Shadow Puppets Book

Kathe, over at Under the Poppy, writes all about her unusual book she's putting together, that prominantly features shadow puppets. Pretty cool!

Take a look at the book's trailer...

Call for "Arcane Media" Performers

Joanna Ebenstein of Brooklyn is putting out the call for 'arcane media' performers; Joanna is open to other types than magic lanterns, so this could be a great opportunity for toy theatre performers...

I am preparing a similar program to be held in Brooklyn, New York this autumn (September or October 2008). It will be a part 2 of a previous event you can read more about here. If anyone is based in the United States (or willing to travel here) and would be interested in participating, either presenting arcane media of any sort or speaking about arcane media, please let me know.

With a Twist

Basil Twist is a third-generation puppeteer. Watch and listen as he creates magic with his puppets, including a paper theatre. Read what he says about creating and performance, and what it says about us...

Visit his website here.

Teatros de Papel - UPDATE

Lucia Contreras Flores' toy theatre website now has an English version.

Toy Theatre Magazine Issue 31 is Online!

Harry Oudekerk's Toy Theatre at Fishmarket magazine, Issue #31, is now online...

GSM Toy Theatre Festival

The Great Small Works' Eighth International Toy Theatre Festival is coming up fast! It looks like a great lineup of performers and workshops. Time for a trip to the Big Apple...

Steampunk Meets Toy Theatre

It was bound to happen sooner or later, and now it has...

One of Steampunk's greatest designers has taken a cue from toy theatre and used the design of a Victorian theatre proscenium to house a modern flat panel in.

See how it all came together here...

Animated Toy Theatre: La Boheme

Reverse Emulation

The article above is from a page of the December 7, 1913 issue of the New York Times. It is about a "Toy Theatre", a small theatre of human proportions - a case of reverse emulation!

You might want to check out the rest of the page - it has a fascinating article about Ethel Drew Barrymore...

The Georgian Model Theatre Experience

Monday 12 May at 1.10pm and 7.30pm
The Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds
New Model Theatre


OH! SMITH – THE KING OF TERROR
written, created and performed by Robert Poulter
voice of O. Smith: Peter Baldwin

This tongue-in-cheek production features the life and stage performances of the 19th century actor Richard John Smith, widely known as O. Smith, who was famous for playing demons, bandits, assassins, monsters and pirates. Robert Poulter’s New Model Theatre uses new artwork and modern lighting and sound effects to make a 200-year old art form accessible for audiences of today.

The voice of O. Smith is taken by actor Peter Baldwin, well known for his many years in Coronation Street, and also a reputable collector, writer and performer of traditional toy theatre.

NEW Toy Theatre Site

Lucia Contreras Flores has just announced her new website - Coleccion Teatros de Papel, or Paper Theatre Collection. Currently it is only available in Spanish, but I noticed that an English version is under construction. In any event, it's an amazing website, with an impressive collection on display. I encourage you to check it out!

Flea Circus

This ad video starring a flea circus features props including a miniature or toy theatre...

Theatre Design Invitational

Back in January, an invitational was sent out to design toy theatres. One of the many ongoing participants has shared.

Although these designers normally do more collage than theatre design, many of them are coming along quite nicely...Bravo!

Footlights Update

Last summer, Paul Weighell from Pollock's Toy Museum began machining his own toy theatre footlight shades. He eventually kindly offered to do the same for my theatre.

Here they are, in place. (I used a dollhouse lighting system for my wiring kit - no dimmer, very simple, but quite challenging enough for my first attempt; the bulbs were provided by Ann Neff when she built my theatre, which are 'grain of wheat' types...)

NOTE: I have traditional paper curtains on sheet metal backing to use, but also opted to have Ann include a roll-up curtain rod for which I made the red velvet curtain with beading you see here...

LA Toy Theatre Festival

For those of you lucky enough to be in the Los Angeles area, there is a toy theatre festival coming up in June of this year...

New Dramatis Personae Catalogue!

Dramatis Personae Booksellers have issued their newest catalogue.

Always a great treat, these "leading international dealers in antiquarian books, ephemera, and autographs specializing in 18th- and 19th-century performing arts and popular amusements" have a great variety that will appeal to toy theatre enthusiasts.

