Hundreds of schoolchildren across the town will be busy making their own puppets ready for Stone’s first Puppet Festival in August.
From next week, the Treasure Trove Puppet Theatre Company will be holding puppet-making workshops in local schools. Their puppets will be displayed in Stone Library and in the windows of participating High Street shops in the week leading up to the festival, or the children will be able to share their work in the big Opening Parade on the Saturday morning.
Over the weekend of Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th August, right in the heart of Stone, a total of 14 professional puppeteers, companies and exhibitors will stage over 40 performances, including Alice in Wonderland, Stanelli’s Circus, The Gruffalo and George and the Dragon.
Parents and grandparents will enjoy the Classic Thunderbirds exhibition by “Supermarionation Recreations” and the Siege of Troy, a free, outdoor performance by Puppet Guild chairman Peter Charlton. There will also be pop-up puppet and mask-making workshops – all in the space of two days!
All the puppeteers and puppet makers are members of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year and covers four generations of performers, from 12-year-old Joseph Peek – who performed at Glastonbury recently – to 84-year-old Guild vice president Ted Beresford.
Although the majority of performers come from further afield, David Hallows’s ‘Strings and Things’ from Barlaston will present a free outdoor performance of his marionette cabaret. A puppeteer since the age of nine, David said: “I started with Pelham puppets and a homemade stage. I used to give shows on the lawn for my friends. As I grew so did my hobby and I branched out into Punch and Judy, following in the footsteps of my granddad Alf Purton, who owned Purton’s Toy & Cycle shop in Stone High Street for many years.”
And just so the puppeteers don’t have it all to themselves, the Grand Finale on the Sunday afternoon will feature a mix of puppets, music, song and dance from local performers, including Rooftop Studios – Stone’s all–singing, all–dancing performing arts academy – and Stone Revellers, who have been entertaining the people of Stone since 1978. There should be a couple of surprise performers, too, so make sure you don’t miss it!
The second weekend of August looks set to be two days of amazing family fun, excitement and entertainment.
Make sure you don’t miss it!
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[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” ]Advance tickets for the indoor performances (at the Crown Hotel) of Alice in Wonderland, The Marionette Extravaganza, The Glass Slipper – the Victorian Cinderella and The Gruffalo will go on sale from the beginning of July and can be obtained from Home and Colour on Stone High Street[/box]
Email enquiries: david@stonepuppetfestival.co.uk
The festival team are crowdfunding to help meet the costs of the festival, which is a community, not-for-profit event. At the time of writing, they’ve almost hit their £4,000 target, so please support if you can. We have!
