A former Jersey College for Girls student, Alice Bravery, will be returning to College next week to help students create puppets for this year’s production.
Alice is a theatre-maker, actress and producer who not only trained at the University of York’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television but also as a puppeteer at the prestigious Curious School of Puppetry in 2020. Alice also previously worked as a producer for local arts charity ArtHouse Jersey, a role in which she was responsible for a variety of projects, supporting both local and international artists.
When JCG decided to stage ‘The Terrible Infants’ by Oliver Lansley, the creation and operation of puppets was at the top of the agenda. The play is a collection of very clever morality tales about the perils of being naughty and the main characters are played by puppets. There are a range of morals in these stories – don’t be a chatterbox, don’t tell lies, don’t be greedy, listen to your mum, have a wash! Each puppet has to be different and operated with skill and attention to detail.
This isn’t the first time that Alice, who previously worked for ArtHouse Jersey, has lent her puppetry talents to JCG. Last year, she helped create a puppet for the school production, ‘Beasts and Beauties’.
“We approached her to ask for her help again this year and then decided that we would just bring her into school and make a week of it!” Caroline Stone, Head of Drama, said.
“Alice used to come to JCG, in fact she took A level Drama and Theatre Studies with us. She also appeared in several JCG Youth Theatre shows. It therefore seems really fitting to have her back at JCG, this time helping current students in a really creative way.”
Alice will be in school from Monday 26 to Friday 30 September and in that time, she will work with Tech Club students to create the puppets from her own careful designs.
They will be with her for part of Monday, all day Tuesday and any lunch times and free lessons they can spare.
By the end of the week, we hope that six puppets plus their outfits and accessories will be done.
On Alice’s final day, she will work with the 35 members of the cast to help them understand the techniques involved in operating puppets, bringing them to life so that they breathe and really are the main characters of the tales being told.
Mrs Stone added: “The art of puppetry is not easy, both in terms of making and operating, and so Alice Bravery’s input into the project will be invaluable and highly educational for our very lucky students.”