Max Fulham Comedy Entertainer and Ventriloquist

Guild member, 17 year old Max Fulham is already getting rave reviews for his ventriloquist performances on Face Book and on his You Tube channel.

He also has a very impressive and professional website to promote his talents.

David Leech decided to find out more about him. You can read the interview on pages 2 to 4.

Also in this issue (on page 14): With a blue monster called Nigel

Meet Lori Hopkins and her innovative new play The Explorer with a specially composed soundtrack to accompany the spellbinding story, it is a play that explores marionette traditions and bends the rules a bit too. After a crash landing on a strange island, the brave Explorer needs to find her way home. Watch her travel the high seas, drift into space and even hitch a ride on an elephant. “I wanted to generate a level of excitement for string puppetry,” said Lori, “This is a performance that breaks out of the conventions of marionette theatre. I will be visible to the audience during the show and the marionette will have a live voice. Hopefully it inspires the next generation of puppeteers to create work in a new way.” www.maxandfriends.co.uk Max Fulham - Comedy Entertainer and Ventriloquist.

When and how did you first become interested in ventriloquism? My parents bought me a puppet for Christmas when I was nine years old, and I was immediately hooked.

Who do you take inspiration from? As well as taking inspiration from modern stars such as Paul Zerdin, Steve Hewlett and Nina Conti, I also think its vital that I look back to older performers for ventriloquism and comedy in general. I admire the manipulation skills of the ventriloquist Dan Horn. I spend a lot of time researching and watching clips from a broad field within entertainment and comedy, ranging from Victorian Music Hall to Children’s television.

Who would you like to meet?

I have met Nina Conti – once in the street at the Edinburgh Festival, and once after her show in Aldershot. I was also lucky enough to be introduced to Paul Zerdin at Christmas when he was appearing in pantomime at the London Palladium. I have also met Peter Pullon. I’ve also got to know Steve Hewlett and a few other variety performers who have been a great help to me. Through Facebook I am also in contact with many children’s entertainers and I’m With Nina Conti presenting some of my ideas at the 2017 Trix in the Stix convention in May. People I’d like to meet include Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble), Ronnie Le Drew and Geoff Felix. When was your first performance? When I was at Linlithgow Primary School in Scotland I performed in several school assemblies with my puppets. Shortly after moving to Surrey in 2010. I won the local inter- schools Talent Show with a mime/comedy ventriloquism act featuring my puppet ‘Stone the Crow’ – this led to a wide range of local bookings throughout my time at secondary school in Farnham. Earlier this month I won my Sixth Form’s Talent Show in Farnborough.

Where do you perform now and how often? I have performed at Farnham Carnival every June for the last four years, starting when I was 13 years old, this year will be my fifth. I perform at birthday parties for children and for older people, have performed at a wedding, at Aldershot Christmas Lights switch on for the past two years, and have done a couple of corporate gigs.

How do you choose your material/content for your presentations?

I’m very passionate about using puppets and so one of my main focusses is manipulation, whether that be getting a laugh from a face the puppet pulls, to just spending a few hours exploring the puppet’s movement. Much of my material comes through thinking about my audience, and I’ve tailored many scripts to fit particular situations. I own many puppets and I love projecting characters in them to suit the show I’m putting on.

How did you hear about the Guild? I had seen the Punch and Judy May Fair event advertised and saw that it was connected to the Guild. At first I joined the Facebook Group and from there became a member.

How do you think the Guild could be of help to your performance and artistic practice?

I think the Guild will help me to be exposed to a wide range of puppeteering, which I can learn from and use to help create fresh ideas that I can put into With ventriloquist legends Steve Hewlett and Ronn Lucas practice. Simply put, I’m passionate about puppets and think they can have an incredible impact on an audience, for comedic or other purposes. I am keen to learn as much as I can about such a fascinating art form.

Do you want to consider turning professional in future? It would be a dream come true. I know this is a cliché, but I’m 17 at the moment and to think I’d be able to earn a living doing what I love and what I’m passionate about, and essentially making people happy, would be one of the best jobs I can imagine.

