03. 08. 2016

Not a Puppet State

Artists:  Tis Milner-Nicholls  l  Emily Steel  l  Mike Tye  l  Robert Petchell

Puppetry with socially isolated clients of the Southern Fleurieu Health Service 

Stories and key issues facing the client group were gathered and re-worked into short scripts.  The topics participants canvassed included environmental degradation, violence, drugs, grief, abuse, loneliness and issues that led to discussions about health and wellbeing. The scriptwriting and story collecting workshops were run by Emily Steel with Sandwriters and the Alexandrina Centre for Positive Ageing.

Tis Milner-Nicols and Mike Tye supported the group members to make characters using a variety of puppetry technics and Robert Petchell ran a series of music workshops.

To put prepare for performance, group members took on task inline with their particular interests.  Some focused on script development while others manage the technical side of puppetry involving the development of digital interfaces.

A performance using the puppets was given as part of Create and Connect’s annual South Australian Living Artists (SALA) showcase

Partner Outcomes

•  Identification of prominent issues that confront clients, staff and volunteers
•  indicators to achieving sustainable outcomes for clients
• new creative alternative treatment options

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