unit 1-B:

On Friday the 11th of October, I went to the ‘Taste of Avenue Q’ workshop, run by Nigel Plaskitt, via my local puppetry festival. Recently, I’ve been looking into events run by my local community, such as amateur plays and touring productions- there’s a lot of interesting stuff I didn’t know was out there, and this was something I wasn’t expecting to find.
It was a good time, overall. Sat in the basement room of a council building, there were about twenty of us, all different ages, but united by one thing- a passion for puppets. Or a passion for workshops, in my case, but it translates. Nigel Plaskitt trained the actors on the original west end production of Avenue Q, as well as working for the Jim Henson company, so it’s safe to say he was qualified. After some time spent getting used to doing the motions just with our hands, we were introduced to the puppets themselves: retired from the touring cast, they were all once actually used live on stage.
I learned a decent amount of puppetry technique; yes, I was starting from zero, but it still counts. As the group discovered, talking- moving your hand in the sock puppet style- and walking- bouncing your arm up and down- are individually easy, but put together and they blend into an awkward, ‘pat your head and rub your tummy’ situation. The whole experience was a matter of multitasking. Remembering where to look, where the puppet needs to look, what to do with your hands and what to do with your voice. I did, at one point, stroll in front of the group with total confidence, only to start talking without moving my puppet’s mouth. The good news is, we weren’t trying ventriloquism on top of it all; I think I might have exploded.
Fun fact: the puppets are heavier than you’d expect them to be. I suppose it makes sense, because they’re all made of solid felt and foam, but it was an odd surprise when first putting mine on. It feels very odd to put them back on their stands, as well; almost like you're removing the life from them, which in a way, you are.
Overall, it was a very interesting experience that, if nothing else, taught me that puppeteers are stronger than I thought. Though not highly applicable to my current project, it would definitely be interesting to add puppetry to some kind of theatre piece in the future. I asked Nigel for feedback after the session: he told me that, barring the time I forgot the puppet’s mouth, I was very good.
(I’m in the loud blue-yellow jumper on the right.)

On Saturday the 9th November, I went to the British Library ‘tales of the weird’ festival to watch a day of talks from various authors, screenwriters and anthologists, whose wildly varying jobs all ended up under the umbrella of ‘weird’.
First was an interview with some of the anthologists who select stories for the Library’s own ‘Tales of the Weird’ collection, one of which I have on my bedside table as I write currently. This was an interesting chat, and I learned quite a bit about the shadowy profession that is anthology work: it seems both very boring and extremely interesting. The anthologists went into detail about the depths their work took them to, plunging into 19th century newsletters and aged epistolary novels to find their perfect story, their ideal extract. If I were in their position, I just wouldn’t know where to start.
The second talk of the day was with two authors, whose most recent books had a few uncanny similarities. They talked a lot about the horror of place: that where you live, the very atmosphere you breathe, could have some dark impact on you. I wondered what horror there could be in my own, middle-class, somewhat dull town. The cheese shop runs out of cheese? The high street pigeons turn violent?
In the end, I decided the most threatening aspect of my place was the forest that surrounded it, the dull threat of the woods always looming over us. Or the haunted Victorian graveyard outside my house. That too.
The third talk- my favourite- was done with three young female authors. It was led by Julia Armsfield, whose book, ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’, I enjoyed very much. To me, it was the funniest talk of the day, a discussion that began with the grotesquery of the body and ended with their opinions on ‘Terrifier 3’. Great time, honestly.
Finally, the last talk of the day was, essentially, ‘four members of gen X make references that go over my head’. Reece Shearsmith of ‘Inside No. 9’ talking fondly on the ‘Pan books of horror’, as I tried desperately to figure out what they were all referencing. Still fun overall though, especially when watching him try not to say anything too rude about ‘Tales of the Unexpected’.
It was a fascinating look at a load of different career paths and jobs I didn’t know existed, as well as having some highly interesting commentary on the nature of horror, society, and of course, ‘Terrifier 3’. I learned a lot and thought a lot, especially about what genres I might be drawn to in future. I would consider ‘Explorers’ to be a weird game in many ways, with its supernatural events and odd structure, but I’m not sure if strict horror is exactly what I’m going for. I don’t just want my audience to feel scared: I want there to be an ending, so it isn’t just a game about all the brutal ways one can die in the woods. Still, I hope that my attempts at philosophising don’t come off as cheap, because the brutal wood-deaths are also an important part of the narrative.
Because of the nature of the talks, I couldn’t really get feedback from any of the speakers. However, I got my copy of ‘Sisters’ signed by the author, and she complimented me on my shirt. That’s something, then.