Have you any interest in other types or forms of puppetry?

Yes, I love Punch and Judy, and think that I could customise the types of puppets used to fit more into my own style of performance. More obscurely, I am fascinated by Japanese bunraku because of the movements of the figures, the focus of the puppeteers and the immense culture behind it.

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May Fayre & Puppet Festival

May 14th from 11.00 am St. Paul’s Church, Bedford Street, Covent Garden

Puppet Parade at 11am - Church service 11.30 Puppet shows from 12 Noon – 5 pm

The Guild stall will be there, come and say hello!

Marlborough Puppet Festival

8th - 9th July

Watch this space and the Guild website for further details.

Skipton Puppet Festival

September 29th – October 1st

Email: [email protected]

One day before the copy deadline for this Newsletter I

was looking at a large number of blank pages… then, The British Puppet & on the actual day several people came through with Model lots of content to the extent that this edition is eight Theatre Guild pages bigger than the Feb/March issue. Thank you!

Aims & Objectives I’m grateful to one of our newer overseas members, David Logan - from Australia - who sent a large article To advocate the practice of about his work with lots of photographs. I’m afraid the art of Puppetry and Model Theatre I’ve had to edit his contribution considerably, for

To form a means of which I apologise, but there is only limited room in the communication amongst Newsletter after all! its members Details of the Annual General Meeting are on page 9 To improve the standard of puppetry in all its forms and pages 22 to 24. There is also a copy of the 2016 Financial Summary on page 12 and a proposal to be ***************** put to the AGM regarding subscriptions on page 13. President: Ronnie Le Drew It’s always good to welcome new members and I’m

Chairman : Peter Charlton delighted to be able to share an article about Max 65, Kingsley Avenue, Fulham who has recently joined after discovering the West Ealing, London Guild on Facebook, where you will see his video posts W13 0EH of his performances as a ventriloquist. Max will also be appearing at the Marlborough Puppetry Festival too. Membership Secretary: Dave Burgess In fact, there are several young Guild members lined 183 Bwlch Road Fairwater up to perform at this festival, including Prof Joseph Cardiff Peek, (of course!) and there will be local young people CF5 3EE learning to make and use puppets and performing at [email protected] this event, so it’s one not to miss! Secretary : Sylvia Peasgood That’s all for now folks, 26, Central Avenue, Stoneygate, Yours puppetually, Leicester LE2 1TB David Leech Editor Archivist : Michael Dixon 4, St John Street, Lowtown, Bridgnorth, NEW MEMBERS Shropshire WV15 6AG Max Fulham from Surrey Damian Jay from Hampshire, Treasurer: Brian Hibbitt Priors lodge, 3 Priors Wood, Jan King from Norwich Crowthorne

Berks RG45 6BZ Copy deadline for June/July NL : May 27th Notes from the Guild President Ronnie Le Drew

A few updates re work, and some very pleasurable meetings with members. On the 12th February I went to see the Tysoe Marionette Group’s, last show at the Barn Theatre. Jon and Ann, invited me to Lunch before the show which was very kind of them, The show performed was the Snow Goose adapted from the Paul Gallico story. The Marionettes were beautiful to look at, and the audience loved it.

Grenville Middleton travelled with me to see the performance and we shared lunch and a tour backstage, also Jon showed his large collection of puppets to us and before the day was over, I was able to present Gren with this years Presidents Plate.

Many Thanks to Both Ann and Jon for inviting us.

Sadly I missed the Guild’s annual visit to the barge this year, as I was giving a talk on the history of the Little Angel Theatre. Which went well which pleased me. This was followed by two sessions for the Little Angels, foundation course. With another two sessions for The Royal Academy of Music, Their Musical Theatre Students, wanted to know about Puppets, and were a wonderful receptive group. And over the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of teaching for The Curious School of Puppetry. Run by Sarah Wright. Wonderful enthusiastic students, who will I'm sure be an asset to puppetry.

