Introduction to Puppetry
(A Common Threads Collective Workshop)

Workshop Description:

A beginner’s introduction to puppetry, with easy movement and technique. This three-hour workshop is a fun introduction to puppetry. We will look at different styles and examples of puppets, and get hands-on using of few of these different styles.

What to expect:

In an easy-going, casual environment, theatre artist Brad Brackenridge will start with a brief introduction, looking at a little puppet history, different styles of puppets, and some examples of puppetry construction.

Like any storytelling, puppetry is about exploration. We will explore movement and technique using a few of these different styles. With some simple exercises, we can find character and voice, and perhaps a beginning to a story. We will also get hands on and create some puppet faces, with some easy carving and sculpting.

Requirements:

This workshop is free and open to all members, 16 and up.

Bring your imagination and be ready for big fun.

No prior experience of puppetry is needed.

All puppets, supplies and any tools needed will be provided.

Registration is Required

Space is limited to 8 people.

sold out

Registration closes August 12 at 5pm. Please note that reservation priority is being given to new Canadians.

The Theatre on King is located at 171 King Street. Entrance and parking in parking lot at rear.

All participants are required to wear masks. We will be taking contact information and screening for Covid symptoms and contact at the door.

Instructor Biography:

Brad Brackenridge has been a performer and designer in theatre and film for almost 30 years. He founded The Nervous System in 2013, a puppet-based theatre company which has created and produced Komachi on the Shrine (with composer Kathleen Adamson, 2018); Festivus Rattus Rattus 2035 (Precarious Festival 2017); Life Comes to Resemble Unimaginative Literature: Or, the Moment of my Death (The Bernie Martin Festival 2016); VERTEP (Emergency 2015); Murmuratio (Erring 2014); Terror and Erebus (Artsweek 2013; remounted in the Otonabee in 2014 and as a solo show at The Theatre on King 2015); and Luminato: The Encampment, a large-scale public participatory art installation.

Brad has also created puppets for diverse theatrical companies including: Shaw Festival, 4th Line (“And there is a marauding buffalo (a puppet manned by three people) that is one of the single most hilarious things I’ve ever seen on the stage.” (Paula Citron, Globe and Mail), Spiel Players, Artsweek, Precarious Festival.

Brad has studied with Old Trout Puppet Company, Puppetmongers Powell and Bernd Ogrodnik, taking courses in marionettes, the construction and manipulation of jointed puppets, and wood carving. Brad had mentored two emerging artists in puppetry: Naomi Duvall and Samuelle Weatherdon. His most recent work in progress was developed under the mentorship of Julia Aplin as part of Public Energy’s Alternating Currents program: Sputnik’s Shadow, a moving and hilarious exploration of the first man in space, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, and the space race.

Brad is the recipient of the 2018 Peterborough Arts Award for Outstanding Mid-Career Artist.

Currently Brad is currently enjoying a yearlong residence at Artspace, an artist-run centre here in Peterborough.

About the Common Thread Collective and LAND(ing)

Common Threads Collective is a diverse group of newcomer and non-newcomer artists: Shahed Khaito, Mithila Ballal, Kate Story, Leslie Menagh, Brad Brackenridge, Peyton LeBarr, and Reem Ali.  The final public site-specific immersive experience is planned to take place in a courtyard in downtown Peterborough, reimagined as a traditional Syrian courtyard house. Land(ing) will use textile arts, film, puppetry, text, theatre, dance, and community-engaged storytelling, animating the creative basis for the project.

Common Threads Collective is working in partnership with the New Canadians Centre.  LAND(ING) is also supported by an independently earned grant from the Ontario Arts Council.