Little Angel Announces May to July Adults' Listings, inc. THE UGLY DUCKLING, London

The Little Angel Puppet Theatre in London has announced its adult (12+) programme up to July 2012. Highlights include Matthew Robins at Little Angel and the Puppet Makers Course.

Still showing until 30 January…

A VERY OLD Man with Enormous Wings
By Little Angel Theatre in association with Kneehigh

In a startling world of ruined beauty and magic reality A VERY OLD man with enormous wings crashes to earth in a flurry of feathers. Found by the villagers behind the chicken coop, nothing will ever be the same again. Inspired by the by Gabriel Garcia Marquez short story for children, this stunning new production will inspire both children and adults.
Suitable for adults and anyone age 6+

Until 29 January 2012
Tickets: £5-£13

Puppetry Provocations
Puppet Centre in association with Little Angel Theatre presents a new series of small discussion groups.

First provocation – Tuesday 6 March, 7pm
The puppeteer – gifted artist or lowly techie? Among the practitioners of the performing arts where does the puppeteer stand?
Penny Francis MBE leads the first in the series

Second provocation – Tuesday 1 May, 7pm
Is there a Future for Puppetry? What is it?
Leader to be announced (check online)

Tickets: £10 per person (max 20 people) which includes refreshments

Visiting company shows this spring…

Folded Feather’s Twisted Variety (by Folded Feather)
Thursday 8 & Friday 9 March, 8pm

London Cabaret Award nominees and hosts of the hugely successful 3K Kaberet underground night, Folded Feather present a night of breathtaking circus, bawdy music and twisted puppetry. Age 14+ www.foldedfeather.com

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

Matthew Robins at Little Angel
Friday 16 March at 8pm & Saturday 17 March at 3pm & 8pm

Matthew Robins and his band perform a new collection of stories, songs, short films and live animations. They create an on-stage world of lonely mutant boys, insect-operas, biscuit-dinosaurs and knitted monsters. Featuring the further adventures of regular characters Flyboy, Mothboy and Walter Knitty, Matthew will also be telling the story of Scissor Leg Paul, all-new Alien-Soap-Opera and Salady Brighteyes: super-dog-on-wheels.

Matthew has recently performed his work at the Barbican, The National Theatre, for Opera North and the Manipulate Festival.

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

Biting the Dust (by Grist to the Mill)
Saturday 24 March, 7.30pm

A body is laid out on a candle-lit table. Time stands still. Very slowly a glowing china cup floats its tea-and-sympathy ritual. A last cup of tea. Finality. The End…Biting the Dust is a tender and beautifully dark examination of death and rebirth, using objects and evocative puppetry.

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

The Lonely One (by Dotted Line Theatre)

Thursday 29 March & Friday 30 March, 8pm

Hot summer night. Past moonlit trees and locked houses. In the ravine a million fireflies flit and dance. In the middle of a thousand warm shadows Lavinia Nebbs stands listening, there are little bits of sudden snow all over her flesh – “Every time I take a step, there’s an echo. Someone’s following me.”

A tale of fear, deliciously dark with a touch of humour, brought to life through shadow play and light manipulation. Adapted and directed by Rachel Warr.

Based on an excerpt from the novel Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

Return to SUSPENSE: another chance to see these hits from last year’s London Puppetry Festival…

The Intangible Cities of Margharita Monticiano (by Nutmeg)
Wednesday 18 April, 8pm

A sly confection of shadows and projected images - reflections of La Serenissima, the seductive, rapacious city of Venice - personified by Margharita Monticiano, an ageing beauty who sees the world from her own voracious viewpoint. By Meg Amsden (designer/performer), Joy Haynes (director), Jane Wells (music) and Steve Peck (performer).

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

Spirit (by Susan Beattie)
Thursday 19 & Friday 20 April, 8pm

Spirit takes the audience on a captivating journey of ordinary people’s otherworldly experiences, combining personal stories with music and puppetry in an exploration of the extraordinary in everyday life. With inspired use of shadow, light, movement and manipulation the narratives are humorous, inspiring and in some cases deeply moving.

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

Jew(ish) (by Eye Spy Arts)
Sunday 22 April, 8pm

JEW(ish) travels from shtetl to city, from past to present, and from the personal to the political - weaving an imagined heritage with real oral histories. A thought provoking piece centred on an individual’s search for his cultural identity, told through puppetry, object animation a lot of chutzpah!
Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

The Great Puppet Horn (by Pangolin’s Teatime)
Wednesday 25 April, 8pm

More cutting comedy from the The Great Puppet Horn. Everyone’s favourite satirical shadow puppet show returns to the Little Angel with a brand new selection of cardboard characters providing up-to-the-minute commentary on everything from global finance to Take That.

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

Headcase (by Touched Theatre)
Thursday 26 & Friday 27 April, 8pm

Cassie’s locked herself in with only a goldfish for company, but someone else is battering at the door. Who is she hiding from, what exactly is under the bed and will she make it out of this room alive? Headcase is an original dance puppetry project reflecting some of the experiences of mental health diagnosis. Using object animation, puppetry, miniature theatre and an object-led score mixed live, Headcase is an empathetic, funky and surreal journey into the landscape of our states of mind.