From April 22nd to July 16th 2017, I will again be performing "Dog's don't do Ballet" a two hander puppet show for children (2 to 7 years) and their parents. It would be lovely to meet any Guild members after the show. Just make yourselves known to the box office and I will pop out and see you.

It won't stop me visiting The May Fayre at Covent Garden on the 14th May, sadly I will miss the parade this year, but should be there for most of the afternoon. Let's hope for good weather ! I won't be able to join you all for the AGM this year, as the Little Angel performances are on the same day. But I do recommend as many people go, as the venue is the Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.

Lastly I had the pleasure of working my marionette for the Disney Film of Beauty and the Beast. It helped the CGI people to see where the light fell on the puppets face, the character I was portraying was "Lumiere" the candle stick. I have yet to see the movie myself, but it seems so far to have been very successful.

That's all for now. Ronnie Le Drew.

Don’t forget!!

The Guild has a new website featuring videos of recent events and up-to-date news.

The Home page also features the live posts from the Guild Face Book page - so you don’t have to be on Facebook to see what’s been added. Take a look: www.britishpuppetguild.uk.com THE ERIC BRAMALL HARLEQUIN TROPHY FOR MARIONETTE MANIPULATION & PRESENTATION

The Harlequin Award for Marionette Manipulation and Presentation was presented by Christopher Somerville in memory of his late friend and partner, Eric Bramall. It was first awarded to Paul Doran of Shadowstring Puppets at our festival in Colwyn Bay in March 1998. Other winners have been Movingstage Marionettes, Stephen Mottram, Ronnie le Drew, Jonathan Broughton and Michael Dixon.

Who can be nominated? Any puppeteer of British nationality. Candidates do not need to be members of the Guild or of any puppetry organisation. Names may be proposed by any recognised member of the puppet fraternity. A puppeteer can also nominate him or herself.

Each nomination must be made by two puppeteers, or people with an interest in puppetry who have seen the candidate in performance. The nomination must be supported by a letter giving some details of performance/performances seen. “He is a nice chap and deserves an award” will not be judged acceptable!

Adjudication will be made by a two judges appointed by the Chairman of the British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild and will consist of known puppet enthusiasts, not necessarily members of puppetry organisations, though at least one will have specialised knowledge of marionettes. In the case of a ‘tie’ the Chairman will have the casting vote. The names of the judges will not be publicised.

Closing date for nominations will be 31 July 2017 so as to give the adjudicators time to see the nominated candidates in performance and make their final judgement.

Remember the guiding rule is: THE ERIC BRAMALL HARLEQUIN will be awarded...to any British puppeteer deemed to have advanced the cause of the marionette by their expertise in manipulation and presentation. Nominations should be sent to: Peter Charlton, Chairman, British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild, 65 Kingsley Avenue, West Ealing, London W13 OEH. E.mail: [email protected]

The Harlequin Award is a chance for puppeteers to applaud someone whose work they admire and wish to encourage - don’t miss the chance to have your say!

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Sunday May 21st

from 11am at

Queen’s Temple Stowe School Stowe Buckinghamshire MK18 5EH

12noon performance by the Stowe Puppeteers 12.45 Lunch (2 course buffet lunch available @ £5 or £10 ph) 2 pm puppetry performance (TBA)

At the AGM, all the Council posts are up for renewal. One post we have to fill is HON. SECRETARY as Sylvia Peasgood is standing down after many years of loyal service. We thank her for all the hard work she has done for the Guild over the years. The secretary is an important role and we do need someone who has computer skills. So please send in your nominations, with proposer and seconder, ASAP for any of the council posts but especially for the secretary.

If there are nominations for any of the positions, you should first gain permission from the person you wish to nominate and also a seconder for the proposal. Nominations should be put in writing and sent to the Hon. Secretary no later than April 21st 2017. Please send your nominations to:

Sylvia Peasgood Hon. Sec. BPMTG 26 Central Avenue Stoneygate Leicester LE2 1TB

Directions to are on page s 22 & 23 of this Newsletter. Agenda on back page.

