Where to study puppetry in Australia?

Are there educational places in Australia where you can make or perform with puppets? Yes! For children, there are plenty of companies that offer workshops or artist-in-residence placements. For adults… well, you’re probably better off buying a book.

I am not aware of anyone who offers classes for ventriloquists/ventriloquism; outside of a few who do instruction for muppet-type lip synching and performance. Likewise, I am not familiar with any place that offers courses or degrees in animatronics (this is most likely something you could get into through doing degrees in robotics/engineering).

This article is separated into: full-time courses; short courses; state-by-state listing of classes; other options and internships. Also your question answered: where to find classes or groups in Melbourne? And where to find puppetry festivals in Australia? Check the education category for news about upcoming classes.

Full time courses

In 2003, VCA (now known as VCAM, run through the University of Melbourne) ran a full-time puppetry course. It was a post-graduate/masters. It was also the only one of its kind in the Southern hemisphere. In mid 2009, VCA cancelled the puppetry course. At this moment (November 2010), there are only rumours of VCA replacing the course with a ’summer school’, an unaccredited course. You can read more about the closure of VCA here.

The only alternative to this is to attend Swinburne University, also in Melbourne. This however, is not a puppetry course, but an acting/technical theatre degree with a small component devoted to puppetry. Until 2007, the puppetry was taught by Ken Evans; it is currently being taught by Julia Davis from Dream Puppets. I attended this course, and since leaving it, there has been more of a focus on puppetry than there was before. However, it still does not constitute, in my view, an actual puppetry degree. I have written a rather lengthy post discussing the Swinburne course in more detail. You can read about it here [link to be added].

These are the only accredited courses I’ve ever heard of.

Short courses

As far as I am aware, there are only two regular short courses. One would be Gary Friedman’s regular ‘puppetry for TV’ course, which can run over a number of weeks; the other is the summer school at the University of South Australia. The school is run by Sue Harris. Both are unaccredited.

Workshops and classes

Outside of that, your best bet is to find a local puppetry company (there are many!) who offer classes. Very few offer adult classes, but they do exist. Try checking out UNIMA Australia for more suggestions, as they have a members list worth browsing; or signing up for OPEN, a regular emailed newsletter for Australian puppetry. Additionally, many puppet companies tour to community centres and festivals, so it’s worth finding out if a local event has a puppeteer in attendance.

ACT

• Marianne Mettes and PuppetOOdle, Canberra
  Marianne Mettes has a personal website, but also her business ‘PuppetOOdle’. She is a performer as well as builder, but at the latter website you’ll find information about her performances and workshops mostly for kids.

NSW

• Clewer Puppets, Cootamundra
  They provide workshops in building and performance for these puppet types, including patterns, DVDs and kits. They also happen to be involved in Christian ministry, and do custom puppet building with a range of human muppet-type puppets, along with caricatures and other characters, including a specific category for ‘medipuppets’, human characters designed
  specifically to teach medical concepts - with ones that have removable
  organs!
• Erth Visual and Physical Inc, Eveleigh
  Produce shows with large puppets, combined with physical theatre (circus, acrobatics, etc.). They also offer workshops.
• Marianne Mettes (see above, in ACT section)
• Murray Raine Puppets, Sydney
  Puppet shows and workshops (the former for both kids and adults, the latter for just kids).
• Sydney Puppet Theatre, Petersham
  Occasionally offers workshops for adults.

QLD

• Kiddywinks Puppet Theatre, Brisbane
  Shows and workshops aimed at kids; felt and paper cut-out (rod) puppets.

SA

• kneeHIGH, Adelaide
  Offers workshops for a range of puppet types for schools, communities and professional development (ie. adults). They specialise in giant puppets, and offer performances as well as puppets made on commission.
• Sue Harris Puppets, Adelaide
  Offers performances and workshops for both adults and children.

TAS

• Terrapin Puppet Theatre, Hobart
  Masterclasses for adults.

VIC

• Festive Factory, Woodend
  They seem to be mainly focused on children’s events and festival pieces, but do offer children’s classes along with occasional adult workshops (see advert to the right of the page).
  Disclaimer: Festive Factory is a regular advertiser on School of Puppetry.
• Gary Friedman, Melbourne
  Classes for students and adults. He does a TV for puppetry course on a regular basis, as well as paper puppet workshops. (I took his paper puppet workshop in April 2008). Note that as of Aug 2011 Gary has moved from Sydney to Melbourne.
• Polliwog Puppets, Gippsland
  Offers kids classes and ones for seniors, but none (it seems) for adults in between those ages (read more about Polliwog here [link to be added]).
• Polyglot Puppet Theatre, South Yarra
  They offer children’s workshops, and drop-in classes.
• Purple Capsicum Puppets, Coburg
  Workshops for kids and schools.
• Richard Bradshaw often runs workshops, which you can hire for your event, or if you’re lucky to find him at a festival.

Other options

You can also travel overseas, where in Europe, the UK, and America, there are more opportunities for formal study. If you need to find somewhere to study, I recommend checking out UNIMA International, which has links to all the puppetry union’s branches around the world; from there you can find a course in the country you want to go to. (Or UNIMA USA’s excellent list)

Professional puppeteers have been reluctant to take on mentorships or internships with emerging artists, at least since the VCA course began. This may have changed now that the course has been disbanded.

Frankly, your best options, at least if you’re an adult, is to purchase some books or DVDs. Additionally, there are numerous festivals held around the world which offer classes and introductions to puppetry. I’ve attended a couple of these, and have been invaluable opportunities for training.

You could also attempt to find an internship or training opportunity here in Australia with one of these companies; however, from experience I have found that few are willing to take such a training role. The above info is given in similar fashion here, where I explain what groups you can join in Australia to participate in puppetry and here on the topic of puppetry festivals.

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