The obstruction of the Buckingham Palace garden party led our class to shift gears. Our plans for the day shifted to an early trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I am always up for a trip to an art museum, especially one with as much variety in medium and the V&A. Along with viewing the art, I loved getting the opportunity to people watch as well. The most interesting people attend art museums.
After getting to see War Horse the night before, I was immediately captivated by an exhibition on puppet making. The exhibition included original puppets used in the drama show His Dark Materials as well as a short video breaking down the process of creating and using puppets in film. The creation puppets for story telling involves so much research and attention to detail in anatomy and behavior. In watching War Horse I was taken aback by the life that the horse puppets had as well as other animals. For much of the show I was fully seeing a live horse on stage. I would get confused as to why people were standing so close to the horses only to remember that they were puppeteers. The puppets they had created allowed for so much life-like movement and so many realistic mannerisms. The twitch of the ears, breathing, shaking, flips of the tail. They all worked together to make this puppet become real. Seeing the full process of making and working with puppets was incredibly interesting. Deciding the things to prioritize for connection with actors as well as life like movement was fascinating. Having just seen such a puppet central show only made this exhibition more intriguing. War Horse has certainly placed itself high among shows I have seen. The story was beautiful and the use of human bodies, props, and space were executed so well. Getting that glimpse into the work put into the creation of Joey was definitely the highlight of my day.
Theatre in London U of A 