Puppet makers aiming for a record with volunteer help
19 February 2008
For what may be a first in Australia, Mandurah secondary school students, teachers, artists, puppeteers, people with disabilities, and volunteers are creating puppets aiming for a world record with the Million Puppets Festival in Perth in April.Manager for Community First Inc’s Community Services at Mandurah, Darren Whiffler, said many of the puppets being created would appear in the Stretch Festival this year. They would also take part in the Reflections Carnival parade through Perth on April 6, and be displayed in the million puppets record attempt at the Perth Concert Hall.
“This week (18th-22nd February), Katherine McLean, the Million Puppets Project Manager for UNIMA 2008 the Union Internationale de la Marionette) will present concepts and make a sample puppet at Mandurah Senior College, and their teacher, Marion Palmer, will ask them to develop interesting abstracts to be used in the reflections workshops. This work by the students will feed into the puppet-making workshops which Karen Hethey from Spare Parts Puppet theatre will run at CFI’s Cumberland Street Centre.“It’s a unique concept, because the students and volunteers will be collaborating and working alongside people with varying degrees of disability, most of whom they would probably never otherwise get the opportunity to meet and interact with. We’re looking for more people who’d like to volunteer to help with the puppets and the shows,” he said.
At last year’s Stretch Festival in Mandurah, participants from the Ability Arts program at Cumberland Street took part in their first puppet show. The experience gave them so much pleasure and confidence that they wanted to do more. Ability Arts has developed a reputation as an innovative model for disability communities Australia-wide and was a finalist in last year’s WA Community Service Industry Awards.
Participants at the CFI workshops will be learning how to make puppets, which will be displayed in the Million Puppets world record attempt in Perth.
“The rod puppets need three people to manipulate them, so we’re looking for able-bodied volunteers who’d like to work alongside the non able-bodied. Behind a puppet, everyone is equal,” Mr Whiffler said.
Volunteers are needed between 9am and 3pm, and even being available for an hour a day would be welcomed. Volunteers need to be able to come to the workshops from the 18th (Monday) of February until the Stretch Festival in April.
“People who are interested in art or who who’d just like to help are welcome. They will need to have a police clearance – it’s a simple process - just go to the nearest post office for a form to fill out,” he said.
Those who are interested in being volunteers for the project can contact CFI’s Cumberland Street Centre on 9581 9215.
The Project is an initiative of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and LotteryWest with Community First providing support and Workshop space, and assistance from the City of Mandurah.
Contact: Darren Whiffler, (08) 95926320; Mobile: 0439 436 905.