Introduction

About Armchair

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News

Premier of 'The Blue Bird'

An enthralling mystical performance of the enchanting story, The Blue Bird, by Maurice Maeterlinck, was recorded live on Wednesday 31st May, 2006 at The Wardrobe, in Leeds and will be available on DVD soon. This spectacular project brings together the sounds of Saffron Beagley's Silhouette Ensemble and the shadow puppetry of Armchair Puppet Theatre in a collaboration that combines music, story-telling and puppetry.

The Big Wild Read Shadow Puppet Workshops

Armchair Puppet Theatre is now taking bookings for its Big Wild Read shadow puppet workshop in libraries nationally during the school summer holidays, to link in with the 2007 Reading Challenge and BBC's Breathing Places campaign that are looking at making a difference about environmental issues and conservation.

Reading Mission Tour 2006

During the summer of 2006, Armchair Puppet Theatre's Reading Mission tour visited twenty-two Libraries in five different counties. As this year’s theme was all about spies and detectives, we introduced our shadow puppet workshops with a performance of the first part of a thrilling espionage story. Then participants were enabled to create their own performances of short shadow puppet scenes from their favourite stories. As hoped, this year there were a few more teenage participants and along with many others, notable scenes from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", "Harry Potter" and Anthony Horowitz’s "Stormbreaker" were all brought to life in shadow puppets. See Options/Libraries

Family Learning Workshops

Photo courtesy of Crediton Courier Newspaper.

In 2006 Armchair Puppet Theatre led Family Learning workshops in West Sussex and Wiltshire as part of the summer Reading Mission Challenge and in Devon for Family Learning Week in October. These enjoyable workshops have enabled children and adults to come together to make and perform shadow puppets from a wide range of stories.

One World Week, 21 - 28 October 2007

"The forest was full of the noises of the animals - scratchings, squeakings, croakings and screeching."

As part of this year's One World Week's "All Together Now" theme, Armchair Puppet Theatre will be participating in the tenth anniversary of the Plymouth Respect Festival. Last year at this festival, our workshop participants made and performed all the shadow puppets to tell the South American story, How Night Came.

Once a participant has made their puppet they are free to enjoy all the other festival delights, before returning for a rehearsal and their performance later in the afternoon.

In previous years we have led workshops which have enabled a class to produce a shadow puppet performance for their school assembly. See Options/Cultural Diversity

Exciting Art Games website

Following the launch of our Art Arena games website in 2004 there are now many large vibrant Art Arena game paintings on display in schools, museums and businesses such as Shebbear and Spreyton Primary Schools in Devon, Central Foundation Boys and Bow Boys Comprehensive Schools in London, the new EDF Energy building in Exeter, Croydon Museum and NESTA's HQ in London.

Old Street, East London Spaghetti Junction. Acrylic on Canvas, 160cm x 160cm. Played by Year 7 students at Central Foundation Boys School, London. 2006

With help from Melissa, our elder daughter, we have devised a format that produces a group composite print as an end result and a range of new environmental Art Arena game scenarios.

See the Energy image on the Art Arena games website.

World Book Day's 10th Birthday - Thursday 1st March 2007

Making the "EVERYONE" shadow puppet from Janet & Allan Ahlberg's "Each Peach Pear Plum"

Armchair Puppet Theatre led two weeks of shadow puppet workshops for 20 school groups, based on Janet and Allan Ahlberg stories at the Gosport SEARCH Centre, alongside the wonderful "What's In The Book" exhibition that is currently on a national tour.

History Collaboration with the 1646 Centre

As part of the 2006 Torrington Revels, Armchair Puppet Theatre led three workshops at Great Torrington Junior School that re-enacted the Battle of Torrington in shadow puppets. Master Jake, dressed in 17th century costume, recounted his experience from the night of this battle between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers, which the Year 4 participants were enabled to transform into detailed shadow puppet performances.

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"This is to say a very big thank you for all your hard work last week in our school. We all thoroughly enjoyed the week and the pupils certainly learnt a lot."
Tina Dobrowolski.....on behalf of everyone at Waltham Holy Cross Juniors in Essex

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for your participation in this year's Respect Festival."
Kathy Louis, Plymouth Racial Equality Council

"It was well worth it as the children had a whale of a time. It was brilliant."
Lyn Hayward, Cockington Primary School, Torquay, Devon

"We thoroughly enjoyed the Reading Mission workshop at Rossmore."
Julie Musselwhite, Children's Services Librarian, Poole, Dorset

"Many thanks for providing these 4 excellent and much appreciated Family Learning workshops."
Mike Maguire
Devon Library Service Development Manager

"This was a very inspiring and fun event for Family Learning Week 2006!"
Béatrice Coveney, Assistant-in-Charge, Crediton Library, Devon

"'These tutors were excellent. Loads of puppet ideas. Very useful session and extremely motivating. Excellent course leaders. Fantastic.'
- Feedback from the Primary Literacy Conference delegates, who really enjoyed your session."
Susan Westwood, Library Services Manager for Education, Gloucestershire



"Art Arena games stimulate the dialogue that goes on in the minds of artists, so that the end game maps a composite diagram of the group mind."
Times Educational Supplement

"Having experienced today's shadow puppet workshop collaboration, these children will remember the Battle of Torrington unlike any others."
Head Teacher, Great Torrington Junior School, North Devon