Apologies to readers who inadvertently Rainbow Productions is looking for had a picture of Gordon Murray people with ‘soft prop sculpting skills’ attached to my ‘obit’ for Murray and that includes puppet making. If Clarke. I think Gordon may not have you are such a person get in touch with been amused. But it reminded Darryl Crispin Lowry at Worbey that Judith Shutt told him of [email protected] a long stick that was kept by the ************* “Thunderbirds” bridge called “The Murray prodder” as it was used to prod There is an exhibition of the puppetry Murray when he fell asleep. and mask work of Margaret Robinson

(see last Newsletter) at Chertsey ************* nd Museum until April 22

German puppeteer Anna Klinge gave ************* an outstanding demonstration of foot puppetry on TV’s “Britain’s Got Sesame Street is to feature a new Talent.” Only a heel could fail to be puppet, Julia, a character with autism. impressed. It must be on YouTube She will make her screen debut on April 10th somewhere.

************* ************* The Puppet Centre (resident at BAC GEOFF FELIX – Battersea Town Hall) are looking for As some of you will know, Punch & some voluntary help, answering Judy professor and puppet maker Geoff general enquiries and up-dating social Felix suffered a stroke early in March. media feeds. If you would like to get He is making a steady recovery but still involved email has a long way to go before he’ll be [email protected] swazzling again. He is currently in Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow ************* (Haldane Ward, Level 8). The Halifax (of Building Society fame) Letters and cards will be appreciated. have a new commercial starring no If you are able to visit, visiting hours lesser personages than Lady Penelope are 2-4 and 6.30 – 8 pm. and Parker. The pair will also feature In the meantime keep him in your on posters, social media and the like. thoughts and prayers.

Stephen Mottram’s Animata was one of the puppetry shows in this year’s London International Mime Festival with a couple of most entertaining pieces, “The Parachute” and “Watch the Ball.” I think this is the only time I’ve seen Stephen perform without marionettes. “The Parachute” was a journey through life illustrated by a number of white shining balls. With music by Sebastian Castagna as witty and magical as Stephen’s manipulation of the ‘puppets’ - I had to keep on telling myself “there must be someone back there helping him, you can’t do all that with just one pair of hands!” - this was a most entertaining and thoughtful show. “Watch the Ball” was a table-top performance with one puppet changing faces and then slowly dismantling itself. In the words of the programme “It shows that ultimately the job of the puppeteer is to manipulate the audience rather than the puppet.” He certainly succeeded in that.

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Horace Walpole’s novel “The Castle of Otranto” was published in 1764 and dramatized by J.R. Planche being staged as a pantomime which premiered on Boxing Day 1840 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Those were the days of lavish scenery and hundreds of actors and extras which we would just have to imagine had it not been for the ingenuity and artistry of toy theatre makers like J.K. Green who produced his “Penny Plain, Tuppence Coloured’ version of the play in 1841. It is still no mean feat to produce it in paper theatre form as there are many scenes and hundreds of figures. Pollocks Museum Trust has never been scared of a challenge and we were treated to a most vigorous performance of the play at Dr Williams’ Library, just a short stroll from Euston Station. Apart from this somewhat austere setting, this could have been a Victorian drawing room performance with figures flying across the stage, getting lost, falling over, occasional moments of chaos but the verve and vigour never flagging. Our thanks to Alan Power and company for a most entertaining time.

