Kids
Puppet Animation Festival cont.
Girvan Library .‘ylonlgomerie Street. (iirvan. ()1465 712813. Sat 23 Mar. 2pm. £3.50 (£2.50).
THE MAGIC HORSE Ages over 3. Yugen Puppets adapt this Scottish fairytale abotit a man who exchanges his old mare for a magic horse. The story of the pair's mission to win the heart of a princess is told tising gentle storytelling. music and colourful puppets.
Regal Community Theatre Sotlth Bridge Street. Bathgate. 01506 433634. Thu 21 Mar. 10.30am tk 1.30pm. £4 (£2.50).
Harbour Arts Centre I I4 I In llarbour Street. Irvine. 01294 274059. liri 22 Mar. 10.30am & 1.30pm. £1.50. Memorial Hall 'l'rossachs Road. Aberfoyle. 01786 274000. Sat 23 Mar. 2pm. £3.
Springhall Community Centre
(‘rtiachan Road. Springhall. Rutherglen.
0141 634 9249. Mon 25 Mar. 11am. £2 (£1 ).
MONSTERS IN MY WARDROBE Ages 5 12. A young boy is terrified of things that go bump in the night. and especially his looming wardrobe. To confront his fear. he enters the v'.'ardrobe and embarks on a magical journey in this acclaimed production frotn Blueboat Puppet ('ompany. Howden Park Centre llowden. Livingston. 01506 433634.\\'et120 .\lar. 10.30am & 1.30pm. £4 (£2.50). East Kilbride Arts Centre ()Id (‘oach Road. liast Kilbride. 01355 261000. Sat 23 Mar. 3pm. £4 (£2). Grangemouth Town Hall Bo‘ness Road. (irangeinouth. 01324 506850. Wed 27 Mar. 1 lam. £3.50 (£2.50). THE OWL WHO WAS AFRAID OF THE DARK Ages 6 9. The charming story of Plop the baby barn owl w ho is afraid of the dark is retold by Pay las Puppets. With the help of the other animals in the forest. Plop overcomes his fears in an adaptation of Jill 'l'omlinson's modern-day children’s Clll\\IC.
Harbour Arts Centre I I4 I It) Harbour Street. Irvine. 01294 274059. Mon 18 Mar. 10.30am at 1.30pm. £1.50.
Linlithgow Academy Braehead Road. l.inlithgow. 01506 433634. .\Ion
25 Mar. 10.30am & 1.30pm. £4 (£2.50).
PETER THE PIRATE BOY Ages over 3. A spellbinding adventure on the high seas involving a storm. a shipwreck. a desert island and a scared little boy. Young Peter must save the creatures of a beautiful island from the spells of Nesta the sea witch in this production from Kenspeckle Puppets. Morton Hall I23 Main Street.
New milns. 01560 322890. Mon 18 Mar.
4pm. £2 (£1 I.
100 THE LIST '~'- .'"
Shona Reppe is bowled over by Tom Thumb
Harbour Arts Centre I I4 I In llarbout‘ Street. Irvine. 01294 274059.
Tue 19 Mar. 10.30am & 1.30pm. £1.50.
Gorgie/Dalry Community Association 22 .\Iacl.eod Street. (ioi'gie. Iidinburgh. 0131 3373252. Mon 25 Mar. 10.30am. £3.50 (£2.50). Fernhill Pavilion .\'ei1vaig Drive. Rutherglen. 0141 634 3158. Tue 26 Mar. 11am. £2 (£1 ).
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN AND OTHER STORIES Ages 3 7. Kidgloves puppets retell the story of a dastardly ratcatcher brought in by the mayor to rid llamelin of rats. ()ther children‘s favourites are also told b.‘ Kidgloves including Aesop’s fable about a conceited crow outwitted by a sly fox.
Drongan Primary School .‘ylillmannoch Avenue. Drongan. Ay r. 01292 591718. Thu 21 Mar. 4pm. £2 (£l ).
Westburn Community Centre .\'orth Bank Avenue. (‘atnbtislang ()141 641 7667. Wed 27 Mar. 11am. £2 (£1). RAMAYANA Joko Susilo and Matthew Isaac (‘ohen present a contemporary Indonesian shadow puppet stor_v based on the ancient Sanskrit epic.
GilmorehillG12 9 I'niversity Aventie. (ilasgow. 0141 330 5522. Tue 26 Mar. 1 lam & 7.30pm. £3.
RAPUNZEL Ages 5 9. When a beautiful. young maiden is imprisoned in a hiin tower. a handsome prince embarks on a quest to save her. lidinburgh Puppet (‘ompany bring this classic fairytale to life using exuberant storytelling. beatitiftil masks and colourful puppetry.
Smith Art Gallery and Museum l)umbarton Road. Stirling. 01786 46108].Sat23.\1ar. llatn. £2.50. Victoria Halls Sinclair Street. llelensburgh. 01436673275. Mon 25 Mar. 3pm. £3.50 (£2.50). Gilmorehil|G12 9 l'niversity Aventte. (ilasgow. ()141 330 5522. Thu 28 Mar. 11am. £3.50.
