Why Puppets?
Nottingham Puppet Festival launch at City Arts, June 2021. Image courtesy of Lamar Francois
After over a year of tortuous re-scheduling and planning due to the Covid pandemic, June 2021 finally saw Nottingham Puppet Festival take place all across the city.
Originally scheduled for May 2020, this was the second iteration of the festival, produced by Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, City Arts Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, following its debut in 2018. Back then, as well as smaller shows dotted around the city, we took over Market Square with giant walkabout acts, including Graeae’s Iron Man the size of a double-decker bus, as well as the special events featuring Joey and Topthorne the incredible creations of Handspring Puppet Company and the stars of War Horse playing to sell-out audiences in the Royal Concert Hall.
The pied piper appeal of these acts, drawing hundreds to follow them, was a million miles away from the socially-distanced puppet festival we were creating for 2021. Many of the shows and performances we curated now took place outside, utilising outdoor spaces at Sneinton Market, Nottingham Playhouse and the recently re-opened Nottingham Castle. Events at Squire Performing Arts Centre and at Broadway Cinema, where I hosted a Q&A with puppet maestro, Ronnie le Drew, were socially distanced, with even Ronnie and I having to wear masks. Not easy when he is recreating his golden days as Zippy in Rainbow.
Q&A with Ronnie le Drew at Broadway Cinema, Nottingham Puppet Festival, June 2021. Image courtesy of Lamar Francois
There was also a smattering of online events, including the glorious Ahau Marionetas from Portugal.
We could have waited to run the festival when things had calmed down a little and regulations relaxed, enabling larger audiences to gather. We could have staged it earlier, making the festival completely online.
In my opinion, neither option was worth pursuing. By staging it at the end of June, and adhering to all necessary safety measures (nothing says show business more by repeatedly completing risk assessments) we wanted to ensure that people could once again witness live performances and engage with the unique magic of puppetry as soon as possible.
Several years ago, when we first started thinking about a puppet festival for Nottingham, we wanted it to be a showcase for the artform, to support and encourage the very best local, national and international artists and companies and, very simply, for the festival to be fun. No heavy, deep-rooted under-lying principles here, the festival had to be fun. This proved to be the case in 2018 and after a year of lockdowns, home-schooling and variants, the 2021 edition of Nottingham Puppet Festival could be a powerful and therapeutic release for many.
This did prove to be the case, with events selling-out, many smiling faces and the artists themselves enjoying returning to their craft, despite their arms now aching. Not from Astra Zeneca jabs, but because for the last year they hadn’t been used to holding up their puppets for so long. Is there a medical term for this? Zippy fatigue?
Walkabout at Nottingham Castle with results of Radical Puppetry Project made by YOUnique Collective based at New Art Exchange, Nottingham Puppet Festival, June 2021. Image courtesy of Lamar Francois
In a few media interviews I did at the launch of the festival, I was asked why run a puppet festival? Where do you start with this question? String, glove, shadow … puppetry comes in many forms, with a beautiful artistry and skill that can transport us to other worlds, as we did with Ditto Theatre’s Rocket Girl or Nikki Charlesworth using puppetry to explore her life with Cerebral Palsy.
Puppetry is escapism. In the same way that the puppeteer can become invisible as we watch a show, reality can be forgotten as we immerse ourselves in a performance. Puppets are also not just for children. The late-night Puppet Cabaret we held in 2018 was an extraordinary noisy night of bawdy, riotous behaviour from both artists and audience.
Puppetry can produce in us a child-like wonder of the world again. Something I’ve experienced myself, as I interviewed Ronnie le Drew and remembered my younger self, who used to return home from school for lunch and sat watching Rainbow, with a plate of Dairylea sandwiches for company.
The reaction to the return of Nottingham Puppet Festival was incredibly positive. The immediacy of live performance and the skills of the puppeteer produced reactions in many that no online show could achieve. With the support of our many partner organisations across the city, this is why the festival will hopefully continue to prosper and why puppets matter.
