Shifting Focus – the Actor and the Puppet

A workshop aimed at actors and directors with puppet master Rene Baker, UK.

The workshop examines the task of the visible manipulator when humans and objects/puppets share the stage. Participants will experience different ways of using their body and mind to shift the focus between performer and object. They will discover how varying levels of presence and neutrality can be used for dramatic purpose; and practise guiding the spectator's attention between human and object so that it is for dramaturgical reasons and not by accident that the audience looks at the actor or the object or both.

Workshopen hålls på engelska.

Rene Baker is a specialist in puppet and object theatre, with 28 years professional practice as a performer, director, designer, researcher and trainer. 1998-2005 she taught puppet manipulation at the Central School of Speech and Drama (London) and 2005-2010 lectured in visual theatre and directed performances at the Institut del Teatre (Barcelona). 2010-2012 she was a full-time guest teacher in the puppetry and circus departments of the Turku Academy of Arts in Finland. In December 2012 she returned to the UK where she is currently a freelance director, trainer and coach in puppet and object theatre.

The workshop is organized by Teateralliansen, Kulturakademin and DOCK18 in co-operation with Pop up Puppets/Marionetteatern.