Community Development
Puppetry has a unique ability to bridge gaps in understanding and to bring people together to examine community and social issues. Productions combine both music and humour - two proven ingredients in crossing cultural and language barriers. Puppetry holds up a mirror to society giving people a chance to look objectively at themselves in a light-hearted way.
Puppetry brakes down barriers - it can be used to challenge social and political barriers and stereotypes, because it represents the 'neutral' aspect of the human, exaggerating its 'larger than life' issues. The reason for this is the puppet does not necessarily have to belong to any particular culture or language group or social class, as these can be researched and adapted to a target audience.
The aim of our community development work has been to pass on puppetry skills to local community groups, thus giving communities the ability to take their own messages to their people. Some of the topics we have been involved with are HIV/AIDS, Prison work, Abuse, Corruption, Democracy Education and many others during the nineteen eighties, nineties and beyond. We have conducted performances and workshops throughout Africa, Canada, Australia and some parts of Europe to establish puppetry-in-education groups internationally. (The above subjects are clickable links.)
Puppetry brakes down barriers - it can be used to challenge social and political barriers and stereotypes, because it represents the 'neutral' aspect of the human, exaggerating its 'larger than life' issues. The reason for this is the puppet does not necessarily have to belong to any particular culture or language group or social class, as these can be researched and adapted to a target audience.
The aim of our community development work has been to pass on puppetry skills to local community groups, thus giving communities the ability to take their own messages to their people. Some of the topics we have been involved with are HIV/AIDS, Prison work, Abuse, Corruption, Democracy Education and many others during the nineteen eighties, nineties and beyond. We have conducted performances and workshops throughout Africa, Canada, Australia and some parts of Europe to establish puppetry-in-education groups internationally. (The above subjects are clickable links.)