•
Open Door Designs' Fall Now Workshops Scheduled
• Open Door's Open House
•
The Children's Music Garden at Open Door Design
•
Al Stencell's new book: Ballyhoo •Basement
Studio now available for rent
•
BILLY TWINKLE - Ronnie Burkett at Factory Theatre
• Hard
Times - Puppetmongers - Theatre Pass Muraille
• Clay & Paper Night of
Dread
• The Old Trout Puppet Workshop
- Banff
•
26 Czech Marionettes from the '20's or 30's?
•
Cate & Levi
•
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop - Ignorance project
• Visiting Steven Barkley of Diabolo
• Alex Novitsky
• Hansjürgen
Fettig
•
Super Clogger
•
Joel Richardson finishes mural
•
Nuit Blanche: Neighbourly Advice Wheel: Roy Mitchell
•
Nuit Blanche - Rail
of Light - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
• Red Wagon Collective
• Gilbert Dufour in the 2010
Design Competition + Art of Fashion Trunk Show
STILL
A FEW MORE DAYS TO REGISTER FOR ALEXANDER MERGOLD'S
WORKSHOP STARTING OCTOBER 3RD
Brochure
Correction: Naomi Kates' Bunraku Puppet workshop
is on Saturday, October 23rd, 10am-Noon and 1:00 - 3:00pm
OPEN
DOOR DESIGNS is pleased to now offer Workshops on a regular
basis in our brand new dedicated space. We are keeping the workshops
small, 6-10 participants depending on the workshop. So register
soon to guarantee a place.
As a result
of
requests we have created an "Educator's Series" that
includes Puppetry: History and Applications in the Classroom
with Naomi Kates; Performance with Mike
Harding and Kelly Kirkham's papier
mache workshop that has already been taken back to many daycares
and classrooms.
Mike
Harding is also offering a Beginners,
Intermediate and Advanced
"muppety" puppet workshop including a building a foam
puppet, building a fur puppet and finally, a more professional
type puppet.
In addition
to the History and Applications workshop for
the Educators Series Naomi Kates is also offering
a Bunraku workshop for Kids & Parents.
Alexander
Mergold will
be offering another Marionette Building workshop
along with a new workshop, Building a Tabletop Puppet.
The
Bricoteers are
offering two workshops. One under the heading "Educator's
Series: Storytelling Workshop and one workshop
for children, Hallowe'en Monster Party the
day before Hallowe'en.
OPEN
DOOR DESIGNS' FIRST OPEN HOUSE
Kelly
Kirkham demonstrated her papier mache technique
Mike
Harding performed a hilarious show for younger
people
James
Ashby and Grey Muldoon of the Bricoteers
created a WEREWOLF now hanging in the window
I would
like to thank all the artists for giving their time to show
us what they do and it is magic! To see more and take a workshop
just click on the links above or click here for the Workshop
Schedule.
Al Stencell:
New Book
A retired showman, he worked his way up through concessions,
novelties and bill posting until becoming a showman. From
1973 to 1976 he was part owner of Royal Bros. He and his wife
founded and operated Martin and Downs Circus from 1977 to
1983. In 1983 he built Super Circus International and toured
it until 1992.
Puppets,
clowns circus...are all kin...
I met Al Stencell when I first opened the store...
click
on images for relevant link to ECW Press
August
2010
October
2002
March
1999
We
are thrilled that Julia has chosen Open Door Designs as a location
for her music program for children. Come and see a demonstration
at the Open
House, Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 2:00pm Julia
Collins from The Children's Music Garden outside Open Door Designs
At the Children's Music Garden we
will be creating wonderful musical moments just downstairs from
wonderful puppet creating happening upstairs!
We offer unique, creative music education for babies and children.
We offer small classes for children ages 6 months – 7
years old.
Our program teaches the basics of music in a fun, encouraging
environment that promotes peer interaction and personal development.
General music training has many benefits, like improved motor-skills,
self-esteem and focus. Movement, singing, listening and imaginative-play
are the main focuses in the lessons. The children play percussion
instruments and hear the teacher make many different sounds
from the violin and piano at each lesson.
JULIA COLLINS, Musician and Teacher, Children's Music
Garden
The basement
studio is now finished and available for rent
for small meetings and events. A beautiful clean new space,
there is approximately 350 sq ft of floor space. 2 tables, 12
chairs, microwave, kettle, coffeemaker, fridge and bathroom.
Rates:
$15/hr - 8 hour minimum
$20/hr by the hour.
