David Simon’s new venture Treme premieres soon in the US. It looks full of promise, though I guess it will take ages to get here. My friend Amy put me onto The Wire some years ago, (my son and I still sometimes smilingly say ‘and then I gotta dry that shit up’). I’m truly hooked, but taking it slow, watching week by week on SBS, where we are in the middle of the third season; so lots of good stuff to go yet.
Le Café
Peppa Pig’s Party, live
When I mentioned the cartoon British TV show Peppa Pig a few years ago the pigs were putting on a puppet show for their parents. Now an adaptation, a live theatre show Peppa Pig’s Party, has become a roaring success for pre-schoolers.
The puppets have lovely simple lines and are very cute! Built by Paul Jomain, (known for his Virgin One mascot, Red, and the PG Tips monkey), they are ‘operated by actors who remain on stage with them, perform alongside them, and provide the voices’ in the style of the Avenue Q puppets, an aspect discussed in an interview with the puppetry consultant, Nigel Plaskitt. He also talks about the decision not to use body suit puppets; they exist, but are gross in comparison!
Thank you
My thanks to Naomi at Puppets in Melbourne for her kind post about my blog and work.
Wayang Obama
(photo credit: Kompas/Ferganata Indra Riatmoka)
Indonesian master puppet maker Ki Ledjar Subroto has made colourful wayang puppets of President Obama, his family and dog, which will be given to him by his relatives when he visits Indonesia. Some of the process of making the puppets from hide is shown here.
Kooky’s Return (Kuky se vrací)
Kooky’s Return (Kuky se vrací), a combined puppet and live action feature, has some lovely inventive puppets made by the team that produced the beautiful puzzle-solving game Machinarium.
A seven year old boy whose teddy bear Kooky has been thrown away wonders what his toy is up to in the big world out there, imagining Kooky as he tries to find his way back home. The film was written and directed by Czech Oskar winning director Jan Sverák and production design was created by Jakub Dvorský (Amanita Design). The release will be on May 20, 2010 in Czech cinemas.
There’s also a subtitled version of the trailer and a FaceBook fan page.
Terry the Squirrel
I love this interview with Terry the Squirrel from Sammy J And the Forest Of Dreams from a couple of years ago; it’s a riot. The puppeteer is Heath McIvor. McIvor and Sammy J’s new show, Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane, is playing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival from 25 March to 14 April.
Handspring’s giraffe
The amazing Handspring Puppet Company‘s giraffe at Design Indaba 2010 in Cape Town recently.
