The DARKER side of Puppetry
A new approach to Contemporary Puppetry
In this hands-on experimental performance workshop we will look at a number of puppet species that don’t normally get much visibility eg:
the Alter Ego,
the Menace,
the Imaginary Friend and
the DARKER worlds of the Imposter, the Phantom and the Effigy.
By distorting our fundamental notions of Puppet Theatre, we can discover fresh, new perspectives about manipulation, agency and who really controls who. We can even witness disturbing power games between puppet and performer and reveal the deeper, DARKER and more unexpected layers of contemporary puppetry performance.
It's a spooky place the DARKER side. It can be unnerving but there is beauty and pathos and a lot of fun to be found there. It’s a very inspiring approach to puppetry.
These sessions will be a fun and safe place for experimentation and an opportunity to really dive into these alternative performance methods. Techniques are geared towards performance for adult audiences but they can easily be adapted for use in all theatre types.
Suitable for all curious theatre practitioners: actor, dancer, clown, puppeteer.
NO PUPPETRY EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!
Duration: 1 to 5 days
Capacity: maximum 12 people
Ninon Noiret exploring the DARKER side of Puppetry for her show The Raft of the Crab. Glasgow 2021
Max has been kicked, shoved, stripped and dropped...
Royal Conservatoire Scotland - dance/movement improvisation
Following clues in a DARKER side installation piece - Atelier Libusin. Prague
NASTY puppetry workshop - UQàM Montreal 2020
Bochum figurentheater Germany - dance/movement improvisation
Following clues in another DARKER side installation piece - Atelier Libusin. Prague
See Calendar for upcoming workshops
Quotes from previous workshop participants:
Liverpool 2022
"As a complete beginner in 'proper' puppetry, the workshop has been extremely valuable."
"Gavin's experience and insights have been fab and I feel I've come miles in an area that previously felt out of reach. My confidence has really grown"
"Gavin's teaching style was relaxed and playful but backed up by a wealth of experience"
Atelier Libusin, Prague, CZ. 2024
"As a maker rather than a performer, I found that performing with the puppets while the others watched was a bit daunting at first. But although we were exploring ‘the darker side’ of puppetry the atmosphere in the group was so warm, supportive and friendly that my inhibitions quickly melted away"
"One of the best workshops I attended"
Stamsund, Norway 2024
"This has been one of my most meaningful experiences and I've participated in many different workshops since 2012. Learning something completely new is rare and your workshop provided just that."
DARKER side History
Since Faulty Optic I have been exploring alternative ways to approach the use of puppets on stage. Attempting to draw away from the classical traditions of puppet theatre and having worked with many performers with a huge range of different skill sets, I realised that puppets can be animated in completely unexpected ways depending on who is doing the moving. For example an aerialist or a contemporary dancer will physically handle a puppet in a totally different way to an actor or puppeteer, a clown will find laughter when they continually drop the puppet on its head which is something a puppeteer would find absolutely outrageous !
So I have been developing new ideas of contemporary training which would give any performer the confidence and techniques to be able to incorporate a puppet into their own work. I am still learning and so I am always developing new ways to allow others to gain this insight.
My research has been helped enormously by collaborating and working with:
puppeteer and choreographer Anne-Kathrin Klatt
actor and aerialist Ninon Noiret