Welcome to the world of
Puppet Tree!
Puppet Tree makes story, play, dance, excitement, mystery,
laughter and wonder a part of everyone’s experiences!
Puppet Tree is here for individuals, groups & communities who want to find a new direction, a new confidence or a new story to tell.
Puppet Tree is for people like you...
Puppet Tree is Ian and Allyson Craigan, experienced community artists and musicians. Please take a look around the website and if you have any comments or questions, get in touch through the "contact us" page.
Recent activity
Olympic success guaranteed!
Five creative workshops that help you celebrate and
learn through the London Olympics. Suitable for all age groups and adaptable
for all ability levels, venues and timescales.
Carried along on a tidal wave of enjoyment students suddenly
find that they have learned craft skills & increased physical dexterity;
unlocked personal skills of performance, confidence & team work; explored
ancient and modern Olympic history and ideals; developed rich imaginative inner
worlds and gained confidence in sharing these with others; developed expressive
vocabulary & used their bodies as well as voices to bring story to life.
Booking
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Workshop outlines
Shadow Puppetry “Out of the shadows”
Using easy-to-master techniques students create their own
Olympic athlete, jointed and expressive. Working in small groups they develop a
story of sporting effort and achievement through puppetry, word and music that
culminates in a full performance using Puppet Tree’s giant Theatre of Shadows. All
materials and equipment provided.
Dramatic storytelling “Who stole the torch?”
Games and improvisations kick off a workshop that, using a
variety of unusual stimuli, builds each student’s invented character and their
part in the national search for the missing Olympic torch. Stories are combined
and retold, leading to a final performance by different groups incorporating
sound, costume and props.
Masks “Olympus –
mountain of the gods”
Participating in the ancient games raised athletes to the
height of gods. What if you were an ancient god? What powers would you have?
What sport would you patronise? Would you look on human athletes with favour or
anger? Using these ideas, students use a variety of stimulating scrap
materials, sourced for the Worcestershire Resource Exchange,
to create their own mask. Games and improvisations then enable the mask wearers
to bring characters to life and interact to tell a new Olympic story.
Dance “Five Rings”
The Olympic rings represent the continents of the world; and
so much more! For example; emotions, community, industry, the ages of man or
the natural world. Taking inspiration from music and sound sources, visual
images and the differing physical characteristics of various sports, students
will work in groups through improvisation and guided choreography to create a
final performance piece that incorporates live music, props and scenery.
Literacy “Hold the front page!”
The
Olympic games is the most observed event on the planet; radio, tv, internet –
and newspapers. You are a reporter on a small paper, stuck covering jumble
sales and missing dogs, when suddenly the biggest scoop in the world falls in
your lap! Meeting and interviewing a variety of curious characters from all
parts of the Olympic circus (all played by Ian, of course!), students use
internet blogs, smart phone texts, twitter feeds, Facebook postings and secret diary
entries to detail their journey from their first encounter with the story of
the century to their final award winning front page headline.
A brand new presentation of the famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore was given its premiere at Worcester Victorian Fayre & is ideal for outdoor events throughout the winter.
I am Ra!
Year 6 at Warndon Primary has been bringing ancient Egyptian creation myths to life, telling tales of Ra, Osiris, Thoth, Sekhmet and Nut using masks, music, shadow puppets and drama. After only five 80 min sessions they presented their stories to Reception children to tremendous applause!
Destiny!
Ian has been invited back as Creative Partner to prepeat the very successful Destiny project with Year 3 at Highters Heath Community School in Birmingham. Destiny encourages thinking about the world & what
makes different cultures and countries tick by imagining a whole new continent with three very different
countries in it. What happens when they are hit by a challenge like natural disaster or a man-made accident? The final performance includes dance, drama and readings from the children's Destiny Diaries. Material from the project last year has been captured in a special book, "The Tough Guide to Destiny", which reproduces the children's art work and writing.
Three Billy Goats Gruff
Ian joined in Arts Week at Our Lady & St Kenelm School in Halesowen, helping Reception children to make puppets and retell the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. "Our main objective was to have some fun," writes class teacher Helen Johnson. "Ian inspired the children with lots of positive encouragement and we certainly had lots of fun and produced some lovely puppets. The children were still singing and retelling the story as they went home. Fabulous! Thank you!" And thanks to all the children who sent in cards and pictures!
Scrapstores The Movie!
Ian was delighted to be involved with Scrapstores UK film all about how great they are and the wide range of things they do. Naturally they wanted to visit Worcestershire Resource Exchange (WRE) to capture the superb things on offer and while they were there Ian led a story and puppet making workshop for families in the local Home Education network. The film was shown on the Community Channel
The Wonderful world of Books
Oldbury
Park Primary has a fantastic Early Years team and they've creatd a
wonderful child-centered environment in every area of the EY unit. So
child-centered that Ian was bent double to walk round during his recent
visit there! He shared lots of stories from books, including a lovely
Australian Aborigine tale of 'How the birds got their colours'. Then
everyone had a go at making their own story using the simple structures
of traditional tales. The children sent in lots of lovely thank-you cards which you'll find all over the website
Three little pigs on a big adventure!
Ian spent an amazing three days at Moons Moat First School sharing the story and helping all three KS1 classes to make puppets. They then used the 'bare bones' of the story to create their own tales of adventure, involving witches, bulls, genies and magic stew!
Ian calls for a number of bands in the West Midlands ("...thanks to Ian whose sense of humour and boundless
energy kept us laughing and enthusiastic all evening. We will
certainly recommend you to our friends." "...please pass our thanks on to Ian who was a brilliant choice of caller who choreographed the evening with humour, patience and fun")
