War Horse Puppetry Workshop at The Bristol Hippodrome
So we all know War Horse is at The Bristol Hippodrome for the next couple of weeks. We all know the show is brought alive with an expert team of actors and puppeteers. But how exactly do they manage to do this?
To help Bristol youngsters grasp a better understanding of the techniques needed to bring the animals to life, the National Theatre ran a special hands-on puppetry workshop in the theatre’s Grand Circle bar.
Former War Horse Goose, Joseph Richardson, ran a two-hour session taking a look at the teamwork, creativity and techniques needed to convince an audience a puppet was real.
The Japanese puppetry method Bunraku was used alongside brown parcel paper, ‘breath, focus and weight’ and small teams of three to create and work a living character.
This was a fantastic opportunity to appreciate the art of puppetry. The enormous amount of teamwork and coordination the 12 actors playing Joey and Topthorn is mind blowing. It was hard enough staggering around trying to keep up with two other people holding bits of paper arm and head and not blunder head first into a bar pillar.
To appreciate the professionals doing it, War Horse is on at The Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 11 November 2017.
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