Little Angel Theatre

In association with Kneehigh

Presents

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

Education and Participation Resource Pack

Written by Sarah Schofield

Little Angel Theatre 14 Dagmar Passage, Islington, London, N1 2DN

0207 226 1787

www.littleangeltheatre.com

Little Angel Theatre

Background Information The History of the Theatre

Little Angel Theatre On Saturday 24th November 1961 Little Angel Theatre first opened it’s doors to the public and has been creating and showcasing high quality puppetry performances ever since. John Wright, the founder of The Little Angel Theatre was born in South Africa in 1906. He travelled to England in 1935 and worked as an assistant stage manager for the Ballet Rambert while studying at the Central School of Art and Design. It was during this time he saw a puppet performance by Podrecca’s Piccoli and became hooked. John made his very first puppet in 1938. He returned to South Africa at the outbreak of the Second World War and continued to make and perform with puppets in his home country. When the war ended he returned to England, overland, performing with his puppets along the way. In 1961 John and his troupe found a derelict Temperance hall with no roof in Islington and transformed it into a magical little theatre, specially designed for the presentation of marionette shows.

John Wright Theatre founder

The interior of Little Angel Theatre before it was rebuilt.

This was to be the first purpose built puppet theatre the country had seen for many years and the only one with a permanent long string marionette bridge constructed backstage. The bridge was designed for puppeteers to stand on while they manipulate long stringed puppets who perform on the stage below leaving the audience unable to see the puppeteers. The original bridge is used to this day. The theatre has a traditional ‘proscenium arch’ and seats 100 audience members. The very first show to play at the theatre was an original marionette show with puppets made by John Wright called ‘The Wild Night of the Witches’

Over the next 30 years, the Little Angel team created and performed over 30 full-scale shows, with John and his wife Lyndie designing, making, performing and directing as they established Little Angel as ‘The Home of British Puppetry.’ Little Angel shows were taken to 23 International Festivals, representing Britain. John Wright died in 1991 but the work of the theatre continued apace with family, friends and supporters of the theatre working tirelessly to continue in his footsteps to make sure John’s legacy would delight generations to come.

John with Wild Night of the Witches puppets

Little Angel Theatre

The Wright Family

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings was developed to mark the Little Angel’s 50th birthday and bring the Wright family (John’s wife Lyndie and their children Sarah and Joe) together on a production for the first time in over 20 years! The conception of using the Gabriel Garcia Marquez story came from Sarah and Mike Shepherd (the Director of the production). Along with Lyndie and Joe they spent time playing around with ideas and creating simple puppets to plant the first seeds of how the show would look and the version of the story they would tell. This exciting production has puppets designed and made by Lyndie Wright, initial ideas for the production storyboarded by Joe Wright and Sarah Wright making some of the puppets, directing the puppetry and performing in the production – it’s a real family affair! John and Lyndie Wright brought up their children Sarah and Joe in the heart of the theatre, so for their entire childhood they were surrounded by the sights and sounds of making puppets and creating theatre. The theatre was literally an extension of their home. The children would watch their parents at work and from a very young age involve themselves in the day to day workings of the theatre and the creation of the productions.

Lyndie officially retired form the theatre in 2002 having made puppets for or performed in most of the productions since its opening, however she has continued to work as a designer and maker for the Little Angel Theatre and other companies ever since, keeping a permanent workspace in the theatre workshop.

Sarah really caught the puppet bug and has worked extensively with Little Angel over the years both at the theatre and on tours worldwide in shows including: Venus and Adonis (with RSC), The Little Mermaid, Jabberwocky and Angelo. Other work has included object performance with Silo Theatre, Amsterdam, puppetry with Faulty Optic/Invisible Thread and puppet and prop making for Kneehigh. She recently founded The Curious School of Puppetry. Joe studied fine art and film at Central St Martins and took the route of film making and directing. As a director he began by making short films, music videos and directing television drama for the BBC. He is now a highly acclaimed film director with six feature length films to his credit (including Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, The Soloist and Hanna). Joe often talks about how watching his father direct puppetry when he was a child has had a major influence on the way he works.