"Ronnie
Burkett returns to Factory Theatre with his newest work. Billy
Twinkle is a middle-aged cruise ship puppeteer who dazzles audiences
with his Stars in Miniature marionette niteclub act...until
he is fired by the cruise line. Contemplating a watery demise,
his dead mentor appears as a ghostly hand puppet, forcing Billy
to re-enact his life as a puppet show and rekindle the passion
for a life that sparkles."
Information:
Factory Theatre
125 Bathurst Street
Toronto ON
Tel: (416) 504-4473
Box Office: 416 504-9971
Web: www.factorytheatre.ca/1011season.htm
Hard
Times
Produced by Puppetmongers
in Association with Night Kitchen Theatre and Theatre Passe
Muraille
Written and Directed by Chris Earle
Puppet
construction and performance by Ann Powell, David Powell and
Anand Rajaram
September
29 to October 16, 2010
This
is the play that wonders how far we’ve come.
Chris Earle takes one of the classics of Dickensian literature
and flips everything on its head, including the audience. Hard
Times shows us a world where supply and demand govern every
human interaction, a world where a lot has changed since the
Victorian era of greed, power, marginalization and class conflict—or
has it? Told using Puppetmonger signature-style puppets and
live performers, Hard Times is a tale of two worlds that looks
at intimacy between generations and power between classes.
Clay
& Paper Theatre presents: The 11th Annual Night of Dread
Dufferin Grove Park
(Dufferin South of Bloor)
Saturday October 30, 2010
Join us
for the eleventh annual Night of Dread, Clay & Paper Theatre’s
invitation to the community to parade our private and collective
fears through the darkened streets of Toronto. The hour-long
procession returns to Dufferin Grove Park for an evening of
ceremonial festivities that compel us to call on, mock and banish
the fears that unite and divide us in these times. Night of
Dread is an unforgettable evening of pageantry, music and masquerade
incorporating towering puppets, stilt dancers, fire-spinners
and fearful masks in a daring exploration of dread.
The
Banff Puppet Theatre Intensive
Old Trout Puppet Workshop
Dec 27, 2010 to Jan 7, 2011
The
Banff Puppet Theatre Intensive, presented by The Banff Centre,
the Old Trout Puppet Workshop, and the AQM, and in association
with the Calgary Animated Objects Society, offers a two-week exploration
into the creative art of puppet theatre. The Old Trouts are a
company founded on the collaborative nature of ensemble-based
creation, they build their shows through a process of consensus,
which shall be the thesis of this workshop.Over the 17-day period
of the workshop, participants will explore exercises that identify
the physical awareness and synchronicity of an ensemble, as well
as participate in an arena of debate and building that facilitates
an effective sharing of ideas. These exercises will in turn support
the foundation of original, theatrical, puppet performances to
be developed in the subsequent part of the workshop.More
info
These
wonderful Czech puppets were brought into the store recently.
They are in mint condition and we think are from the 1930's or
earlier. They were purchased "as old" in the 1950's.
The 26 puppets are about 10" tall and with the controller
24" tall. The owners would like to sell them. If you have
any information about them as to maker or would like to purchase
them, please contact us at info@opendoordesigns.ca
or call (416) 531-1290.
Open
Door Designs is please to now be carrying these whimsical
puppets made right here in Toronto by Cate & Levi.
" All the materials are sourced as close to home
as possible. This process cuts down on shipping and reduces
our carbon footprint. The choice of reclaimed wool reduces
demand for new materials that require both water and oil
for production. My goal is for these items to leave the
softest possible pawprint on our planet."
Bear
$35
Monkey
$35
Dog
$35
Cat
$35
Frog
$35
Walrus
$35
The
Old Trout Puppet Workshop innovating again! Take a look at this
interesting project. The following text was taken from their
BLOG.
What is this?
Ignorance is a puppet documentary about the blissful
prehistoric origins of humanity, and how our brains evolved
into the hideous bliss-sucking parasites they are today. Yes:
it’s about how why we’re not happy. And how we might
solve this problem without resorting to alcoholism, tranquilizers,
frontal-lobotomies, or other forms of induced ignorance
But not just that: it’s
an experiment in a whole new way to write theatre. As far as
we’ve heard, anyway.
Participate:
Here’s the plan: we’re going to create the whole
thing right here – words, drawings, pictures, little bits
of video from rehearsals even – the entire shamozzle.
Anybody who wants to have a look at what we’re doing can
watch as the ideas develop.
Steven Barkley
of Diabolo Puppets hard at work
I visited
Steven Barkley of Diabolo
Puppets late this summer to pick up some puppets now in
the store as well as materials for the fur puppet workshops.
