NSP
Northern
School of
Puppetry
SUMMER SCHOOL 2024
July 22nd - August 10th
3 Weeks / Monday to Saturday / 18 x days
Adults (18+)
Bramley / Leeds
Immersive, playful and supportive
The summer school is a 3 week long creative bubble where you can explore puppetry in it's myriad forms. You will make, manipulate, design, perform and produce. You will collaborate, specialise, devise and direct. You can plan and dream - in equal measures!
Week one is about discovery
Even if you've used techniques like table-top, shadow and glove before, this will be a chance to delve deeper and discover new approaches to performing.
Week two is about making
You will design and create a fully articulated and finished table-top puppet, or a puppet of a similar style, plus costume.
Week three is show week
You will be supported to devise your own puppet performance and present it as part of a puppet cabaret for friends and family on day 18.
The course will emphasise creativity, discussion and experimentation. It's about supporting your journey as a puppetry artist.
The 18 days tuition and experimentation will be led by puppet maestro Mr Marc Parrett - Artistic Director of Grandly Strange Puppet Theatre, curator of theOBJECTproject and a professional puppetry director/designer with 30+ years professional experience.
Sewing and costume making sessions will be lead by Nicole Colbert - long serving costume maker for Leeds Playhouse.
The course is currently limited to 6 students and this year it will take place in Bramley, West Leeds. It’s not the most ‘romantic’ of locations and accessibility could be tricky as the unit is on the 3rd floor and there's only stairs and a cargo lift. Talk to us if you think there could be issues and we'll do whatever we can to help. On the plus side the studio is packed with puppets, machines and tools to provide inspiration and practical support.
The cost of the 3 weeks will be £830 which also covers materials and three 'curry nights'. If you are interested fill in the application form below. We are expecting a lot of interest so please don't be offended if the places get snapped up. We'll let you know if you've been successful and we'll send you a detailed breakdown of the course. You can also follow us on instagram for announcements about other NSP courses.
Summer School 2024 - course outline
Week 1 - Discovery
Day 1 - Table-top figure making and manipulation
Day 2 - Shadow puppetry
Day 3 - Object puppetry
Day 4 - Marionettes
Day 5 - Glove puppets/lip synch/rod puppets
Day 6 - Animal puppetry
Week 2 - Making
Day 7 - Tabletop puppet design and construction
Day 8 - Head modelling
Day 9 - bodies and limb joints
Day 10 - hands and feet
Day 11 - assembly
Day 12 - exploration of puppet movement/character and fixing snags
Week 3 - Show development
Day 13 - physical warm ups and devising through play
Day 14 - puppet costume making/prop making/puppet finishing
Day 15 - devising and rehearsals
Day 16 - stumble run/notes/working sections
Day 17 - tec day
Day 18 - dress run/notes/working sections/Cabaret Night performance
If you are interested just fill in the form below and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.