The Wright Family in 1977 when John was awarded an MBE. Sarah, Lyndie, Joe and John.

Puppets designed and made by Lyndie Wright for Little Angel Theatre; Angelo and Angelina, Ariel and Petrushka.

Lyndie, Sarah & Joe at the unveiling of a plaque in honour of John outside the theatre in 2011

Little Angel Theatre

Re-telling the story as Theatre

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

From Leaf storm and other stories (1955)

This is the story of a family in a small coastal town and what happens when an ‘angel’ descends in a storm and lands in their backyard. It is a universal tale questioning belief, greed, how people react to the unknown and how we treat each other in exceptional circumstances. Marquez original story is set in his native Columbia and was written for children.

On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench. The world had been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach, which on March nights glimmered like powdered light, had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish. The light was so weak at noon that when Pelayo was coming back to the house after throwing away the crabs, it was hard for him to see what it was that was moving and groaning in the rear of the courtyard. He had to go very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn't get up, impeded by his enormous wings. (Opening paragraph from A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 1955)

The Little Angel Theatre/Kneehigh version follows Garcia’s storyline but has been set in a rural English seaside town. In the short story the tale is told from the point of view of the author, who is personified in our production as Mrs. Clotilda Nosey, the interfering neighbour of the family with the curious man in their courtyard. The company worked together alongside script writer Anna Maria Murphy to translate Garcia’s written word into a visual feast.

Scripting the story Pre-dawn half light, rain impending atmosphere – Puppeteers enter Big crabs enter. Nets of crabs Figures club the crabs Father enters – clubs crabs Shutters open - Mother and sick child Mrs. Nosey neighbour flings open her shutters. Nosey Damn crabs everywhere, in the bed, in the cupboard, in your head. They nip your toes, pinch your bread and eat your ears at night. Father exits It’s not easy being old. The world’s been sad since Tuesday. And so have I. This village is forever damp like my poor bones. See him over there, poor child. He’s not looking good is he? Very blue around the lips and hotter than a fish on a spit. (Shouting over) Make him drink boiled brine? Cover him in Goose-fat? Have you tried Limpet soup? Crab paste? Wave some chickens’ feet over his head. They never listen to me. I don’t think he’s long for this world. Poor soul. (Shouting over) I’d call the priest if I were you! (Sound of rain and thunder etc) Another storm on its way. Can feel it in my waters. Windows rattling like loose teeth, the sky is frisky, sea rearing up, fish in the street. Baton down the hatches neighbours! Small Old Man behind Gauze A very old man enters - crashes to earth Old man looks to the child Nosey. Oh-my-lord-almighty hell on a stick, what the poopin flip is that? An albatross? Oh! Praise be! It’s an angel! It is an angel!…He’s come for me, am I dead? Oh I’m not ready, I’m not ready!...I’m not dead I’m alive. Praise be it’s a miracle! Father enters I know…he’s come for the child… ” And lo! The angel shall come and taketh with it the innocent to his heavenly home above ”, as Father Gonzago the priest says. (Opening scene from A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings production by Little Angel Theatre in association with Kneehigh Theatre, written by Anna Maria Murphy 2011)

Mrs Clotilda Nosey and one of many crabs

Little Angel Theatre

Making the show

There are approximately 100 puppets in this spectacular show (including all the crabs!) that took a team of people around 6 months to make. Hand carved from wood and foam each puppet has been individually designed to suit its particular role within the show. The majority of the main puppets are table top rod puppets with a rod to manipulate the head plus a rod on each elbow joint to manipulate the arms. Some of the puppets have special built in features to enable them to do specific tricks and unusual movements.

Heads and hands for each character in the process of being hand carved from lime wood.

Puppet construction

Model of the set

Crab rod puppet

Lyndie painting a crab

Little Angel Theatre Making Puppets

Designing and Making Puppets When you design and make a puppet make sure you think about these things:

Decide on the character first (before you start drawing or making). Is it a person, an animal or a made up creature? Is it a character for a show you will be performing? What is that character like? Match the character with a suitable puppet style (marionette, glove, rod, finger, shadow etc.)