Proposal to Revise Annual Subscriptions

The Annual General Meeting is the time when we need to review our annual costs and expenditure. We also need to consider the criticism we have received from some members who have opted to receive the Newsletter in pdf form and are concerned that they have received no financial recognition for the associated savings in printing and postage costs, and it is in our interest to encourage more people to select this option. However, we do have to consider that our costs will inexorably rise in the com- ing year and although we have generated a surplus in the last year, a modest up- lift in total subscription revenue is still necessary. My proposal to meet both of these issues is to introduce a two-tier fee structure raising the membership fee by £3 for those continuing to require printed news- letters (£5 for Groups) but freezing the membership fee at the existing levels for all those opting for the pdf delivery option. For overseas members, the same principal would apply but at a lightly higher differential of £5 for individuals (£7 for groups) to reflect the higher postage costs and the fact that their subscrip- tions have actually fallen by 16% due to the fall in the value of the pound fol- lowing the Brexit decision. The proposed rates effective from October 2017 are therefore summarised as follows:

Annual Subscription Rates for UK members Printed Newsletter PDF Newsletter Class A Adult member £25 £22 Class B Retired member £23 £20 Class C Junior member £18 £15 Class G Group members £35 £30

Annual Subscription Rates for overseas members Printed Newsletter PDF Newsletter Class A Adult member £39 £34 Class B Retired member £37 £32 Class G Group members £49 £42

In summary therefore, for those opting for the pdf delivery option there is no increase proposed for the coming year.

Copy deadline for June/July NL : May 27th Lori Hopkins and the Explorer

Lori is a puppeteer and performer based in London. She has recently premiered her solo marionette performance for families entitled The Explorer. This production was supported by Little Angel Theatre's FIRSTS programme and will be touring Finland in October and the UK in 2017. Lori is also operating Foster the Dragon for a brand new TV series entitled Fairy Sarah and Friends that will air online later this year. When not performing, Lori acts as Puppetry consultant for Shakespeare's Globe Education.

The Explorer is inspired by the curiosity of young children, science fiction and the wonderful movement of string puppets. The Explorer crash-lands on an unusual island and encounters rough seas, wild beasts and even a spaceship. Transformation and surprise drive along the narrative as almost everything that the Explorer interacts with becomes something entirely different – a rock becomes a friendly elephant, a bench instantly turns into a boat and a secret control panel is revealed leading to her exciting escape from the island. After the show Lori hosts a fund and interactive Q&A session that is specifically designed to unlock some of the secrets behind the show for the younger viewers.

Remaining Tour dates: Wednesday 12th April - Sunday 7th May - mac, Birmingham artsdepot, North Finchley, London 0121 446 3232 020 8369 5454 www.artsdepot.co.uk Sunday 30th April - North Wall, Oxford Saturday 17th June 01865 319450 Eastleigh Unwrapped

Saturday 6th May 023 8065 233 Hackney Children's Theatre 020 8525 5476 The Red Balloon - The Puppet Theatre Barge

Review by Neil Wilkin

The 14th March was the Guild’s gathering for the puppet barge event at Little Venice. Strings were performing the show "The Red Balloon” which you may have come across in the film of the same name released in 1956 and created by Albert Lamorisse. The show on the night was magic and took me back to my child hood. The story is set in Paris originally, although it could have been set in any big city or town. The story follows a little boy who encounters a red balloon near a park bench. The story had some nice touches including a small bird (even heard it pecking for food) a dog and a lovely scene with an acrobat who seemed to be swinging off a chimney sweep's brush. I loved the magic of the play when the boy meets a girl and she has a blue balloon. the two balloons play with each other. Both balloons seem to have minds of their own. I felt for some reason more sorry for the boy at the time when other children took the mickey out of him and near the end when the boy gets chased by other children. I should have felt sorry more for the Balloon. I have never enjoyed a show as much at the Barge and that is saying a lot having seen other shows there.. There is no spoken word's just a musical backing, the main instrument seems to be a xylophone. I thought the puppets were handled really well, but occasionally, early on, they seemed to float rather than walk naturally, perhaps they were just above the ground rather than touching the stage, which was a little off-putting to me. Overall though a very enjoyable show, well worth going to see.

