Today on People Behind the Puppets
I'm speaking to Jan Zalud
He is in Manchester
Jan's worked on loads of Little Angel shows
Lets see what he's got to say
Hello Jan, I'm Angel
Hi Angel
Hello, So Jan, tell me, how did you first start working with puppets?
I started with puppets, well I studied painting in Sunderland.
And ofter seeing an exhibition, of outsiders exhibition, in the Hayward Gallery in London
I wanted to make some puppets
Because in the exhibition there was work by a blind aritst
And it was very powerful, all these little figures in a Tower of Babel
And uhh I thought ooo I could make some puppets using local driftwood
Uhhh so I did that, and it proved, well people liked them
And some people bought some
So I was encouraged to apply for grants
And I got a grant from Northern Arts and the Craft Council
To help me develop the craft of making puppets.
That's great!
I love the idea of working with driftwood
Do you use wood a lot?
Yes, I really like working with wood.
It's a great material, you can do most things with it.
And Jan, what is it that you really enjoy most about making puppets?
Well I really like calming, it's very calming, it can be very meditative
And when it's going well it feels like the chisel is moving through the wood, almost singing
And also solving various problems
Working out how joints work
And other, other situations that I can remember
I had to, in one production, Venus and Adonis
The main character, Adonis, is injured by a boar
And has a big wound
And I had to work out how to do that
So obviously he can't come on with a big wound
And I made like a jigsaw puzzle fit, to fit into his thigh
That was held in with magnets
And there he was gawed, badly, and a spoiler he ends up dying
Oh no! *laughs*
But he comes on, in the next performance he comes on all perfectly fine.
Back together again! *laughs*
So Jan, you've spoken about wood... what is your favourite type of puppet?
Well obviously there are many types of puppets
Like mainly marionettes and uh shadow puppets
But most commonly used ones are table top puppets these days
And I... really like two person table top puppets
Because... there is such a range of movement for them.
And it can look very beautiful... especially like a puppet that is running... in slow motion
One person holding the head and the hand and the other person moving the legs
It can look very beautiful
And when you're making, what are three things you need to consider?
Well... obviously there is usually a brief or a design
and that determines what size the puppet is
So then the issues are
What it looks like and the weight
And then that determines the material
If it's very big, you know, you have to consider how heavy it will be
And again if it's very small... it can... you need to think about maybe adding weight
Yes there really are a lot of things to consider
Jan, have you designed a puppet for our viewers to make at home?
Yes I have thought about this, and I have come up with a little fox puppet
Made out of cardboard. Would you like to see it?
Yes please!
Ok, just give me a second...
Wow!
Is that a sting puppet?
But let me get something to show how it works.
Yes please
Fittingly, it's a cardboard box
So you're making your own little stage there?
That's right
And it's got a very complicated control.. it's a pencil.
Oh! Well everyone has those
And it moves a bit like this.
Woah that's so clever
It has so many different moving parts. Can we really make that at home?
Well it's a little bit complicated but it's simple enough
and it's materials that everyone should have at home, cardboard box and christmas cards and things like that... parcel string
And.. it takes a little bit of time but not too bad.
You could make it in a few days
So if you've got lots of time and you want to make a fox puppet like Jan you can download the instructions from our website.
Jan, thank you for sharing all of that and your little fox puppet with us.
It's been lovely speaking to you today.
Thank you very much Angel, it's been nice talking to you.
Thank you. Thanks for watching everyone. Bye!