Decide what your puppet will need to do if it is

performing in a show (walk, swim, fly, nod, wave?) Which parts need to move or not?

Materials Remember that puppets have to be held up and moved by a puppeteer so choose light materials. If you make your puppet too heavy you won’t be able to use it! Why not make an eco-friendly junk puppet from boxes/containers/old magazines and wrapping paper/tubs/tubes/wool/string/clothes/bottles etc that would otherwise be thrown away? . Draw a design for the puppet and remember to

include: 1. What materials you will need. 2. Which parts of the puppet will move – How? 3. Will any parts be jointed? (elbows or knees) 4. Don’t forget to draw the rods/strings/controls etc

that move the puppet so that you know where they will go.

5. How will you fix the parts of the puppet together? 6. How you will show your puppet’s character? (facial

expression, clothes, decoration) As you make your puppet test it out as you go. Is

it strong enough to use? Are the details clear (will an audience be able to see the face from a distance?) Does it move in the places it is supposed to?

Puppet head with design sketches

Puppets under construction with plans that are constantly referred to.

Puppet hand under construction

Little Angel Theatre Make a Paper Plate Crab Puppet

What you need: Two paper plates Two pipe cleaners Two pom poms/balls (for eyes) Stick on wiggly eyes (optional) Two sticks (lolly sticks, garden cane, pencils) Paint or tissue paper to decorate String or cotton Tools Stapler Sticky tape Scissors

This puppet has a rod at the back as well as the front pincers being attached to cotton with a wooden control for extra movement. This example has not been painted or decorated – But you can use your imagination to make your crab look fantastic!

1. Paint or cover the underside of a paper plate with coloured tissue paper – leave to dry. 2. Fold the second paper plate in half and draw/cut out pincers and legs following the curve of the

plate as a guide (see picture).

3. Paint or cover the pincers and legs to match the body. Fold the legs to create joints.

4. Fold the body plate in half and insert the rod and legs into

position. Staple to secure.

5. Staple the front pincers into position.

6. Pierce through the plate with the pipe cleaners and secure on the underside by twisting the pipe cleaner to create a ‘knot’. Fold the remaining pipe cleaner in half and insert a pom pom in the fold to make eyes. In addition you could put self adhesive wiggly eyes on these to add character.

7. Attach cotton thread to the front pincers – Level out the length of the thread to a comfortable height and tie them on to a stick or rod. Secure with tape to avoid slipping.

8. Cut a small insert into each pincer for additional movement (see picture on next page).

Little Angel Theatre

Make a Paper Plate Crab Puppet

Manipulating your puppet Hold the rod at the back with one hand to move the puppet in a scuttling motion from side to side. Hold the ‘control’ for the front pincers in your other hand and move from side to side to lift each pincer.

This picture shows the underside of the crab. You can see how the eyes have been fixed by creating ‘knots’ with the pipe cleaners. You can also see where to cut the pincer to create additional movement when manipulating the puppet.

Little Angel Theatre

Useful Resources

www.littleangeltheatre.com More information about the history of the theatre and future puppet shows and workshops, including our school programme of activities www.kneehigh.co.uk Kneehigh theatre website with information about the company and their work A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings – the short story can be found in the following collection of Gabriel Garcia Marquez stories: Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Collected Stories Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Penguin ISBN-10: 0141032553 ISBN-13: 978-0141032559 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Garc%C3%ADa_M%C3%A1rquez Information about Gabriel Garcia Marquez. https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/323/MarquezManwithWings.htm A version of the whole Very Old Man story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjC-Jtc60dU You Tube trailer clip of the show. Our channel also features clips and ‘meet the puppets’ from other Little Angel shows. https://www.facebook.com/LittleAngelTheatre/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED Make friends with Little Angel Theatre to keep up to date with all of our latest activities!

Little Angel Theatre