Little Angel Theatre in London’s Islington is a purpose-built puppet theatre, one of only three in England. It is also among the country’s oldest theatres presenting children’s work. This year it opens nearby studios where education and participation manager Slavka Jovanovic (currently also interim artistic director) is offering a greatly increased training programme.
How did you get into drama?
I was very involved in drama and performance as a child, performing in many productions as well as dancing in a Serbian folk dancing ensemble. As a young adult I developed a taste for contemporary dance which then moved into physical and visual theatre. My passion for theatre inspired me to move from Yorkshire to London, where I was lucky to work with a number of children’s theatre companies before being appointed administrator at Shared Experience Theatre and then head of programming and education at Battersea Arts Centre.
Slavka Jovanovic
And puppetry?
It was while I was at BAC. I was responsible for programming all the work for children and young people, and often spent my lunch hour in the puppet centre (based at BAC) chatting about puppets, puppet companies and all things animation related. My appetite for puppetry and animation has been growing ever since. I have seen amazing international work at the Barbican, Sadler’s Wells and the Southbank Centre, as well as at international festivals abroad.
When did you come to Little Angel?
I started in 2002, initially as a consultant. I proposed a pilot programme for an extensive puppet residency (Puppet Power) for six primary schools in Islington, together with a public participation programme for children on Saturdays (Saturday Puppet Club). The success of this work enabled Little Angel to raise funds to establish the permanent role of education officer.
So what have you done since?
The permanent post allowed me to develop the community, education and participation side of the theatre. Last year about 5,500 children and adults took part in our education and participation activities. By 2005 my role developed into education and participation manager and now I lead a team, all working very hard to deliver the extensive programme. We create two to five new productions a year. we’re a receiving house and we also tour our work extensively throughout the UK.
And you have new courses starting?
Yes. This year we launch our new Creative Learning Centre at Little Angel Studios. It consists of two workshop spaces, office, archive and puppetry resource library, kitchen and extensive storage space. The exciting news is that we have quadrupled our programme for the forthcoming year.
Why is puppetry education important?
With our expertise in the art and craft of puppetry we’re in a great position to offer training opportunities to children and adults at all stages of their development. We have access to great resources and highly skilled experts in the field. Also there are lots of opportunities to see examples of wonderfully designed puppets and skilful puppetry performances at Little Angel.
Tell me about the courses you run
We have an established evening training programme that runs termly for general beginners, for makers and for performers. We’re launching an adult puppet club after Easter aimed at semi-professionals who want to work with a professional puppetry director to create new and exciting puppet theatre. The end result will be showcased at Little Angel. Starting on February 8, we have Eric Bass from Sandglass Theatre in the USA delivering a session on how the puppet gets to experience its environment through the breath. Later in February Rene Baker will be looking at focus and developing techniques for guiding the spectator’s attention between the performer and the puppet. We also run sessions on writing for puppets, lighting for puppets, working with shadows, making and manipulating moving-mouth puppets, experimenting with sound for puppets, performing with objects and a unique, long-string marionette training course that takes place on the double marionette bridge at Little Angel theatre.
What about potential puppet makers?
Oh yes, we cater for them too. If you want to learn about the practical craft of puppet-making we have week-long courses in puppet carving, puppet construction and costuming for puppets.
Read more training columns from Susan Elkin