You can mail order through them directly, or you can see them at one of these fairs coming up this spring and summer in the US and UK both...

Lighting Adventures

From Ann & George Neff:

We searched all over last April to get short strings of miniature lights. Not easy. I think we ended up with 50's in red, yellow and blue. We wanted to have lights of different colors that we could dim up and down in various combinations. (George would really have loved to have his own complete theatre so he could play with lighting.)

For our big size puppets, we have lots of lights and a big programmable dimmer box. But we needed something simple and transportable. So we asked our electrician to make us up a box. You can see it in the picture with Harry's small computer speaker on top. (Back home, we discovered the charge for making that simple box was over $400! I gotta get some confidence in doing simple electrical wiring.)

But we discovered that the purchased blue lights gave off too little light. So using a larger string, we set about coloring a string of white lights blue to get a "gloomy look" inside the crypt. We located some coloring designed just for that - coloring stage light bulbs. And there sat George, dipping and hanging the bulbs up on a wooden clothes rack to dry.

Voila! We looped the blue lights over the top on a wire mesh screen. And everything was fine. We did the show several times for friends. THEN, as we were packing up on a Sunday night, for the trip the following day, the blue lights just stopped working!!!!!! No fuse blown, other lights fine, circuit was okay. PANIC. I said to George, just pack it up we'll call the company in the morning and see what they say. And then I read that little white paper that comes with most Christmas lights, and it said, "Do not mount on or near metal". Aha! Our metal grid most have shorted out the string! George plugged the blue lights directly in the wall, and they WORKED.

So now the problem was to find a non-metallic grid in only a couple of hours. One of our building contractors was driving us to the airport, so we called him, and he dropped off some rubber boat deck grid, which is what you see in the photo. Things were a bit tense until we set up in Holland, because we really had no idea if this would work, but thanks perhaps to the puppet gods, magic happened and we had "gloomy blue" lights from the top. (We used the plastic grids that the Christmas lights come in, cut up, to hold the series of red, yellow and white lights that go across the upper bars.)

Unfortunately, I did forget to turn up the footlights (white) on one scene, and one of the members of the audience (a toy theatre VIP) complained that the show was underlit. One has to be quite careful in toy theatre. Different folks hold on strongly to different standards. If you look at the Sennewald photos, you will see that Ted Hawkins, particularly, has oodles of regular lights in his set up.

How much light do you get out of your set-up? (Low but very atmospheric!)

I am anxious to see what your theatre looks like now! (I shall post new pics of it after I paint it - see next question...) Did you paint it black? (I'm about to...)

How exciting! Do the lights dim? (No) Or just go on and off? (Yes) Did you put lights anywhere else? (I intend to but was not sure which way I want to go...yet)

How is the glued-on proscenium holding up? (Very well indeed...) Which glue did you end up using? (I used PVC from Gamblin - it has worked amazingly well, no wrinkling, no cracking, no pealing - I highly recommend it...The Gamblin site has much to recommend about this PVC:

"Diluted with distilled water, PVA size is a contemporary size for fabric support. Conservation scientists recommend painters use neutral pH PVA size on linen and canvas instead of rabbit skin glue. PVA provides a good size layer that seals the fabric but does not re-absorb atmospheric moisture, swell and shrink like rabbit skin glue does. There are hundreds of different formulae of PVA. We acknowledge and appreciate the research of the Canadian Conservation Institute that helps painters and conservators identify the best PVA to use. Gamblin PVA Size is made from PVA that has a neutral pH and does not yellow. It also retains its flexibility and does not emit harmful volatiles.")

Have you performed or even practiced yet? (No) Do your grooves work? (Yes) Ours, out of foam core, do. Did you get the old fashioned sliders for the flat side? (I have copper rod from a welding store that will work great for making these slides...) George wants to try that for our next show.

Do you take your theatre up and down often? (not often, but I have several times and it works smooth as silk...) Is it really a bother? (not at all...)

Teaser

I had to smile a big one when this arrived moments ago. Such an imaginative first response from the new site's owner has definitely got me hooked!

Her followup explains a teaser of what we will eventually see...

New Toy Theatre Website

I've been watching this website for awhile now. It looks promising, and I'm currently attempting contact with the site's creator, Kate Irvine. I'll keep you posted...

"Mr. Punch, why don't you steal the sausages?"