TILDA, VIKTOR & VURT
Tilda is a five-metre-high externally operated puppet created for the 2014/15 Woodford Folk Festival. I worked as the Head of Department and Production Manager for this project alongside Artistic Director Noeline Kavanagh from internationally acclaimed Irish spectacle company Macnas.
Working over a two-month period, I coordinated a team of 30 student interns and four staff who became the puppeteers, performers and production team for six unique spectacles performed over the six days of the festival.
Including live music, large lantern images, pyrotechnic effects and a giant teenage girl weighing in at over a tonne, each performance offered audiences theatrical poetry on a grand scale.
The project was a key component of the festival's internally produced events, with Tilda acting as the protagonist in the festival's annual theme and narrative.
Photography by Steve Swayne. Video produced by Sunshine Coast Tourism.
For the 2015/16 festival I was once again invited back to coordinate the giant puppet project for nightly performances and a leading role in the festival's opening and closing ceremonies. This year's project saw me working alongside master puppet maker Daniele Poidomani, who created an incredibly expressive old man - Viktor. I was fortunate enough to work under Daniele's guidance to create Viktor's kookaburra inspired companion, Vurt, who accompanied Viktor on his maintenance errands around the festival site.
