Trip to the see Dinosaur world live by Max Huphries

To see some large-scale professional puppets in action I went to see Dinosaur world live, essentially a show for children to teach them about dinosaurs which taught me about puppets, their construction, and providing convincing performance. Although for children I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I was in awe of the lifelike movements of the puppets, after a short while you forgot they were not real. The lifelike the finish on the scaly or feathery skins of the beasts added to the realism. That combined with the full sized scaling of the puppets made for a truly breathtaking experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwp2ay2NKmM

CREATIVES

• Derek Bond: Writer/Director
• Max Humphries: Puppet Designer
• Laura Cubitt: Puppet Director
• Toby Olié: Puppetry Consultant
• James Perkins: Set and Costume Designer

MAX HUMPHRIES

Puppet Designer

Max Humphries is a puppet designer and theatre-maker. His work takes inspiration from the Bunraku puppet school of Japan, the automata of 18th & 19th century Europe and the drama theory of Edward Gordon Craig. Known for his experimental mechanisms and novel puppet forms, along with his team he has produced work for the National Theatre, Royal Opera House, Royal Ballet, Théâtre du Châtelet, New York Met, LA Philharmonic, Little Bulb Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Little Angel, Headlong and Figurteateret i Nordland as well as being Chief Puppet Designer for Cirque du Soleil’s 2016 show, Luzia. Max is proud to be a puppeteer in residence at the Farnham Maltings.

I have admired max Humphries work for many years now and I am over the moon to have experienced one of his performances for my self. At the end of the performance, I waited for the meet and great experience to allow the children to pet the dinosaurs and took that opportunity to network. I spoke to the leading actress of the performance about the production and my love of the skill behind the puppets, as well as my own interests in making of similar pieces. she said Max Humphries has worked very closely with the cast and crew in the production and so they are on good terms, she said that he may be willing to allow me to shadow him in his studio in Farnham for a week or two and that she would put a good word in for me. This networking opportunity was like a dream come true and extremely exciting! I am now awaiting his reply in the hope that I may visit his workshop over summer. This has been a powerful teachable moment, I have learnt the importance of networking and having the confidence to go outside your comfort zone can have amazing outcomes! If this opportunity works out I will have gone to the theatre and come away with a chance at an amazing industry experience.