Cork Puppetry Festival boldly going where no festival has before
Leila Cosgrave Sedgewick with Robin Schwarz in a puppeteer's workshop with Cliff Dolliver in the Crawford Art GalleryPicture Clare Keogh
THE Cork Puppetry Festival will have a lunar theme to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Organised by Dowtcha Puppets, the festival will run from July 30 to August 5 in venues all over Cork City and for the first time, to Carrigaline, Cobh, Bandon and Mallow libraries.
The events will culminate in a lunar-themed Puppets Picnic in Fitzgerald Park on August 5 where children and adults can make astronaut puppets, create moon creatures and stage their own puppet show in interactive puppet booths.
A series of family workshops will take place in the Crawford Art Gallery and in St Peter’s where children can create astronaut costumes and learn how to make their own lunar puppets.
The festival will include a world premiere of Clocked by the Irish Puppet Company, Púca Puppets, described as an evening of poetry and song, combining puppetry in a coming-of-age story.
Renowned Irish Puppeteers, Your Man’s Puppets and Fragile Theatre Company will premiere Dr Frankenfaust, a multimedia satire where the world is ruled by black magic.
Merlin Theatre from Berlin will perform their children’s show No One’s Land which tells the story of a scarecrow who one day comes to life.
For adults, a special research forum will take place in the Crawford Art Gallery on August 1 where puppeteers will discuss how puppetry can be used as a political tool.
