Charli - puppet maker

What's your name and where do you come from?

I’ m Charli and I’ m from Bremen, in Germany

Who is the cow?

That’s a good question. I think no one really knows yet, she could have so many different characters. I like to call her Mel, I gave her this little mark that says that she is from the same part of Germany where I come from, but I actually think she is British

How did you come to be making a cow at Blind Summit this summer?

I actually study in Salzburg in Austria and as we  got summer holidays at the moment I asked if there might be anything to do I could help with during this time,and happily there was Mel

What are the challenges of making a puppet cow and how did you tackle them?

I think what made it so difficult at the first place was that I never properly looked at a cow before and there are no references running around in your everyday life in London, other then with a human head..

There are many cow photos on the internet, but not of the same cow from every angle, obviously..and as all the cows really look quite different that was a bit confusing.

But then I bought a little 3D toy cow and just stuck to her as reference. That was really helpful

Have you made other puppets?

Just one. A hairy little hipster inspired by a friend of mine. I also made him at blind summit at the beginning of this year.

What do you like about making puppets?

I think it’s a good mixture of creative designing and the actual making. It combines fantastic thinking and naturalistic precise copying in a way- and I love tiny details and that there is space for those in the puppet world

What tip can you give someone who wants to make a puppet?

Think before you cut. Actually always think first!.. Don’t rush, Don’t get lost into details before you got the actual shape right. Keep in mind that someone also needs to play with them

Would you like to say anything else?

It really was great fun making Mel, I’m very thankful for the opportunity and I really hope I might have the chance to make another puppet in the future

Last week we did another work in progress show for our project with the working title "The Puppet Monologues". We worked for the first time with Jake Waring, and was asked his take on his experience with us and the project. Here's what he said:

Last week I was fortunate enough to have my first experience of working with Blind Summit on 'The Puppet Monologues'. Working with original texts from Alice Birch, David Kantounas and Jack Thorne the challenge facing us was how and why to put these words in the mouths of puppets.

How to make a puppet speak? I don't suppose there is any exact science as to what precisely you should and shouldn't do to bring a puppet to life. There are specific techniques which make the puppeteer-puppet-audience relationship clearer. For example opening the puppets mouth before speaking the words, as it's no travesty to open your mouth and not speak, but you can't speak with your mouth closed.

How to make a puppet move? Without the ability to have facial expressions

what is physically done with the head, arms, legs and body is all we have bar the voice to read emotions, thoughts and story from the puppet. One of the great difficulties I found during the week was controlling the left arm whilst also delivering text with the head. The temptation is to follow the words with the hands, though in reality we rarely do this. If the puppet has said a word, the audience has received this, but if the hands and body tell the word too, nothing else is gained from it.

Different puppets are controlled in different ways. In 'The Puppet Monologues' Tina and Peter have poles attached to their hands, and therefore as the puppeteer your thoughts are with where and how the hand would move. Whereas Patrick is controlled by the elbows, and this posed a tricky problem. We spent time looking at the specifics of how we as humans move our arm, concluding that impulses come from the deltoid and shoulder down the arm. As I write this now I am confusing myself, and the key thing that I learnt from last week was that with all aspects of puppetry there is a constant negotiation and assessment of what you are doing in relation to the puppet. Often when battling with a puppet problem, all that was required was for someone else to jump on the puppet and for you to take a step back and look at what an audience would see and this usually made everything become clear.

The biggest and most fascinating question for me is 'why puppets?' Mark would often bring discussions in rehearsals back to 'why a puppet?' If it is easier to read the facial expressions of a person, there is no need for someone else to operate them and they don't need to be taken to and from venues in a box, then why not use actors to do these monologues? Everyone will have a different answer to this, but at the end of the showing in Poole last Friday I found what this means for me. There is something in the neutrality of a puppet that gives nothing away. Without eyes to be read and the infinite possibilities of non-verbal human communication, the text sings out with a heightened clarity, allowing an audience to really listen. If an actor pauses after a line, we read thousands of tiny signals from them and this will inform our reaction to what has been said. When a puppet pauses after a line, we are left with their breath and the choices the puppeteer makes with their movement, which I feel allows the audience to form a richer, and ultimately more personal engagement with the text.

I am still trying to digest exactly how I feel about puppets after last week. I am looking forward to the discoveries I am yet to make and how my relationship to them will change over time. The one thing I can say for sure, is that I love puppets, even if I'm not sure why!

See an  album of pictures for the day here

The Table - national and international tour

"Peter" listens to notes - rehearsing Peter by Alice Birch in the Puppet Monologues 

We discovered a new puppet method this week: the person on the bum and right hand does the voice, the person on the head lipsynchs. It's playful, fairer, magical to watch. A truly democratic puppet. In reality the voice sits exactly between the body and the head so it is also more accurate to life. Thank you Trudi!

The relation of the voice to the feet

There are lines that "hold" the feet, suspend them, stop them, and lines that release them. The feet can also release the voice. In The Table there is a sequence: "Is that what you want?" holds the feet "eh eh? Is it?" holds - "Well I hope so..." releases "because that's what we've got" Holds the feet. Then the feet continue, releasing the voice.

I don't know if that makes any sense but I gotta try and get this stuff down I think.
Mx

THE TABLE tomorrow at The Pleasance

After one week of intense rehearsals 9.30 - 1.30 in the front room of our flat in Edinburgh Irena Stratieva debuts as Moses's feet tomorrow night Pleasance Forth, 10pm. Good Luck! Mx

Messing about in the workshop with Giulia Innocenti - Francine...