Steven is busy getting ready for the One of a Kind Show, the
Salon des Métiers d’art in Montreal and Circle
Craft in Vancouver. A lovely visit and a beautiful day in Laval.
Alex
Novitsky and his wife Yumi, new friends Open Door Designs
visited during the Open House. Alex recently won First
Prize of Jury & Audience Chose Award for this animation
sponsored by the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS)
Chicken Jam 2009.
This
is another gem from Alexander Mergold from Gary Friedman's blog.,
a puppeteer from Australia.
Hansjürgen
Fettig - German Puppet Master
"German puppet master - designer, builder and author, Hansjürgen
Fettig's famous 1973 book Glove And Rod Puppets, A Handbook
of Design and Technique is one of our greatest puppetry books.
I don't think that this puppet master has been given the acknowledgment
he deserves for his influence on modern puppetry. I know many
puppeteers who have been much influenced by Fettig's unique
designs, innovative use of cardboard and household odds and
ends to create incredible puppet designs.
In the late nineties, I was fortunate enough to interview this
puppeteer in Charleville-Meziers, France. He had already been
living in France for a number of years and I filmed this private
masterclass in an interview which he did for me in French. Now
for the first time, I would like to share this edited short
interview with you. For more info, go to: www.puppetrynews.com
" Gary Friedman
Traffic
Jam...puppet jam...?
"Joel
Kyack's (MFA '08) first large-scale public project, Superclogger,
will present various puppet shows to L.A. drivers caught in
afternoon traffic jams from a mobile theater housed in the
back of a nondescript white pickup truck. Broadcasting soundtracks
discretely to the viewer's car stereo, Superclogger, curated
by Cesar Garcia (MPAS '09), aims to briefly halt the progression
of chaos by temporarily drawing the audience out of the commute
experience and placing them within an intimate space of engagement
and performance that highlights their own individual presence
within the broader structure of the traffic jam."
Volunteer
for Junction Triangle Nuit Blanche event!
The Junction Triangle neighbourhood is taking part in the 2010
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche exhibit and needs volunteers!
On October 2, our installation Rail of Light will see the Wallace
Avenue Footbridge transformed into a huge, sparkling chandelier,
literally shedding light on the massive diesel rail expansion
planned by the Ontario government.
If you
can help with set-up, take-down, or manning the exhibit, please
get in touch with us at rail@junctiontriangle.ca We
need help to install the
exhibit during the day on Saturday (Oct.2) beginning at 9 a.m. and
people to staff the showing (in four hour shifts) during the
evening/night. Be a part of a great, city wide arts event happening
right here in the Junction Triangle and help send an important
message about electric trains.
Visit railoflight.ca
for details.
Neighbourly
Advice
Need Advice? Give Advice?
Come Spin the ADVICE WHEEL NUIT BLANCHE, SATURDAY OCT 2ND 7:00pm - ??
on the Railpath at the end of Wallace Avenue
A project by your neighbour (and mine) Roy Mitchell
Local
artist Joel Richardson completed his mural this past weekend
September 25, 2010 on the south side of the bridge underpass
at Dupont and Lansdowne.
Material
Donations Needed
RED WAGON COLLECTIVE
AT EVANGELINE
Donations
may be dropped off at Open Door Designs or email Nancy
Davis Halifax for more information.
RED WAGON COLLECTIVE: DONATIONS
NEEDED:
fabric, wool, embroidery floss, needles, crochet hooks, old
sweaters
RED WAGON COLLECTIVE was formed in 2006 in response to our desire
to deepen our artistic, collaborative, and community-engaged
practices through residency projects that would enable us to
develop both intensive and extensive relationships in the Junction
- a rapidly changing neighbourhood in Toronto's west end. We
share a desire to work collaboratively with artists and non-artists
to create work that inspires new conversations; softens boundaries
between groups separated by age, culture, ability, and economic
status; promotes the presence of art in everyday life and contributes
to increasing public engagement in community development. The
work we create with communities is used in producing exhibitions,
public installations, and celebratory performance events.We
are currently working within the walls of the Evangeline Shelter.
Our
former neighbour Gilbert Dufour is participating in this show
happening this weekend
For more details on this year’s event, visit La Belle
Époque.
Each year, 10 emerging Canadian designers bring their collections
to life in an exhibit space and through a fashion show where
they compete for 2 awards: Most Promising Designer is decided
by an industry judging panel, and Best Exhibit is voted by the
public. The winners for both are announced one week after the
competition and awarded a monetary grant, exclusive retail and
media opportunities, and valuable memberships to art and design
organizations.
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