theatre, puppetry, learning, culture

ASSITEJ Cuba 24 – Voices of a New World!

https://yardworks.wordpress.com/2024/05/15/out-of-the-shadows-victoria-park-arts-season-2024/

How wonderful to be back at Glastonbury Festival! after a 2 year covid gap, it has been such a joy to perform and play in the Kidzfield once again. Kidzfield crew 2022 This year we had an amazing crew with Shona Reppe performing the very funny ‘Potato Needs a Bath’ in the Big Top with Tam on live music. Potato needs a bath Sarah Hicks art led her amazing art workshops creating rainbow…

Red Rebels WA

Rachel writes ‘ I started making the red rebel puppet a few months ago, so she would be ready for climate change actions and demonstrations. She can be used as vertical or horizontal rod puppet, so she can move with detailed actions with human red rebels, when bearing witness to others activism, or paraded high at rallies

Mannequin head idea

‘ I had the idea of using a mannequin…

Rachel Riggs – artistic director

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Round & Round ! early years tour 2019-2020

DNA Puppetry/Imaginary Leaps shared performances of our newly adapted storytelling theatre play ‘Round & Round’ in a tour Nov/Dec 2019, sponsored by the City of Fremantle. With performances at local early years settings, Fremantle Arts Centre and  Sullivan Hall Community Centre.

Photos by Tim Grant

‘Round & Round’ is a show specially made for very young children and their carer, highly visual…

“I really enjoyed performing in this amazing venue,” says Adam ” the people who helped get the show ready and the families who came to see the show were all lovely.”

“I’ve performed this show hundreds of times over three continents in three different languages,” continues Adam and I am hoping to present it in Australia in 2020, taking it to cities and rural communities.”

Adam is taking bookings of Chicken Licken for 2020 from Australian venues, communities and event organisers. If you are interested in finding out more about Chicken Licken, show availability and prices please email [email protected] or call Adam on 0410 880330

For 2019, DNA presented a new storytelling show, ‘Tales from the Magic carpet – Aladdin’ performed and created by Rachel Riggs with Cerrie Beech on percussion, and assistance from Georgina Solo/Adele Greaves. We performed everyday in the Kidzfield Big Top.

DNA also present crafting workshops each day with Sarah Hicks taking care of the make and play activities, with help from the team.

Georgina Solo has made our DNA puppets for years and we were grateful to have her back with us, making sure DNA’s walkabout puppets were in tip top condition and making set/props instantly on site!

Added to this were our well loved walkabout puppets – the talking Baby, the Rainbow cat, Grumpy puss and Puppy plus marionettes. Performed by our team, Cerrie, Rebecca, Adele and Rachel ,we love to be part of the great and much loved Kidz Field! thanks to Emma Liddle for all the photo documentation.

For 2019, DNA presented a new storytelling show, ‘Tales from the Magic carpet – Aladdin’ performed and created by Rachel Riggs with Cerrie Beech on percussion, and assistance from Georgina Solo/Adele Greaves. We performed everyday in the Kidzfield Big Top.

DNA also present crafting workshops each day with Sarah Hicks taking care of the make and play activities, with help from the team.

Georgina Solo has made our DNA puppets for years and we were grateful to have her back with us, making sure DNA’s walkabout puppets were in tip top condition and making set/props instantly on site!

Added to this were our well loved walkabout puppets – the talking Baby, the Rainbow cat, Grumpy puss and Puppy plus marionettes. Performed by our team, Cerrie, Rebecca, Adele and Rachel ,we love to be part of the great and much loved Kidz Field! thanks to Emma Liddle for all the photo documentation.

Imaginary Leaps joins Small size Network

Imaginary leaps is very proud to be accepted as a member of the international early years childrens theatre network Small Size! The Network is a member of ASSITEJ International, Childrens Theatre association

Small Size was founded in 2005 with the support of the European Commission and the Culture 2000 programme. It was established by 4 professional theatre and educational arts organisations: La…

Cloud Child wins Fringe award!

