The eve of the fourth Nottingham Puppet Festival is an ideal time to think about what we are hoping the festival will achieve. As ever, we want to share puppetry, and through this, new stories that reflect our times. We want to celebrate the creativity of the artists and companies who make these amazing things, but most of all, we want to feel connected – to each other, to our city, and to a joyful and positive experience.
We all know we are living through challenging times, that the day to day worries of life are confounded by global anxieties around huge things such as conflicts at home and abroad, or climate challenges. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and retreat, go home, shut the door, draw the curtain. But then we get lonely, and worry even more, and so it goes on… So, what we wish for the Puppet Festival, is that we can create a welcoming, hopeful and joyous space, one that can draw people out, offer a little bit of magic and wonder, and a lot of connectivity. Look! There is an 8 foot man walking through the Nottingham Green Heart! And a Giant Bee about to land in Market Square! Shall we sit here together at the Library while we listen to a story? Or shall we find the Magpies on Albert Street and tell them a secret…?
And once we’ve done all those things, we can see what else is happening in the Festival to help us play and think and make. We can join workshops at the Theatre Royal, we can see shows at the Squire Performing Arts Centre, or a puppet film at Broadway. If these things are making us think, we can go along to hear about The Herds, and find out how other people are making things happen to try and make things a little better.
So, when we ask ourselves, ‘Why Puppets?, our answer is that they can do all of these things. And if they can do them, these bits of string and paper, metal and cogs, then so can we! We can make something, draw something, tell a story, put on a play, and the best thing to do once we’ve done that? Share it with someone, become your own artist and tap into your own creativity. It gets you out of the house, and who knows, you might bump into someone you know… or share a beautiful moment with someone you don’t.
See you there.