Tickets: £12 / £10 conc

The Adventures of Thunder and Coal (by Nonesuch Theatre)
Thursday 3, Friday 4 & Saturday 5 May, 8pm. Saturday 5 May, 3pm.

The story of the mice living in the London Underground and the larger creatures fumbling darkly above them. A full-blown musical from NONESUCH, the new company led by the composer-writer behind hit musical The Mouse Queen. Developed as part of the HATCH festival.

TAKE PART – Termly Clubs for Adults

At Little Angel we run 3 evening courses for adults which run for 10 weeks during a term:

Puppetry Beginners Course

Designed for absolute beginners, it is open to all those who have always wanted to have a go at puppetry but never had the opportunity to do so.

Tuesday evenings, 7.30 - 9.30 pm, starts 17 Jan.

Puppetry Performers Course

Designed for people who have attended Beginners Club or who have a desire to explore performing with puppets in more detail. This term participants will learn the art of performing using shadow and object animation. The term includes sessions run by Oliver Smart (Folded Feather), Steve Tiplady (indefinite articles) and The Paper Cinema.

Wednesday evenings, 7.30 - 9.30 pm, starts 18 Jan.

Puppet Makers Course

Designed for people who have attended Beginners Club or who have a strong desire to explore making with puppets. This teri participants will make a rod puppet with a moving mouth mechanism - a mixed media puppet made using polystyrene, Styrofoam, wood and milliput.

Wednesday evenings, 7.30 - 9.30 pm, starts 18 Jan.

Prices: £165 per term / £115 conc (includes show visit)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES

INSET for Teachers and workshop leaders: Angel Marionettes

These sessions are predominantly about making puppets, in this case simple marionettes suitable for children to make and inspired by our wonderful production of A VERY OLD Man with Enormous Wings. You will have the opportunity to make your own puppet and the afternoon will end with practical tips of how to help the children manipulate their puppets. This INSET is suitable for KS1 and 2 teachers or anyone who works with children or wants to learn how to make a child friendly puppet.

Wednesday 1 February, 4.15 – 6.30pm (refreshments served from 4pm)
£30

A Introduction to Puppetry Performance

This one day crash course for total beginners assists you in discovering the essential skills needed to bring puppets and objects alive with movement and emotion. The sessions will include learning about puppet life, breath and focus. An entertaining and comprehensive introduction to the art of the puppeteer, led by Oliver Smart, director of Folded Feather and Little Angel Theatre educationalist.

Sunday 4 March or Saturday 28 April, 10am – 5.00pm, 16 places per day
£55 / £35 concessions

Stage Lighting for Puppetry Theatre

Explore the fascinating relationship between lighting and puppetry in this one day workshop with Little Angel Theatre’s resident Lighting Designer, David Duffy. Practical exercises will include hands-on access to theatre lighting equipment, and a detailed look at puppetry movement in different lighting states. This course is ideal for performers and directors from new and emerging puppetry companies, and those wishing to explore the visual relationship between puppet and puppeteer.

Sun 11 March, 10am to 5pm, 20 places
£30 / £20 concessions

Short String Marionette Masterclass with Ronnie Le Drew

The course will develop short string marionette manipulation skills particularly focusing on developing character work. Ronnie has been performing with puppets since his childhood, and became professionally engaged in the work in the early 1960's when he joined the Little Angel Theatre company under its founder director John Wright. He has performed in most of the theatre's productions over the last 40 years. Film and Television roles includes Zippy from Rainbow, Sooty and Sweep, Muffin the Mule, Meerkat commercial, Brains from Thunderbirds and Diet Coke commercials, plus Jim Henson's Labyrinth and Muppet Movies. For Little Angel he has directed Cindermouse which also played at Norwich Puppet Theatre. Recent performances at the Little Angel include Petrushka, Splish Splash! and The Snitchity Titch Show www.ronnieledrew.com

Sat 3 & Sun 4 March, 10am to 5pm each day, 10 places. Participants must attend both days.
£95

Marionette Carving Workshop with John Roberts

John Roberts is one of the most experienced course leaders in Europe having run carving courses since 1980 in the UK and internationally. The workshop will cover design of a marionette, working with wood and tools, and a unique combination of Chinese and European techniques with the aim of producing a fully functioning puppet to take away with you at the end of the week.

Mon 12 to Fri 16 March, 10am - 6pm each day, 6 places
£280

Table Top Puppet Construction Course with Peter O’Rourke

Table top puppet construction course. Concentrating on the technical aspects of making table-top puppets, the emphasis will be on principles of construction to enable the maker to build good movement into puppets through an analysis and understanding of pivot points and jointing. Students will work from a prototype specifically devised to demonstrate ways of designing good movement, taking into account the needs of the performer. This detailed and in-depth course focuses on mechanics rather than aesthetics, the shapes used will be simple and the materials and approach means that each student should be able to take away their own prototype at the end of the course as well as an understanding of the mechanics of table-top puppets. An opportunity to draw on the knowledge of one of the profession’s best designer/makers.

Mon 16 to Fri 20 April, 10am to 6pm each day, 6 places
£280

www.littleangeltheatre.com

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