Artist Performer Maker
Round the Block 2000
3 fairytales turned upside down; Ms.Muffet falls for spider, Goldylocks trashes house and Cinderella wins the Lottery! –Dales Primary School children as Lottery balls.
Puppets and sculptural costumes inspired by Bauhaus artist Oscar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet and the storytelling driven by the opposing energies of the Block and the Ball.
Psalms Uncensored 2005-6
Multimedia show in collaboration with ‘Credo’ Theatre, - turning the graphic and emotive language of the 4000 year old Psalms into film, dance, masks and puppets
The mighty and the intimate, the wretched and the reaching, the comforting and the uncomfortable – the faces of these Psalms crave conversation with God.
Inspired by the art of Bread & Puppet Theatre, medieval paintings and illuminations, the musical gargoyles of Beverley Minster and the spaces, light, glass and architecture of Hull’s Holy Trinity.
Gorgeous 2010 - 2020
with Gorgeous Arts
Visual Arts Spectacle, Dance, Mime, Puppetry, Sculpture
Exploring our obsession with beauty and fear of aging
Gorgeous show, 2010+. A multi-creative piece which delves into a woman’s attitude to and perception of herself. A story of skin, accessories and our capricious relationship with the mirror, this is a journey of our affair with the mirror; from discovery and emerging self-awareness, through to vanity and obsession. Mirror, glove, hat and stiletto then transform into creatures of mischief and wonder.
Freedom Festival’s Humber Calling, 2015+ decoration of a Hull phone booth accompanied by the Mirror Girls, who continued to amaze and amuse, on stilts for physical stilt theatre -Upper Level
With Jade Wasling, Rhea Dinsdale, Julia Clapp, Rachel Ojo-Tokunboh, Liz Dorton and Jenna Brankley
Flood 2008 - 2010
A locally adapted mad mystery play with 25 strong cast drawn from youth and adults from Bransholme council estate and wider Hull, with large puppets, medieval inspired pantomime costume, poi, flags and other carnival detritus, all inspired by the ‘umbrella’.
FLOOD included Physical Theatre in collaboration with Act Now, Gospel singing and drumming from Sierra Leone and was performed around Hull and at Freedom and Greenbelt Festivals.
Chasing the Wind 2017-20
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A show inspired by two pieces of ancient Hebrew literature probably; Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. An interplay of both. A cornucopia of ideas that include puppetry, dance, paintings, textile portraits and animation. A lush falling into the sensual imagery of Song of Songs, mixed with the stark rants, cynicism and warnings, the equally rich imagery of Ecclesiastes. Both extreme in their way; one drawing you to live in the present, and explore the idea of the ‘divine love affair’ alluded to by mystics, the other screaming at you to consider the utter futility of swathes of our human behaviour.….
How do we live within the divine kiss while surrounded by futility and injustice….
Tender Gaze 2021+
Photos by Ellie Hardy.
An angel of mirrors, a black Mary, a dislocated old priest, shadow puppet wombs, classical musicians, an opera singer, bespoke electronic soundscapes… Tender Gaze is a powerful re-telling of Luke’s description of the uncommon pregnancies of Mary and her aunt Elizabeth.
An immersive meditation centred around a triptych: Heard - Fiat - Leap. ‘Heard’ recounts Zacharias’ dumbfounding encounter with an angel; ‘Fiat’ is an interpretation of Mary’s “Yes”to God; and ‘Leap’ captures the moment when Mary and Elizabeth, both miraculously pregnant, greet each other.
It is an opportunity: to immerse ourselves in beauty and wonder; to explore some of the heartache, doubt, risk and trust at the edges of the Christmas story; to allow ourselves to consider themes of being heard, being seen, being empty, being filled and finding purpose in a bigger story.
Performed by local group Murmuration (Becca Simon, Anna Hembury and Liz Dorton), and using the music of Taverner’s ‘Song of the Angel’ as well as specially composed pieces by Simon Mary Vincent.
Joy Rummage 2022+
Photos by Elijah Hembury, Ellie Hardy and Mark Kensett.
An improvisation of puppets and musicians, disregarding the lines between workshop, play and performance.
A willful act of defiance in the face of the current ambient national depression, general depletion, tiredness, struggle and felt by myself, many local artist and performer friends. Inspired by joy in the midst of struggle: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” and “put on the garment of joy for the spirit of heaviness”.
An embodied, playful exploration seeking something uncomplicated, primal and unpredictable. Something colourful, both intimate and communal. Something joyful.
Joy Rummage has come out of collaborative artists puppet making days. The puppets are personalized creations of each artist; using carved foam and latex scrim, we create highly flexible, tough, easy to manipulate figures of any size. This is followed by ‘rummaging’: playing / intuitively mucking about in large indoor or outdoor spaces, to the accompaniment of improvised jamming by local musicians. Stress is minimized by the deliberate letting go of choreography and rehearsal, a simple set up, having a bank of performers, and cake. It has become a flexible event that can turn up anywhere – shopping centre, council estate, park, or designated theatrical spaces