Year 9-10 Drama have been playing around with puppets this term. We started learning about the techniques of creating weight, focus and breath for puppets through the work of Gyre and Gymble Theatre Company. We watched workshops and then experimented making and crafting our own Brown Paper Puppets, which we then brought to life. It is trickier than it looks, but fun to see how simple skills, with practice, can make even the most basic puppet have character and personality.
There are so many forms and styles of puppetry that we are working through. Trash Puppetry has also been explored and everyone has experimented with turning common recycles and junk into puppets with life and character.
It’s an ongoing process and the class is continuing to look at the work of emerging puppeteers like Barnaby Dixon, as well as many traditional forms like Shadow Puppetry, Water Puppetry and even muppets.
It’s been fun to see and experiment with the broad range of puppetry styles that our out there and I look forward to seeing more of the creatures and work that comes out of these classes.
Click here to see a video of our paper puppet in action.
Miss Harris