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The Puppet Theatre Barge is a unique, fifty-seat marionette theatre on a converted barge in London. The theatre presents puppet shows for children and adults and is moored in Little Venice throughout the year and in Richmond- upon-Thames during the summer. Diana East

17th June 1952 – 29th January 2017

“I love to teach, especially with complete beginners. The joy of discovery on people’s faces as they learn is what really inspires me.”

Diana had a wonderful warm personality and was a gifted artist and close family friend for many years. Her father was a famous Silversmith and her mother whom he met at the Royal College of Art was a book illustrator. After working for over twenty years as a freelance jewellery designer/maker Diana turned to working in glass in 1994, finding it ‘a wonderful medium for personal expression’ and taught the technique of flamework soon becoming a pioneer in bead making in Leicester. Her talent and reputation led to worldwide travel teaching in Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, New Zealand and USA as well demonstrating in her purpose built home studio. One of her many accomplishments was being commissioned by the Tate Museum to design bead jewellery for sale at a new Turner exhibition. These pieces were inspired by the colours in Turner’s paintings. Diana’s involvement with the Puppet Guild and interest in Paper Theatre began via a chance meeting with Peter and Sylvia Peasgood whilst working at Specialist Crafts (formerly Dryad), where she set up and ran their new showroom producing work to illustrate their varied craft products which ‘entailed becoming proficient in many craft disciplines’. Encouraged by Peter, some original paper theatre shows followed over the years and on several occasions accompanied the Peasgoods to the International Paper Theatre Festival in Preetz, Germany. Diana is fondly thought of by Paper Theatre friends and is still remembered for a little show she performed ‘Swim Sam Swim’. I shall miss Diana greatly both as a friend and creative spirit who will be remembered as a talented and accomplished artist across the International community.

Sarah Peasgood

Answers to the Crossword on page 21: Terrestrial.

Engine. 12. Hector. 13. Education. 14. Anton Aicher. 15. Twizzle. 16. Rolls Royce. 17. Extra Extra 17. Royce. Rolls 16. Twizzle. 15. Aicher. Anton 14. Education. 13. Hector. 12. Engine.

Animal. 7. Topo Gigio 8. Underground. 9. Ray Alan. 10. Exhibition. 11. Thomas The Tank Tank The Thomas 11. Exhibition. 10. Alan. Ray 9. Underground. 8. Gigio Topo 7. Animal. 1. Chris Somerville. 2. Aardman Animations. 3. Rainbow 4. International. 5. Crocodile. 6. 6. Crocodile. 5. International. 4. Rainbow 3. Animations. Aardman 2. Somerville. Chris 1. Cabaret Puppet Theatre by David Logan

David Logan is Artistic Director of Cabaret Puppet Theatre, based in the Brisbane and Redlands area of south-east Queensland in Australia. He is also an experienced Drama and Theatre Arts educator having trained at Victoria College, Melbourne, Trinity College, London and the University of Newcastle.

Many years ago, as a young boy, I saw a sign that I have never forgotten in the David Logan with Curious Koala office of the once great amateur theatre company, Twelfth Night Theatre, in Brisbane, that read, "You don't have to be mad to work here, but it sure helps!"

Of course people who work in the arts are far from mad, but they do possess, on the whole, an incredible sense of humour and a great determination to succeed. Certainly, there are many ready to criticise and watch someone fail, but few are there when necessary to provide meaningful support. To be actively involved in the arts requires not only ability and good training, but perhaps more importantly a strong belief in their enormous value in a society. My own interest in the arts started as a child way back in the mid-1960s being involved in the Lady Mayoress of Brisbane's 'Christmas in Storyland' a large scale pantomime, held each year on the stage of the vast auditorium of Brisbane City Hall. It was pure magic with a different traditional fairy tale being staged each year with four performances over a single weekend. My late Mother, Gloria Ida Logan, an artist and lecturer in art, made the huge carnival masks used for over two decades in the show. In later years I worked alongside her, learning so much. I also attended weekly drama workshops at Twelfth Night Theatre, appearing in different productions. Later, I opted to take the drama teaching route, training initially through Victoria College in Melbourne. While in Melbourne I conducted a puppet making workshops for young children. No substantial teacher training in Drama was available in my home city of Brisbane, sadly. My first encounter with professional puppetry occurred via the late and great Peter Scriven, who founded, the Marionette Theatre of Australia. His large scale full length marionette productions such as 'Little Fella Bindi', 'The Tintookies', 'The Explorers' and 'The Water Babies' toured widely in Australia and overseas in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These productions were absolutely amazing.

