Shadow puppetry and shadow play storytelling techniques are both ancient and surprising, and offer students a whole new world of opportunity and possibility for theatre magic on stage. This workshop focuses on the fabrication of simple shadow puppets and the world-building techniques and principles needed to bring the two dimensional space to life.

Using simple joint mechanisms, students will experiment with focus, breath and gravity, negative space, scale and physical theatre techniques to add complexity to shadow storytelling.

Students will:

• Be introduced to shadow puppetry as a form
• Build a laser-cut shadow figure
• Learn the core principles of puppetry (focus, breathand gravity)
• Play using shadow screens and light sources
• Build language and performance skills specific toshadow puppetry

Drama curriculum links: Visual Theatre, Contemporary Performance, Puppetry and Children’s Theatre, Devising and Ensemble Performance.