Joined at the HIP

Pino-Kun in the Belly of the Whale (Kay Aika)

Human performers, clown figures and puppetry came together for the Human Idiot Puppet workshop in Ainsdale, Sefton on 9-10th May.

This was an international workshop and part of our ongoing participatory devising process. Some participants were online and some were in the workshop venue itself. We were joined by puppeteers Kay Aika (Yokohama) and Emi Shimizu (Itoshima, Kyushu), and Tom Byrne (Salford, Greater Manchester), musician Andy Denney (Dawlish, Devon), Ken Lowe (Ainsdale, Merseyside), Sandra Cain (Southport, Merseyside) and Corinne Jones (Bootle, Merseyside), Naoyuki Osawa (currently in Southport), Connoll Pavey, media technician (Salford), and film makers Colin and Sam from Hepworth Media (Netherton, Merseyside).

We recorded narration (Ken Lowe) and music (Andy Denney) in advance. We spent the morning, improvising with transparent puppets and the three layers: drawn or photocopied backgrounds; live figures, including stick figures, balloon figures and puppets operated by Kay and Emi, or Gepetto in person; and a 2-D cut-out foreground.

The Birdman carries a figure over the sea (Emi Shimizu)

We then devised a storyboard for the scene in which Pinocchio and Gepetto are swallowed by a huge fish in the classic tale, beginning with improvisation across Zoom with green screen layering using OBS. We created puppets and backgrounds from accessible and found materials to create a world full of mysterious creatures.

Ideas to develop

Pino-kun and the Whale (Kai Aika, Tom Byrne, Corinne Jones)

We made a number of rough screenshot recordings of the activity on OBS, but the main new element seems to have been to discover a process for building a storyboard: jam-devise-reduce-rehearse. We also practised directing numerous participants. Kay and Emi couldn't see the gallery fully and were guessing what scale to make their puppets (how close to come to the camera). Andy could see the gallery but had had to work around OBS audio suppression which blocked his higher tones and chords.

Heart v Tech

Although on opposite sides of the world, both Southport and Itoshima are both small, sea-side towns with beautiful coastlines and so it would be great to develop the use of materials from the coastlines. Tom provided the etched whale puppet, and suggested that we could make more of the work Naoyuki was doing with the squid, that is, make puppets, backdrops and foregrounds from local materials from both coasts.

Pino-Kun finds Gepetto (Kay Aika and Kurt Zarniko)

Carran Waterfield, mentor on this project, reminded me that a good project will have heart as well as technological tricks. So it's time to start bringing some ideas to the foreground that I have been mulling over - about being or not being a father, for instance. We devised a storyboard and there are scenes to set up and film now. How do Pino-kun and Gepetto/Kurt get back to dry land?

Pino-Kun escapes Puffa-fish and Squid (Sandra Cain, Kai Aika, Naoyuki Osawa)

And when we meet Emi Shimizu again, we can develop the scene in which a birdman drops Pinocchio into the sea. And there's the Blue Fairy character. The Blue Fairy is the one who finally transforms Pinocchio into a human - combining elemental magic with the mysteries of evolution and adaptation.

Do you want to take a closer look?

We are calling this phase of the project 'Human Idiot Puppet' (HIP) so it’s a chance for you ‘join us at the hip’ - haha!

We will share the process with people in Itoshima before meeting in the Autumn for another hybrid 'jam' session hosted by the New Adelphi Theatre.

There'll be an introductory workshop in Itoshima - date and time TBC but most likely on Saturday 15th July. The workshop will be 2-3 hours long. You are welcome to join in if you are near Itoshima, trying out some movement skills, puppetry and rough scenography. This could be interesting if you have an interest in storytelling, digital media, performance, puppetry, design, green screen etc., etc. And don't worry - you won't need to perform in 'person' and you won't have to appear on screen. This workshop will only use very simple technology. We want to focus on human and puppet movement for the moment. (We are planning a more technically complex event in the Autumn). If you’re simply looking for a creative outlet, this could be a perfect project for you.

There'll be an exhibition of the work in progress on 22-23rd July, 11am-5pm at Studio Kura. And a short talk about the project, alongside presentations by other artists in residence at the Studio. This will be on Sunday 23rd July at 2.30pm, again at Studio Kura.