On Monday this week I was in Crieff. I shared two performances of ‘Nosferatu’, one of which was dementia friendly, at the Richmond Care Home. Thank you to the wonderful care staff, particularly Suzie and to Strathearn Arts for its support. It was a most enjoyable day!
#Nosferatu #Puppetry #StrathearnArts #RichmondCareHome #Crieff #Storytelling #PerthandKinross
As posted previously I had the privilege of travelling down to the home of Puppetcraft in Devon to take a week long marionette carving course with John Roberts. This is my second training course with John, the first being in 2016 which took place at the Little Angel Theatre in Islington, London. This time there was a class of three – my colleagues being both fun to be with and wonderfully supportive – last time there was a class of six. Although almost a month ago the experience is very much in my head. I am itching to get back to making once the wonderful Edinburgh Festival has packed up for another year.
We are preparing for Tragic Carpet’s first performance of Nosferatu at The Seagrove Centre next week. The Seagrove Centre is a great resource that provides support to people living with dementia. I am helping Tragic Carpet reach this new audience, an audience that often doesn’t get the chance to participate in high quality arts. The Seagrove Centre are very proactive about the members having high quality experiences, so Tragic Carpet should fit in perfectly, and I hope this will be the start of a strong relationship between the two organisations.
Hello. I’m Lissa McIntyre. I run a small business called Joy Rides which specialises in getting older people out in their local community. Joy Rides takes people on a spin on an electric bike around the green spaces of Edinburgh. Passengers get the feeling of the wind in their hair and the joy of being on a bike, without having to do the hard work. They get the chance to interact with myself, their fellow passengers and the outside world. Often older people, or those living in care homes can be quite invisible and isolated, but this experience puts them right in the middle of things and they get the chance to chat and interact with folks.
The process so far is going well. We’ve found that care homes and agencies that work with older people and those living with dementia are really up for new projects and adventures so if anyone has an idea for a creative of fun activity you should just get in touch and ask them!
There is so much more I hope we can explore with this collaboration! I would love to see Suitcase Story performances happening in many more care homes or day centres so I will work hard to make that happen.
Lissa McIntyre – Community Engagement Support
A Raven visits a young girl.
Why are the birds gathering?
And what is the secret that Ada learns about her past?
Inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name, this tells the story of Ada, a feisty young girl, is visited by a Raven and thrust into a dream world of quests, feathers and a Glass Mountain.
The audience is taken on a tiny world adventure over an extraordinary, felted landscape as Ada unlocks the secret the Raven is trying to tell her.The Seven Ravens is a brand new and unique performance/installation by Tragic Carpet Theatre using an innovative mix of live puppetry, digital image capture, processing and display, needle felting and specially composed music and song.
Eastgate Theatre 6th April 2.30pm
Cumbernauld Theatre 8th April 11 am and 1.30 pm
Concord Community Centre, Cliffttop Projects Dumbarton 11th April 3pm with The Little Toy at 10 and 11 am; Workshops on 10th April
Edinburgh Storytelling Centre 12th April 1pm
Theatre Royal Dumfries – Studio 14th April 2pm
Tragic Carpet is delighted to announce its residency at St Margarets House, Edinburgh. The residency is supported by the lovely people at Edinburgh Palette and runs from 1st to the 31st March 2022. Each week we will be exploring different aspects of the show such as The Narrative, The Music and Sound, The Shadow Puppetry, The Table Top Puppetry, The Coding of The Keeper (our mini robo-puppet) and The Flexible, tour friendly Setting and Tech setup. We will host open coffee drop-ins at 11am on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There will also be some sharing events and details of these will emerge as work progresses. We also hope to invite artists and colleagues who are interested in the work to drop by when they can – if you would like an invite ping us a message via the ‘Contact‘ button. Tragic Carpet team for this residency: Freda O’Byrne, Sheena Miller, Kim Edgar, Sylvia Dow, Peter Searle, Euan Jackson and Lissa McIntyre.
tragic carpet 