We're back in the workshop again, returning to the puppets from Citizen Puppet. Blind Summit Associate Fiona Clift tells us more...
Why was the decision made to work on the Citizen Puppet puppets again?
Spending a month performing with the puppets last year in Edinburgh, we really came across some structural things we wanted to change! The focus at the minute is on their heads and their moving mouths which are controlled from the back of the head. The mechanisms are quite tricky to use, and their necks are also a bit floppy. We want to see if we make them move around the stage more easily.
So what's the first step?
We've been looking at original Bunraku puppets, for example from our 2005 show Low Life, where the neck mechanism is operated from the back and where a sense of the spine is created. This means the puppet has a centre, making it more solid and providing a different kind of movement.
Tell us about the head you are working on right now
I'm re-working a head I designed and made last year, that didn't make it in to the final show.
The new version is modeled on Germaine Greer. A feminist with a very old school look...
From the photos below you'll see I started sanding her first, shaping her head and making sure I have a smooth finish. I then began to add more detail and we have since found a wholly new character from the one we rehearsed last year. Hopefully she'll make it into the next outing of Citizen Puppet!
Spending a month performing with the puppets last year in Edinburgh, we really came across some structural things we wanted to change! The focus at the minute is on their heads and their moving mouths which are controlled from the back of the head. The mechanisms are quite tricky to use, and their necks are also a bit floppy. We want to see if we make them move around the stage more easily.
So what's the first step?
We've been looking at original Bunraku puppets, for example from our 2005 show Low Life, where the neck mechanism is operated from the back and where a sense of the spine is created. This means the puppet has a centre, making it more solid and providing a different kind of movement.
Tell us about the head you are working on right now
I'm re-working a head I designed and made last year, that didn't make it in to the final show.
The new version is modeled on Germaine Greer. A feminist with a very old school look...
From the photos below you'll see I started sanding her first, shaping her head and making sure I have a smooth finish. I then began to add more detail and we have since found a wholly new character from the one we rehearsed last year. Hopefully she'll make it into the next outing of Citizen Puppet!
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