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Puppet Portal hospital D-Day Three | Puppet Portal Project - hospital D
2009-05-07

Puppet Portal hospital D-Day Three

Yesterday was very different to previous sessions- I guess because there were more kids to less adults in the classroom! The last weeks with the teacherstudent and helping visitors were rather exceptional and I will have to work on creating a simple structure and simple techniques which are easy to manage with less help.

The children were quite different, both concerning age (5 to 14 or 15) and their independence/ motivation. One little boy needed lots of attention and suggestions until he got going, but once he found something he really wanted to make (a shark!) he was so content that I guess it´ s important to take that time. Another girl had no English, another challenge!

Whilst making puppets the children made up a story, of a girl who leaves her house -a puppet, too-, gets into her boat and sails off, to have lots of adventures on and under the sea. The two oldest children really got into the making. A very impressive crab and a great lady who could move all her limbs were made!

We went on a live link up with Limerick- but there were sound problems so we could not communicate! As well it was a bit chaotic as there weren´t consent forms in place for all the children yet so I was reminded by the principal to not let these particular kids on the webcam…Nevertheless Limerick showed us some shadow puppetry which was lovely, even though the kids were a bit distracted I guess because the visibility is limited ( a very small screen).

Two younger boys who finished their puppets quite quickly made the stage/ a play-scape from stones and driftwood I had brought in from the beach, to inspire story and set. A beautiful set, but difficult to perform in and film- so for next week I decided to have a simpler set up to make space for a more playful approach. The way we had it puppets had to be moved quite elaborately to be visible on the film, which was hard for the younger ones who were more into free play and maybe frustrating for the older ones who really wanted to make the film work: The 15 year old had some experience with filming and we repeated some of the scenes after lunch to get them “right”.

Quite a task to give justice to all the different needs and abilities!

I realized from last week to this I wanted far too much and will have to keep things simple. Will try to move away from the technical side a bit (to not work towards the filming too much) and rather concentrate on the puppetry and the play, which then can be filmed.

Maybe if there are older children who are interested in filming, they could take on documenting the process / interviewing the puppets? Will see!

So for next week: Keep it simple, focus on puppetry !