In 1974, I attended a Queensland Arts Council puppetry workshop run by the late Bill and Barbara Turnbull of Bilbar Puppet Theatre. They toured Our very talented Master of with the Queensland Arts Council, a Queensland Ceremonies makes everyone state government funded arts organisation, for always feel welcome with his many years in primary schools. sparkling talent at Cabaret Puppet Theatre There I carved my first marionette, 'Afro.’ Years later I made another marionette, 'Curious Koala', under the expert guidance of Mirek Tretjnar at his workshop, 'Puppets in Prague' in the Czech Republic. Along the way I included puppetry in my own drama teaching and wrote a reference book, 'Puppetry'. Puppetry brings with it the enormous gift of taking the emphasis off the student and placing it on to the puppet. It's such a fabulous way of building self-confidence in young people. Puppetry also has the unique ability to reach out to audiences in a magical way that live theatre for whatever reason does not. After a great many years of teaching puppet making and performance with young people and writing puppet plays as well as seeing more and more theatre and puppetry in Australia and Europe, I made the brave decision to concentrate more on my own puppetry rather than merely teaching. Like many others involved in puppetry, I took the risky decision to use my own funds to start a professional touring puppet company, Cabaret Puppet Theatre, based in Brisbane and the Redlands district of south- east Queensland, in 2015. It started from absolutely nothing to its current status as a growing puppet theatre company, with now over 100 rod puppets and a portable professional theatre, with a varied repertoire for the young and young at heart. I perform using mostly my own puppets. Like many puppeteers, I relate much better to the puppets I have made as I know what has inspired their creation. Using another puppeteer's puppet is something I prefer not to do. Their ideas and mine rarely coincide. I think it is crucial for a puppeteer to do their own work rather than attempt be a clone of another. I always think it's rather sad when puppeteers limit themselves to only perform for children. Puppetry is hopefully far more than that. While performing for primary and secondary audiences, Cabaret Puppet Theatre also presents an extensive range of adult cabaret. One particular age group, sadly often neglected, are those in homes for the aged. Currently Cabaret Puppet Theatre has three fixed shows available for our primary school audiences, 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Frog Prince' and 'Hey Diddle Diddle.’

The real stars of Cabaret Puppet Theatre are the puppets themselves. They are mostly rod puppets made from scrunched up newspaper, sometimes polystyrene balls, masking tape, a wide range of different coloured fabrics, brocades, wool, wooden dowel rod, old wigs, buttons and costume jewellery, paint, corrugated cardboard and cardboard tubing, 'The Little Mermaid' wire, stitching and using the good old electric glue gun. The key to each puppet is good initial design and light weight. A puppet must not only look good, but also be able to move according its own special character demands via the puppeteer.

Any puppet company needs to adopt its own identity. Without this it has no real reason for being. Cabaret Puppet Theatre started off with a single idea. This was to bring cabaret and puppetry to audiences that are usually deprived of any theatre experience due to prohibitive costs. Substantial funds have been invested in not only the building of the theatre, but also in making a large number of puppets. Apart from performing, I also run puppet making and writing workshops for different age groups. One such workshop was held for adult educators at the 6th International Drama and Theatre Education Congress in Hong Kong.

