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http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/dream.html

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Bristol Old Vic production In Association with Handspring Puppet Company Directed by Tom Morris (Their first collaboration since War Horse) Co-commissioned by Spoleto Festival USA Designed by Vicki Mortimer

Having last worked together on the internationally acclaimed War Horse, Bristol Old Vic's Artistic Director Tom Morris and Cape Town's Handspring Puppet Company reunite to begin a new journey in Bristol. Shakespeare's inexhaustible A Midsummer Night's Dream unfurls in the intimacy of our redeveloped Theatre, interweaving the lives of lovers, actors, friends, foes and fairies. This is a ...Dream about love, transformation, survival and song, where a belief in the mystical presence of fairies isn't mere superstition, but a magic lore encoded in the routines of a community living on the edge.

Trees, objects and tools all pulse and tingle with the possibility of existence in a world that, thanks to the magic of Handspring, all objects are granted the right to life.

Watch the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 behind-the-scenes reports of the making of A Midsummer Night's Dream here.

Tom Morris said: "In October 1995, I fell in love with a hyena. It was in the middle of a show called Faustus in Africa, designed by Adrian Kohler of Handspring and it looked as if it was alive. "I've followed and occasionally been lucky enough to work with Handspring ever since. They are the greatest puppet company in the world and it is a huge thrill to be able to invite them to collaborate with us on this experimental version of Shakespeare's sexiest and most magical comedy."

Alongside our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, we'll be running a series of workshops and events as well as providing a series of materials for schools, teachers, young people and adults. Click here for further information.

Until 4 May Theatre 7.30pm 2.30pm Signed performance: 20 April at 2.30pm Audio described performance: 27 April at 2.30pm Captioned performance: 4 May at 2.30pm (signed, audio described and captioned tickets are just £10, available by calling box office only) £8-£28 (groups of 10+ get £2 off top three ticket prices) £10 previews: 28 Feb-6 Mar (all tickets £10) Superseats available (see here) from 7 Mar

Ages: 12+ (some sexual content)Cast

I emailed headstrung puppets with some questions to help with my dissertation research, their response is below;

Hi Katie,

Here are my answers to your questions.

-I was wonder what sparked your interest in puppetry?

“I have always had an interest in puppetry and visual theatre has always appealed to me. As a maker and a performer, puppetry combines two of my interests in one. I also think it allows you to explore difficult or challenging topics in a way that conventional theatre can not.”

-Do you think its important to keep it alive?

“Yes, definitely.”

- It seems to have become more popular in the last few years as I know from my own experience, having seen puppet festivals in Beverley and Liverpool just this year, could you give me your opinion on this?”

“Puppetry (and other art forms) will always go through times when they are more (or less) popular. I think it is important to follow your passions, and explore the art form that speaks to you. I also think it is important that there is a wide range of performance styles open to theatre makers and audiences. Obviously, I am very passionate about puppetry, and delighted that more people are seeing its benefits.”

-Interacting with the public with the puppet seems to play a massive role, it must me very rewarding.

“I would say that this depends on the venue/type of performance- I find puppetry rewarding for a lot of different reasons. If you are working in close proximity to the audience, it can be extremely rewarding as you get an immediate response from individual interactions.”

Hope that helps- Eilidh x

 “Headstrung are a Liverpool based puppet company, specialising in puppet cabaret acts and interactive street theatre. Co-founded in 2012 by Katy-Anne Bellis, Eilidh Bryan and Beccy Hillam, Headstrung focus on challenging  the role of the puppeteer as well as providing a cheeky sense of humour. They have toured their work throughout the UK, performing at outdoor events, arts and puppetry festivals and late night cabarets.”

http://creature-encounter.com/

http://www.beverleypuppetfestival.com/#!free-outdoor-shows/c12xj

Unfortunately I've recently had an accident which has resulted in some damaged  ligaments in my leg, which has left me very immobile at the minute. However I did manage to see some of the fantastic performances at the Beverley puppet festival. Puppet company's like creature encounter, frolicked and headstrong were all there and were some of the performances I managed to see.      

Creature encounter, a company based in Birmingham, had a show called squawk which was one of my favourites, with there beautiful colourful bird puppets. These puppets focused on interaction between them and the audience, whether it be stealing someone's hat, or bobbing their heads up and down in time with a kid jumping. And both young and old loved getting a response or attention from the birds.

i’ll post more photos of the festival shortly.

This is a timeline I’ve done of puppets in children’s TV. As you can see there was a puppet boom in the late 70s and early 80s. One of the reasons for this could have been that materials and technology have become cheaper and more available, so some more elaborate puppets could have been made, whereas in the days of muffin the Mule there were still echoes of the wars effect. Also in the 70s/80s TV was becoming much more popular and almost everyone had one. Opening a massive market for children’s TV. Also CGI and special effects were only just starting to appear in those days, So puppets were the next best thing. Puppets are still using children’s TV to this day but with the increase of special effects and CGI, they are not used as often. However it shows the magic of puppets still exists and even in this very technical world children still engage and love them.

Also When the ITV breakfast channel wasn’t getting very good ratings they introduced Roland rat who immediately pumped up viewings in order to compete with the BBC breakfast channel.

I am also very intrigued with the parallels between puppetry and stop motion. Both are in the control of humans, yet humans are absence in one of the methods. Does this have an effect on the way we perceive both subjects? Puppetry we can physically see the person operating, however the magic isn’t lost because you can interact with the puppet in real-time and you can affect the way the puppet responds. Also I think that being able to see the way the puppeteer operates the puppet adds to the experience and wonder of it.

- Stop motion involves moving the puppet frame by frame while taking a photo each time. So once all the frames have been put together into a moving image the puppet comes alive seemingly with no aid from a person. This is a different kind of process, yet is very effective in its own way.

the images above are of a film called Anomalisa which is the first film made with 3D printed puppets. The Director is Charlie Kaufman who has made other films around puppetry. Hes very into exploring the nature of humans and there pyscologhy which is interesting in his repeative use of puppets. i hope to see it in the cinema soon. Along something about this film feels eerie ans a bit unverving.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/10/anomalisa-review-charlie-kaufman-puppet-masterpiece-about-the-human-condition