By the end of the 2005 Buxton Puppet Festival, we decided it would be interesting to combine the groups in a performance at Yamabiko-Za’s theatre in 2007. So we devised a piece called ‘The Silk Road‘ as an east-west collaboration complete with musicians who devised the score with the other performers from the start. The show was essentially shadow puppetry but with live action and music and back and front projection. Funny Wonders’ leaders had also devised a shadow piece ‘Voices in the Garden’ and ‘Red’ which was essentially a dance piece.
In August 2007, twenty-three Funny Wonderers, 14 young people and 9 adults, travelled to the city of Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. The exchange trip provided a unique cultural and artistic experience for
adults and young people alike, offering opportunities for development on many levels, individually and collectively.
In Sapporo, the group stayed with host families as they had done in Buxton in 2005. During the trip, the group experienced different Japanese cultural activities, food, puppetry performances and workshops, including learning traditional bunraku puppetry and taiko drumming, plus a bit of sight-seeing.
Added to this was a symposium called ‘Arts in Education and Community’. Chris, upon arrival, discovered that she was one of the main guest speakers(!) and was diverted to the podium accompanied by polite applause. But any Funny Wonderer can turn a mistake into a half hour polished performance! This is what we do.
Performances took place at the Yamabiko-Za Children’s Theatre, a purpose-built, 250-seat professional theatre with studio, workshop and dressing rooms. These included Voices by Doug Agnew, inspired by Voices in the Night Garden, Red by Chris Agnew and Tricia Durdey, and The Silk Road by the Funny Wonders Youth Group, including the newly-formed houseband Shadowhouse.
The exchange was possible through funding secured from The Arts Council East Midlands, Derbyshire Community Foundation, Derbyshire County Council, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, the Sasakawa Foundation and The Japan Society’s 21 fund.
