meeting fred
I create a research plan in Excel and look at options for improving my puppetry skills. My intention to re-create the trip taken by the course to London does not work out and I search for dates that will work in other locations. I see some fantastic workshops as part of the Nottingham Puppetry Festival. I have friends that live there still, it is the city where I went to University as under graduate. They are all fully booked, telling my friend who works for Nottingham University - he knew of one taking place at the University’s Arts Centre that hadn’t been advertised with the other events. I booked on to the pre performance workshop and attended the show in the evening.
In the workshop there are warm up exercises that help us tune in to the four principles of puppetry:
Grounding
Breath
Focus of the Puppeteer
Focus of the Puppet
I come alive as these simple drama techniques allow me to play and use my imagination. I realise I’m thirsty for this. We are shoals of fish together being chased by sharks, Spaghetti Bolognese, Nottingham. We are introduced to a faceless cloth puppet called Fred. We are are in groups of 3 - one at the feet, one on the spine and left side, last on the right arm and head. We have to follow the person with the head using awareness and this sequence of principles. There is a moment when I touch the face of Fred with one of his hands and I feel him come alive to me - it is quite magical. Our group manage to get Fred doing the macarena by feeling in to our lead. I learn a lot about the industry and the physical demands on puppeteers when touring. I wonder how these principles can be applied to the dollypeg puppet.
The set for Meet Fred is very clever, the research for the story set out on boards that are ticked off during the performance. Not all areas are covered. Fred is a disabled puppet looking for a job as a puppet. He encounters difficulty at the Jobcentre where the jobs he’s offered are ‘stereo-typical’ for a puppet - children’s entertainer that kind of thing. Fred falls in love but it’s unrequited. He has trouble with his boss and loses benefits once he gets some short term artistic work. Through puppetry they are describing what life as a disabled artist could be like. There are magnificent scenes of Fred battling through a dark night of the soul and eventually trying to take his own life. The performance involves the puppeteers in several places in relationship with the puppet - they are visible. I feel moved and know more of the subject area.
