12 June 2023
Abingdon’s Arts and Primary School partnerships shared an exciting new venture last week in the form of puppetry workshops for two local primary schools.
Pupils from Caldecott and St Edmund’s visited the Amey Theatre for hour-long introductions to puppetry delivered by Stan, Rebecca and Rob, three members of the London-based Puppet Theatre Barge Company. They began by showing students examples of shadow, rod, glove and marionette puppets before explaining how they were made and coaching pupils in the basic skills required to animate marionette “worms”.
The pupils’ delight and fascination was plain to see, and culminated in a “puppet disco” that filled the theatre with palpable joy – a reminder of how valuable this kind of educational experience can be.
Stan and his team will be bringing their puppet barge to a mooring on the Thames at Abbey Meadows for performances in July and August. As part of Abingdon’s partnership offering, students from Caldecott, St Edmund’s, Dunmore and Thameside primary schools will attend performances of Oscar Wilder’s “The Selfish Giant”.
