Presented by Clay and Paper Theatre
April 11 - April 27, 2024 Varies
Clay and Paper Theatre Studio
221 Sterling Rd Unit 5b
Fee: $300/person (one consultation call over Zoom; six in-studio sessions; all materials included)
Website:
https://clayandpapertheatre.org/2024/03/15/workshops-2/
This event is Accessible.
An image of The Sun Rod Puppet which was created by Clay & Paper Theatre for our Day of Delight Festival which celebrates “love, courtship and desire” and takes place on or near the summer solstice. There is also text that reads "April Large-Scale Rod Puppet Building Workshop" on a purple background.
Giant puppets lend themselves to a wide range of creative uses, whether in a theatrical play, a community setting, in parades or as part of civil protest. The history of giant puppetry is deep and varied. Explore this powerful tradition of image making with Clay and Paper Theatre, masters of narrative theatre with large-scale puppetry, musical soundscapes and exaggerated gestures.
For this workshop we will focus on rod puppets, which only require one puppeteer. A rod puppet usually consists of a face or some other main image that will be attached to a length of wood (the rod). Attached to the ‘head’ of the image will be fabric that helps create more movement for the puppet and also covers the puppeteer either completely or partially. In some instances a rod puppet can also have one arm (a hand or other extension also attached to a smaller rod).
The goal of the workshop is to teach participants how to build a rod puppet from start to finish, using clay, papier-mache, and re-used fabric and other fibre materials. We will also discuss the context for using such puppets, such as, how do giant images lend themselves to working in public spaces and telling "big" stories.
This workshop will have a maximum of 8 to 10 participants and each participant will build their own image. In preparation for this workshop we ask that you consider an ‘event’ for which you would like to build a rod puppet. You do not have to commit to animating this puppet in the event, but it is a way for you to commit to an image that is part of a realistic context. This will help you be more specific about your vision and design. Here are some examples of events that you might want to build a puppet for:
- Celebrations: The Toronto Pride Parade; or you might want to honour a community member at a local event in your neighbourhood; or you would like to create an image as part of a Summer or Winter Solstice ritual.
- Rallies, protests or actions: Perhaps you are an activist focused on affordable housing, or the climate crisis, or the peace movement and would like to create a rod puppet to take out to a public action.
- Theatrical Practices: Are you working on a play? a Fringe show? or do you simply have a character in mind for a rod puppet that would allow you to experiment more with the world of object puppetry itself?
Pre-Studio Consultation & Coaching Dates:
April 6-10 - TBD (over Zoom)
In-Studio Workshop Dates:
Thursdays on April 11, 18, & 25 - 6:30 - 9:00 pm
Saturdays on April 13, 20, & 27 - 12:30 - 4:30 pm