Millie Gray
Research
Throughout this project I completed a range of research around puppetry and its huge worldwide presence throughout history. As a group we looked at a range of examples of puppetry shows from around the world to help develop our knowledge and understanding of movement and the skill behind being a puppeteer.
I also did my own research around this form of theatre looking at the English translation of Hansjurgen Fettig's book, Glove and Rod Puppets (Fettig, 1973). I found it a really interesting read as you could see Fettig's passion for puppetry through his own extensive knowledge and his desire to enthuse others. I found his research into identity through shape and movement particularly interesting as our own puppets had no facial features or stand out characteristics, so we had to create identities through movement.
After building up my knowledge of puppetry I gathered all of my research in my sketchbook creating a page that explores the different types of puppets and the history behind it.
Building our puppet
Our group spent a few weeks in the workshop building our puppets. We developed skills in using a range of tools such as the bandsaw, the disk sander and drills to create the framework of our puppet. Each body part was then hand sculpted using surform blocks and sandpaper. I worked on a range of body parts including the head, thighs and feet, looking for shapes within these parts as well as the anatomy of the body to help create an accurate representation of the figure.
Learning to build a puppet has given me a range of new skills in using different equipment and materials. I also feel it was extremely helpful to build our own puppets that we would use as it allowed us to understand the movement and capability these puppets had when we began working with them in preparation for our performance.
Movement
Creating a narrative for our performance was a challenge. However, using the brief of achieving a goal while overcoming an obstacle we decided to look at the weather and how we could represent a struggle against it looking at the possibility of overcoming struggles and that they will come to an end just as a storm does.
Another element our group became interested in was dance as we had a dancer in our group who could help us through the movements, and we felt dance would be really interesting to explore with the puppet. We built up ideas and story boards to create a short performance. We began by looking at individual movements and poses and them brought them together as the narrative developed.
Our final performance focused on a dancer struggling through a storm, trying to continue their dance and although they are broken down by this increasing storm it eventually comes to an end allowing them to stand again. Although it was a real struggle to operate the puppet to begin with, I feel our performance went well as we worked to resolve the difficulty of being in close proximity allowing us to perform confidently.
Reflection
I think this project was a great experience that has helped me develop a range of vital skills. I especially enjoyed working in the workshop and look forward to being able to use these skills in the future. Learning to work closely with others and effectively cooperate and communicate with one another has also built up my teamwork skills which are crucial in this industry.
The biggest challenge I found within this project was learning to work in such close proximity as it was very difficult to not feel in one another's way however working on different parts of the puppets and looking at how we held the puppet as a group helped to resolve this issue. If I were to revisit this project, I would want to be more experimental and willing to improvise with the puppet within the group as this improvisation in rehearsals lead to some of the best scenes within our performance.