The book, 'Puppetry' is still available. Further information can be found via its website www.cabaretpuppettheatre.com as well as on it’s Facebook page. Marlborough Puppetry Festival

Progress Report by David Leech

We have now established a good local team who are working hard to help with fundraising opportunities and Brian Hibbitt and I meet regularly with the Town Clerk and the local volunteer team in Marlborough. There is a lot of local support and enthusiasm for the festival and we have received a generous donation from the Town Council, in addition to them providing the Town Hall and the Priory Gardens, (local park) free of charge and the local Historical Society have also made a generous donation to the festival fund. We’re very grateful too, to Johnathan Sayers for his support and his donation as well as the local Merchant’s House Trust who are making available exhibition space in Marlborough’s new Museum which is due to open after Easter. While we await the Arts Council decision on our re-application for funding, our priority is to secure funding from other sources which are proving very encouraging, especially after we received a good turn-out to our Public Meeting on March 16th.

Whatever happens, we will have a weekend puppetry festival on July 8th 9th!

We are also seeking Guild members in particular, to volunteer to help with ‘bottling’ for the outdoor shows and serving as ushers for the indoor shows on a shift system on both days. Please email me in advance if you think you could help out with these duties.

Marlborough Town Council are fully behind the project so the more members of the Guild can be involved the better. Also, if you wish to perform at the event, please let me know, but of course at the time of writing, with have limited funding so I’ll not be able to confirm arrangements and draw up contracts until mid - May, but I do make every effort to keep everyone informed of developments by email.

Finally, I would like to make clear it is not only a “Pelham Puppet Festival” - although there will be an Exhibition of Pelham Puppets and a Pelham Puppet Theatre.

Marlborough Puppetry Festival is a celebration of English puppetry, that involves working with experienced professionals within the puppetry sector who will provide emerging artists, as well as other young people, a major opportunity to work alongside them to gain insights and experience in developing their artistic practice

It is also a celebration of the rich and unusual heritage of Marlborough, Wiltshire the birthplace of the world-famous Pelham Puppets, which were made there between the 1947-1987

Spanning four venues the festival comprises of quality indoor and outdoor performances, interactive exhibitions and talks, two education projects, networking events, and an Opening Parade, “The March of the Marionettes.” A Puzzle Page from Dave Burgess.

The first letter of each answer, when read from top to bottom, will spell out the name of a Welsh Puppet Venue founded in the 1960’s. 1 ______2 ______3 ______4 ______5 ______6 ______7 ______8 ______9 ______10 ______11 ______12 ______13 ______14 ______15 ______16 ______17 ______

CLUES

1 He’s at home in the Harlequin. 10 Show your work at one of these. (5) (10) (10) 2 Creator’s of Wallace & Gromit. 11 TV locomotive. (6) (3) (4) (6) (7) (10) 12 Paul Bacon was the voice of this TV 3 Zippy & Bungle starred in.. (7) dog. (6) 4 World famous rescue service. 13 Using Puppet’s for teaching is (13) called.. (9) 5 He ate all the sausages. (9) 14 Founding Artistic Director of The 6 Muppet drummer. (6) Salzburg Marionette Theatre. (5) (6) 7 A mouse made from foam. (4) (5) 15 Her limbs were like elastic. 8 Ratty & Mole may live there. (7) (11) 16 Lady Pen’s motor. (5) (5) 9 Famous British ventriloquist. 17 Elliott’s friend was one. (5) (11) (3) (4)

Directions for the Annual General Meeting to: Queen’s Temple Stowe School, Stowe MK18 5EH

Copy of Agenda on the Back Page Queen’s Temple here: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SUNDAY MAY 21ST 2017

11 am

Queen’s Temple, Stowe School, Stowe, Buckinghamshire MK18 5DF

A G E N D A

Apologies for absence

Approval of Minutes of 2016 AGM

Matters arising (not included on agenda)

President’s report & awarding of the President’s Prize

Chairman’s report

Secretary’s report

Treasurer’s report

Archivist’s report

Membership secretary’s report

Newsletter Editor’s report

Puppet Master Editor’s report

Election of officers

Proposal for the revision of subscriptions Proposed: Brian Hibbitt Seconded Dave Burgess (see page 13)

Future events

Any other business