Little Angel Marrionette Theatre | |
Location | Islington London, N1 England |
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Coordinates | 51°32′19″N0°06′06″W / 51.5387°N 0.1016°W |
Public transit | Angel Essex Road |
Type | Puppet theatre |
Capacity | 100 seats |
Current use | Theatre |
Production | Own and touring |
Opened | 24 November 1961 |
Website | |
littleangeltheatre.com |
Little Angel Theatre is a puppet theatre for children and their families based in the London Borough of Islington. [1]
The 100-seat theatre, a former Temperance hall, was opened on 24 November 1961, by founders John and Lyndie Wright with a performance of The Wild Night Of The Witches.
As well as an internationally recognised theatre with productions touring throughout the UK and across the globe, Little Angel Theatre works with its local community to tackle barriers to arts engagement so all can benefit and enjoy the art form of puppetry.
Puppeteers who have entertained here include Sarah Burgess who has created several roles for CBeebies, [2] as well as Rainbow puppeteer Ronnie Le Drew. [3]
The theatre's creative learning department work with schools and youth and community groups, running a wide variety of participation activities.
Little Angel Theatre is a registered charity.
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performance is also known as a puppet production. The script for a puppet production is called a puppet play. Puppeteers use movements from hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer sometimes speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, while at other times they perform to a recorded soundtrack.
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose.
Howdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by Victor F. Campbell and E. Roger Muir. It was broadcast on the NBC television network in the United States from December 27, 1947, until September 24, 1960. It was a pioneer of children's programming and set the pattern for many similar shows. One of the first television series produced at NBC in Rockefeller Center, in Studio 3A, it pioneered color production in 1956 and NBC used the show to promote color television sets in the late 1950s.
Drew Massey is an American voice actor, puppeteer and director for Nickelodeon and the Jim Henson Company. He has worked extensively with the Muppets and has performed in many films, television series, and commercials. He has also lent his voice to many commercials and video games.
William Britton "Bil" Baird was an American puppeteer of the mid- and late 20th century. He and his puppets performed for millions of adults and children. One of his better known creations was Charlemane the lion. He and his wife Cora Eisenberg Baird (1912–1967) produced and performed the famous puppetry sequence for "The Lonely Goatherd" in the film version of The Sound of Music. His son Peter Baird was also a puppeteer, and he continued his family's legacy until his own death in July 2004.
A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hands that occupies the interior of the puppet. A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer's hands inside the puppet glove holding a rod which controls the head, and the puppet's body then hangs over most or all of the forearm of the puppeteer, and possibly extends further. Other parts of the puppet may be controlled by different means, e.g., by rods operated by the puppeteer's free hand, or strings or levers pulled the head or body. A smaller variety, simple hand puppets often have no significant manipulable parts at all. Finger puppets are not hand puppets as they are used only on a finger.
Ronnie Le Drew is a Canadian-born British puppeteer who was born in Toronto, Canada. He is best known for playing "Zippy" from the ITV children's show Rainbow since the early 1970s and trained at the Little Angel Theatre, London under John Wright. His association with the Little Angel spans over thirty years as performer, and later as director.
Christine Glanville was an English puppeteer who spent much of her professional life contributing to television series produced by Gerry Anderson.
Norman Frederick Hetherington was an Australian artist, teacher, cartoonist, puppeteer, and puppet designer.
Sarah Burgess is a British actress and puppeteer who played Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz in the Sesame Street spin-off series The Furchester Hotel for CBeebies.
Ronnie Burkett, OC is a Canadian puppeteer, best known for his original theatrical plays for adults, performed with marionettes. Burkett, who hails from Medicine Hat, was the puppeteer for Ralph on the TV Ontario series Harriet's Magic Hats during seasons three and four. He was also credited on two TV shows; Chicken Minute and Little Star.
The Bob Baker Marionette Theater, founded by Bob Baker and Alton Wood in 1963, is the oldest children's theater company in Los Angeles. In June 2009, the theater was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. In early 2019, the theater moved to a new permanent home at 4949 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042.
Peter Scriven MBE was an Australian puppeteer, writer and theatre producer, and the founding artistic director of the Marionette Theatre of Australia. Scriven played a huge role in establishing puppetry as a serious artform in Australia.
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer buses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made from a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in construction and operation to very complex.
María Dolores Velázquez Rivas, better known as "Lola" Cueto was a Mexican painter, printmaker, puppet designer and puppeteer. She is best known for her work in children's theater, creating sets, puppets and theatre companies performing pieces for educational purposes. Cueto took her last name from husband Germán Cueto, which whom she had two daughters, one of whom is noted playwright and puppeteer Mireya Cueto. Most of Cueto's artistic interest was related to Mexican handcrafts and folk art, either creating paintings about it or creating traditional works such as tapestries, papel picado and traditional Mexican toys.
The Opera dei Pupi is a marionette theatrical representation of Frankish romantic poems traditionally performed in Sicily, Italy.
The Lanchester Marionettes were co-founded in 1936 by Waldo and Muriel Lanchester. The Lanchesters were the first Britons to appear on French television, as part of the World’s Fair in Paris in 1937. George Bernard Shaw’s final play, Shakes versus Shav, was written for them in 1949.
The International Puppet Museum - Peruchet is a museum in Brussels, Belgium, part of the Royal Peruchet Theatre.
Le Theatre de Marionette is a marionette theater and production company that began in Arlington, Texas and, later, moved to Dallas, Texas. The theater, which caters to families and school groups, operates both in a physical location and as a touring group.
Kamela Portuges, also known as Kamela Portuges-Robbins, was an American puppeteer, puppet designer, sculptor, animator, illustrator, writer, and director. Her work can be seen in many films including Being John Malkovich, James and the Giant Peach, Monkeybone, and Bicentennial Man. She started her career in puppetry in 1989 and was the co-founder of production company Images In Motion.