A G E N D A

Apologies for absence

Approval of Minutes of 2016 AGM

Matters arising (not included on agenda)

President’s report & awarding of the President’s Prize

Chairman’s report

Secretary’s report

Treasurer’s report

Archivist’s report

Membership secretary’s report

Newsletter Editor’s report

Puppet Master Editor’s report

Election of officers

Proposal for the revision of subscriptions

Proposed: Brian Hibbitt Seconded Dave Burgess (see page 13)

Future events

Any other business