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We are Puppets and Pandemonium, a new and talented, family run company,
bursting with imaginative ideas and energy. We are based in Bristol where we design and construct
high quality puppets of many shapes and sizes, and produce lively entertaining puppet
shows.
For inspiration we look in multiple directions, feeding our creative resources upon
the past and present, fiction, fact and myth, theatre, cities, nature, films, current issues, music, food and drink, clothes
and books. We are Alex Hykel and Elli Buckland and have two kids, Rufus and Tula, who have played a major part in
influencing our descision to launch Puppets and Pandemonium.
Our work history was in bespoke clothing design and construction which has given us a good grounding
in some of the skills necessary to create professional puppets.
On becoming parents we
wanted to use our skills to entertain our children and began to make puppets and tell stories with them. They loved them and
before long we had built a puppet booth and were performing at friends kids birthday parties.
In 2008 we were asked to make and operate the puppets for a show on board Bristols rebuild of the famous wooden boat
'The Mathew' aboard which John Cabot discovered 'Newfoundland' America in 1496. We jumped at the opportunity
and worked with our friend, Mr Leon Welchman who wrote a comedy based around the history of the boat and the scenario
of it being captured by pirates. It was great fun for all involved. We built a collection of Henson inspired mouth puppets
including a blundering pirate captain named 'Bartholemew Brizzlebard' who is still one of our favorite characters.
The boat was an interesting performance space and great fun for all involved.
Feeling nicely inspired we wholeheartedly launched ourselves into the
task of the creation of a professional puppetry company. This was and is a daunting task but we approach our
work with robust self-confidence and we're making good headway at becoming experts in our field. The jobs include;
plenty of research, writing of scripts, storyboarding, puppet and prop making, rehearsing and performing shows, the accumulation
of equipment, sourcing of sounds and making soundtracks, ongoing experimentation,website building and maintenance, finding
a studio, buying a van... and the list goes on.
Well, the work has paid off and Puppets and Pandemonium are now firmly established in Bristol as a high Quality Puppetry Company, delighting audiences with our original performances and sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject by providing educational puppetry workshops that we tailor to support many areas of learning and the national curriculum.
Well, the work has paid off and Puppets and Pandemonium are now firmly established in Bristol as a high Quality Puppetry Company, delighting audiences with our original performances and sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject by providing educational puppetry workshops that we tailor to support many areas of learning and the national curriculum.
We have
performed our shows in a huge variety of places, these include a sell out run at Tobacco Factories Brewery Theatre with 'Fishwife', Festivals (these include; Bristol Harbour-side, Shambala, and Trowbridge Village
Pump Festival), Local Schools and Libraries, Children's Birthday Parties, Local Events including The opening of an
1 Love Arts 'Art Shop', and street theatre.
Our supporting workshops have inspired and facilitated hundreds of children to make their own puppets. This is not just a sideline but a really important part of our work as we truly believe that puppetry can help to cultivate habits and attitudes that can enable people to face difficulty and uncertainty with curiosity and optimism which will inspire creativity and a confident attitude.
Please do contact us to find out more, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Our supporting workshops have inspired and facilitated hundreds of children to make their own puppets. This is not just a sideline but a really important part of our work as we truly believe that puppetry can help to cultivate habits and attitudes that can enable people to face difficulty and uncertainty with curiosity and optimism which will inspire creativity and a confident attitude.
Please do contact us to find out more, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
