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NOW & THEN
A TOUR OF THE BAY
PUPPET DESIGN, MAKER, PUPPETEER

The Old Library, RWCMD 2022

Director - Lucy Hall & Emily LeQuesne

Photographer - Kirsten McTernan

Now & Then takes the audience to a world where Cardiff past and present collide with fantastical puppetry, movement and music made, composed and performed by RWCMD students. A show made for grown-ups but suitable for all.

nowndthen©kirstenmcternan162-(ZF-7359-92524-1-002)_edited.jpg

PUPPETRY TEAM 

Group Leader : Alexandra Kay

Members : Fankun Meng, Kayleigh Smith, Jesse Musker, Ruth Norwood

The show was developed by six groups each exploring different elements of Cardiff, its past, present and future and what makes the city we live and work in. The group I led, explored the changing roll of Cardiff Bay, the stories that surround it and what we find on and around the waterways of Cardiff. We took a tour around the Bay and decided to create our own fantastical Cardiff Bay Boat tour to bring the audience along with. Duck Puns, Birds from the wetlands, a baby seal, historical boats made from sunken trolleys, an illegible talking tour boat and Shirley Bassey singing at a literal Mermaid Quay.

My main designs for the production were the Heron Puppet, the Tour boat itself and designing the mermaids and mermaid quay alongside my group. I also took charge of the interactive map that opened the show, leading it in terms of its illustrated aesthetic that we then translated into our own mermaid quay buildings. Taking inspiration from museum guides, illustrated tour pamphlets and fantastical sea maps.
 

 

DESIGN & MAKING PROCESS

All Production Images thanks to ©kirstenmcternan photography

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