Earlier this year DNA Puppetry’s Cloud Child was nominated for a Childrens Theatre Award at Fringe world Perth! Congratulations to all involved and a big thank you to our Perth audiences!

Cloud child and Lynda Moylan

DNA Puppetry and Visual Theatre are presenting the timeless classic Chicken Licken in April 2019 in three lucky venues – Jacksons Lane in London, Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead and Square Chapel Centre for the Arts in Halifax

https://vimeo.com/123088480

Chicken Licken is presented by Adam Bennett,  in his third decade of being a full time performer and puppeteer. Adam is one of the co-creators of this show with long time collaborator Rachel Riggs and has performed this particular show in theatres, arts centres, festivals and events on three continents and in three languages; English, Spanish and French.

The review by Flossie Waite in Children’s Theatre Reviews praises Adam’s easy and witty style which carries this show, drawing in the excited attention of the children with charm, skillful puppeteering and a nod towards the absurdity, hinted menace and homespun charm of the original ladybird books that were the source material for the performance.

Last weekend Cloud Child flew into Perth to delight families with young children in the Sunset Verandah venue at Scarborough beach. Playing in a big top tent to a large audience, puppeteer Adam Bennett and circus performer Lynda Moylan told the ever enchanting story of Cloud Child, to lovely audiences.

Each child recieved their own little fluffy cloud to hold during the storytelling and fly in the clear Perth blue sky at the end of the performance, as they exited out of the tent in a follow the leader procession.

Giant mermaid fabric covered clouds at the main entrance were also part of the sensory engagement for children to interact with.

  Audience feedback included –

‘magical’

‘a beautiful little show’

‘is their a childrens book of this story?’

‘this is the only show my profoundly deaf son has ever sat still and enjoyed!’

‘my child was mesmerised!’

Thank you to everyone who supported DNA’s performances and look out for the Cloud child story book coming soon!

Rachel from DNA Puppetry and Imaginary Leaps has been working on making a new storytelling show, honouring Schezerade, the original storyteller of all storytellers, who saved herself and hundreds of women in the city of Baghdad from death.

In a vintage style one-woman adaptation of the stories of the Arabian Night’s,  Rachel was inspired by her travels performing in Iran and the amazing story of Schezerades survival to create this show. The Arabian Nights tales were gathered from the travelling merchants along the Silk Route, stories from Persia, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, China and India.

Rachel researched the original stories, also drawing upon Lotte Reinigers silhouette shadows of Prince Ahmed, and Ray Harryhausen’s magical animated films of Sinbad the Sailor. The magic of objects in these stories is significant, as life was hard in feudal societies, and the transformation of everyday objects, represented a yearning of the human spirit to break free from a rigid socio economic ranked society which didnt give people much freedom to live their lives. Therefore in the rags to riches tales, the carpet can magically fly you anywhere and the lamp which houses a magical genie, symbolises deliverance from darkness, the shining light helps us to see where we are going.

DNA Puppetry brings to life the fantastic tales from Ancient Persia for young children and families. Imaginatively creating a trilogy of ancient tales, blending visual theatre techniques, music and audience participation. We begin with the classic story of Aladdin and his Magical Lamp, told with table top puppets, marionettes and a muppet style Schezerade.

Come on a magical journey and see the bazaar come to life… with smells of spices and fragrances, silks and jewels, magical objects and enchanting music. And lots and lots of cloth!

Scheherazade is a legendary Persian queen who is the storyteller in 1001 Nights. It was said she had collected a thousand books of histories, the works of poets, studied philosophy, the arts and sciences, and knew them all by heart. She represents the female story tellers of the ancient world and the show is a tribute to all women who behind the scenes, create their own power and safety, within the culture they find themselves in.

Thanks to Cockburn Childrens Centre and Roving Mad Entertainment, lynda and Cerrie, Sian and Paul for helping out on my first shows!

  “When it comes to making children’s theatre, it’s clear DNA Puppetry and Visual Theatre are part of the upper crust” – childrenstheatrereviews.com