Toy theatre laboratory
Creating a set and characters, operating puppets, trainings, performing a show
Topic: haiku
26 March - 4 June, 2023 Tbilisi
About laboratory
  • This course is an invitation to explore the world of toy and puppet theater and create your own little show in a group of like-minded people.
  • We try on the roles of director, set designer, costume designer, and puppeteer.
  • Our stage is a toy theater called teatrino. It's a miniature version of a real theater, it's made of wood, complete with a velvet curtain and lights!
  • The theme of this workshop is haiku.
Program
26 March - 4 June
26 March
26 March
Class 1: Introduction to the content of the lab. Creation of sketches on the stage of teatrino in mini-groups.
2 April
2 April
Class 2: Puppet theater, object theater and toy theater, and the differences between them.
9 April
9 April
Class 3: What is haiku? Choosing literary material. Introduction to theater professions.
16 April
16 April
Class 4: Set design, laws of composition, creating a sketch.
23 April
23 April
Class 5: Character development and exploration, object theater.
30 April
30 April
Class 6: The art of operating different types of puppets.
7 May
7 May
Class 7: The birth of a world, crafting the set decorations.
14 May
14 May
Class 8: Crafting decorations and characters. Exploring the conflict between the hero and the environment.
21 May
21 May
Class 9: First rehearsal. Building a story.
28 May
28 May
Class 10: Second rehearsal. Collaboration and mutual support in a creative team.
3 June (Sat)
3 June (Sat)
Class 11: Dress rehearsal: Preparing for the show.
4 June
4 June
Class 12: Show time!
Our team
Two workshop leaders, Misha and Polina, will always be with you during the classes. There will also be a Telegram chat where you can ask questions and get help from the workshop curators at any time.
  • Polina Shubina
    Curator and the Workshop leader
    Art manager, artist, and sailor. Polina has performed with the legendary puppet theater Bread and Puppet. During the pandemic, she developed the educational platform teatrino project and the Teatrino toy theater together with her mother. Polina loves the sea, crafting things and bringing people together.
  • Mikhail Kulishkin
    The Workshop leader
    Director, journalist, teacher, and photographer. Misha graduated from the puppet theater directing department, the workshop of R.R. Kudashov. Directed several performances and worked as a teacher in a theater studio, orphanaghe and kindergarden. In his creative work, Misha focuses more on the process than on the result. He believes that a teacher only encourages a student to explore on their own.
  • Anna Sagalchik
    Curator and Producer of the Workshop
    Curator, creative activist, and educator. Anna has worked on circus and theater projects with children and teenagers. She believes that theater can be a language for discussing complex issues, finding solutions, and reconciliation. As a child, Anna made puppets out of flowers and plants. She loves natural textures, minimalism, and functionality.
Experts
In addition to the workshop leaders, we invite experts in puppet making and operating and theatre set design.
  • Maya Sulkhanishvili
    Puppet maker and puppeteer
    Maya creates and operates puppets and teaches others to do so. She started making puppets when she was 5 years old, creating them from eggshells, candy wrappers, and threads with her grandmother. Now Maya works as a freelance puppeteer, teaches at the College of Traditional and Contemporary Art named after Sergo Zakariadze in Tbilisi, and participates in shows as a puppeteer and an actress.
  • Tatiana Osipova
    Stage designer, historian, and educator
    Сreator and ideological inspirer of the educational mentoring project "TOK" - a laboratory for children and teenagers dedicated to practicing theatrical professions.
    "I love to learn and teach, love theater and scenography. I teach children almost every day. Education is creativity, exchange, it is the key to the future. I sincerely believe that the world can change if we change it. And the world becomes completely different if we do it together."
  • Stepan Lysenko
    Contemporary artist, scenographer
    Сreator and technical director of the educational mentoring project "TOK" - a laboratory for children and teenagers dedicated to practicing theatrical professions.
    "Since childhood, I have loved painting. I have always been drawn to the idea that from nothing, from a blank sheet, you can create whole worlds. The language of art can convey emotions, feelings, tell stories. Art is my path, my way of communicating with the world."
  • Lydia Kolpakova
    Puppet theater artist
    A graduate of the St. Petersburg Institute of Scenic Arts, Lydia participated in the work on productions as a set designer, creator of puppets and objects, and took part in theater laboratories. She ended up in a theatre due to her passion for juggling and performative practices, as well as volunteering at theater festivals.
    "I learn from puppets and materials in the process of making them, explore special ways of integrating them into the world and their ability to give back an invitation."
Previous laboratory
In November and December 2022, the first teatrino Toy theater laboratory took place in Tbilisi. There were 12 participants of different ages starting from 7 years old. Here are some photos from the laboratory.
Polina Shubina
Curator and the Workshop Leader
Made on
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