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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Puppets in Austin & the O'Neil Puppetry Conference

Met an actor/puppeteer the other night - Caroline Reck. She is friends with Connor Hopkins, of Trouble Puppet Theater. A recent graduate of the Towson University MFA Theater program, Caroline is currently working on a new puppet show -- "Fup Duck" to be performed at SVT March 17th-20th. The White Ghost Shivers band will be in the show, too!  Very exciting!
A graduate of the Lecoq School of Physical Theatre in Paris, France. She served as Artistic Director and host of “Cabaret Le Cochard,” a musical revue on a barge on the River Seine in Paris. An actor/ director and frequent collaborator on devised work, her background is in mime, object theatre and puppetry. Her international collaborators include the Paris-based Sous Un Otre Angle, Mangiare Theatre Company in Sligo, Ireland and RedStarDogFish in Sydney, Australia. Since returning to the States in 2006, her New York productions include Nutmeat, a Burlesque Fairytale (NYC Fringe) and several productions for Red Fern Theatre at the 78th Street Theatre Lab.

When we were chatting, Caroline reminded me of this festival...

O'Neil Puppetry Conference

I would love to go to this... someday!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

2010 PIP Workshops!

After a year dedicated to puppet improv study, research, travel and performance, Sara Farr is bursting with gathered industry skills and trade secrets. And one of the best things she learned about last year was the seemingly ironic generous nature of puppeteers. Making a living off their ingenuity, puppeteers who should be reclusive and stingy with their trade secrets, are in fact VERY generous and willing to share their magic tricks!
In the same vein, Sara is ready to share FOR FREE what she has worked hard to learn. But a years worth of info won't fit into just one workshop. So instead, Sara has parceled the sweet stuff into 3 shiny workshops, each with its own focus!

Puppet Mechanics and Manipulation

Learn how to bring LIFE to inanimate objects and make ppl CARE about your CHARACTERS. Using scripts, games and a variety of puppet types & set pieces, students will explore and play with the basics of puppet manipulation -- eye contact, breath, staging, etc.
PREREQ: none
TEACHER: Sara Farr
REQUIRED SUPPLIES: none -- puppets will be provided
DATE: 12-3pm Sun. 2/28
LOCATION: At the Studio Theater at Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road
RSVP to Sara to save your spot in class

Puppet Building

Joined by Avimaan Syam, Sara will share with students the tools and techniques used by professional puppet builders to create your own cast of unique puppet characters. Sara will be sharing the skills and techniques she learned for making felt & foam, muppet-style puppets, and Avimaan will be sharing the ancient art of Paper Mache puppets (a la "Punch & Judy"). The paper mache' puppets require a 2 day building process with dry time, so we will cover both techniques over the course of two 3 hour workshops
PREREQ: none
TEACHER: Sara Farr and Avimaan Syam
REQUIRED SUPPLIES: Tools provided, supplies not. A list of recommended supplies will be sent upon registration.
DATE: 12-3pm Sat 3/27 & Sun 3/28
LOCATION: Sara Farr's house
RSVP to Sara to save your spot in class

Improv With Puppets

Learning to improvise outside your body (and into the body of a puppet) can be both liberating and eye-opening. In this 2 hour workshop, we get into some improv games & scenes to explore how improvising with puppets can get you closer to PLAY and out of your head. A fun class to take, whether you're looking to expand your improv tool-belt with puppets, or just looking for a fun afternoon with puppets.

PREREQ: Some beginning level improv training and puppet manipulation experience
TEACHER: Sara Farr
REQUIRED SUPPLIES: none -- you are welcome to bring your own puppets, but puppets will also be provided.
DATE: 7-10pm Wed 4/14
LOCATION: At the Studio Theater at Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Road
RSVP to Sara to save your spot in class