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Tysoe Marionette Group

Tysoe’s Gruffalo was not the only Gruffalo attending the Buxton Puppet Festival 2013 up in Derbyshire on Wednesday 24^th July last.  There were many of his mates in the audience waving to him!

Our group took to the road – literally, and using our modified Dexion travelling ‘fit-up’ mounted Anne Cole’s magical ‘deep dark wood’ (after Axel Scheffler) inhabited by a duplicate Gruffalo cast on short controls operated from a single bridge.  This made the production much more manageable under travelling conditions.

But still it was quite an enterprise, made possible by the ready assistance of Andrew and Joel’s families in loading/unloading the trailer, ‘getting in’ to the cleverly-designed small Studio Theatre in the Pavilion Arts Centre behind the Buxton Opera House, assembling the ‘fit-up’ and lighting, striking everything after the shows and reloading the trailer for return to Tysoe.

On first arriving in Buxton the previous afternoon we were informed that all three matinees were fully sold out in advance, i.e. 90 seats for each house, totalling 270 seats.  Such is the appeal of Julia Donaldson’s delightful little story to all age groups.  This set our minds at rest as this was a commercial venture (unlike our usual practice of playing for charity) which turned up trumps and helped to defray expenses.

Now it is back to “Peter and the Wolf” in our Barn Theatre for the Autumn term.  Any charitable organisation is invited to contact us with a view to raising money for their cause.

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Last modified: September 25, 2013