The Oxhill News

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Tysoe Marionette Group

Another production has come and gone.  “Ali Baba - The Puppet Panto”  was put to bed after its sixth and last performance in April 2008, having raised £675 shared between Marie Curie Cancer Care, Mind in Leamington Spa and the Radway Church Bell Fund.

This show was a major effort for our team of 12 involved directly in performance.  Twelve characters were seen on stage, sometimes eight at the same time!  Our two stage managers struck and set 7 scenes comprised of 29 pieces of scenery and 12 stage props.  During the amazingly short time this took, our audiences were humorously diverted out front by a life-sized Snake Charmer and his basketed Snake (made from a pink sock wearing a large yellow bow, so not to scare away the faint-hearted!)  Our techie handled some 70 lighting cues and drove the pre-recorded sound track.  One of the stars of the show was a mono-syllabic camel.  It is amazing how “Hrrrmph” can be interpreted in so many different ways. The camel also had the job of carting away the bodies generated by the original Arabian story!  This involved risk of entanglements, which mercifully were few.  The TMG have earned full marks for bravery this year!

Our thanks go to all who participated, including puppeteers, dialogue and singing voices.  Especial thanks go to Lisa Curtlin, our musical director and to Margot McCleary who spent many hours on the panto script.

Peter Charlton, Chairman of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild (of which our group is a member) wrote in his report on the show - “The scenery and puppets are beautifully made and well handled and the whole company must be congratulated in producing such an enjoyable and accomplished show”.

Volunteers are sought for next year’s production.

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Last modified: June 03, 2008