SIGURD THE DRAGON SLAYER Ages 7»- 1 1. Follow a young headstrong warrior’s journey down the river Rhine in Folding Theatre Puppet (‘oinpany's latest production. Sigurd has rescued maidens and slayed dragons. btit must now prove his maturity and bravery to win the hand of Brunhilde. the daughter of the king of the gods. Victoria Hall Kinlocli Road. ('ampbeltown. 0 | 586 554469. Thu 28 Mar. 3pm. £3.50 (£2.50).
THE SINGING RINGING TREE Ages 3 7. liolding 'l‘heatre Puppet company adapt this Iiastern liuropean folk tale about a prince in pursuit of a vain princess. 'I‘raditional glove puppets and simple storytelling are llsetl to tell [his story about the price of true love.
FESTIVAL PUPPET ANIMATION FESTIVAL
Various venues, central Scotland, Mon 18 Mar-Mon 22 Apr
Edinburgh Puppet Company lets its hair down in Rapunzel
It should only be a matter of time before there's a momentOus addition to the Puppet Animation Festival: that all-important word ‘international'. Where the Children's Theatre Festival and the Science Festival have already been branded with their cosmopolitan denomination. the Puppet Animation Festival was more traditionally rec0gnised as a celebration of indigenOus puppetry talent.
Last year saw the introduction of Irish and English production companies. and now the festival is casting its nets even wider again. Generous funding from the Scottish Arts Cetincil and a move to the MacRobert has seen the Operation expand to encompass more venues. stage additional performances and attract cutting edge puppetry companies from arOund the world.
Leading the way in puppetry ingenuity is visiting Czech company Theater Drak. Their Flying Babies production is a Quirky stOry about three babies who let go of their balloon and embark on a bizarre journey to recover it. Festival director Simon Hart is intrigued by the prospect of their object manipulation techniques: ‘ think children in partiCuIar are used to doing that in their play: taking a stick and suddenly it becomes a spear, or a light sabre. They're used to imposing onto an inanimate ObJGCI some animate characteristics. Adults find it more difficult to make that imaginative leap. It takes a very skilful puppeteer to be able to guide the audience to that imaginative leap and that was one of the attractions of
bringing over this company.'
Venturing further afield again. Indonesian puppetry styles will also have a major influence on this year's festival. Through a collaboration with the University of Glasgow. shadow puppetry expert Joko Susilo will stage a series of performances and workshops harnessing centuries old Indonesian traditions. ‘It's a very different audience experience because in Indonesia. these performances can take seven or eight hours.‘ says Hart. ‘lt's usually outdoors. and around the area they have all these stalls so yOu'd just get up and go buy food and drink. and there's a more vociferous contact between the performers and the audience. It's much more like a pantomime. so it's pretty wild.‘ (Maureen Ellis)
An Tairbeart Arts Centre 'l‘arhert. Argyll. 01880 821 1 16. Tue 26 Mar. 3pm. Victoria Halls Sinclair Street. llelensburgh. 01436673275. Wed 27 Mar. 3pm. £3.50 (£2.50).
TOM THUMB Ages 5 7. I.itt1e'I'om can have a bath in a teacup. fly through the air on a leaf. peak at the insides of a cow. and charm audiences with his diminutive cuteness. Shona Reppe Puppets' acclaimed adaptation of the story of a little hero in a big. bad world is told using gentle storytelling and haunting music.
Howden Park Centre Howden. Livingston. 01506 433634. Tue 19 Mar. 10.30am ck 1.30pm. £4 (£2.50).
Milton Community Education Centre 424 l.iddlesdale Road. (ilasgow. 0141 287 9829. Tue 26 Mar. 4pm. £2
(L'l ).
GilmorehillG12 9 l'niversity Avenue. (ilasgow.0141 3305522. Wed 27 .\lar.
l lam. £3.50.
THE UGLY DUCKLING Ages 3 6. (‘lydebuilt Puppet 'l'heatre present the classic tale about a little duckling w ho doesn't quite lit in. Varied puppetry styles and soft. sculptured sets are Used to recreate a child's world of imaginative fantasy.
Bellsbank Primary School Hall ('raiglea ('rescent. l)ulmellington. Ayr.
(ll 292 551057. Wed 20 .\lar.4pni. £2 (£1). Harbour Arts Centre I I4 I In Harbour Street. Irvine. 01294 274059. Thu 21 Mar. 10.30am ck 1.30pm. £1.50.
Village Hall .\lar Place. Saiieliie. ()I25t) 213131. l’ri 22 Mar. 10am. £3.
Dick Institute Museum and Art Gallery lilmbank Avenue. Kilniarnock. 01563554343. Sat 23 Mar. 1.30pm. £2 (£l ).
Grangemouth Town Hall Bu‘ness Road. (irangeniouth. 01324 506850. Mon 25 Mar. 1 lam. £3.50 (£2.50).
Howden Park Centre Ilowden. Livingston. 01506 433634. Wed 27 Mar. 10.30am & 1.30pm. £4 (£2.50).
Workshops
Shadow Fun Wed 27 Mar. 10am. £5. (iiliuorehill(il2. 9 I'niversity Avenue. 330 5522. Ages o\ er 5. Stories come to life at this shadow puppet making and storytelling workshop led by Indonesian puppeteer Joko Stlsilo.
Javanese Shadow Puppets Wed 27 Mar. 2pm. £5. (iilmorehil|(i12. 9 l'niversity Avenue. 330 5522. Ages over I2. learn more about shadow puppets and Indonesian performance at this workshop.