Vivify love to share their skills & enthusiasm with new & special audiences.
Our immersive shadow theatre & puppetry workshops can be adapted to suite most ages, needs, themes & budgets. They range from simple drop in sessions to more elaborate productions, developed over a day or week or more, culminating in an all inclusive, empowering performance.
Multi sensory, interactive theatre breaks down the barriers between making & performing, actor & audience. Sensitive & responsive to individual & particular needs we tend to work with smaller groups to maximise our impact. We are keen to target those who might benefit from this original, intimate style of theatre & are currently consulting with teachers, play therapists & other specialists to research the most effective means of engaging special needs & other exceptional audiences on their home territory.
Vivify welcome responding to new situations & challenges & would be happy to discuss how your dreams & ideas can be realised.
Skills & expertise we can offer :
Shadow theatre, production & performance
Puppet making, operating & performing
Sand animation & clay modelling
Celebratory arts – masks, costumes & banners
Dance, movement & music making
Fulfilling Curriculum Objectives | Booking Enquiries
Organisations with whom we have worked & the projects we have developed:
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Forestry England
‘Seeking the Turtle Dove’ – a magical wildlife adventure.
‘Seeking the Turtle Dove’ is a magical wildlife adventure, helping you learn about this elusive bird, it’s threatened habitat and the dangers it faces on it’s perilous migration between the British Isles and West Africa. Our celebratory walk includes live music, woodland installations, puppetry and the chance to make your own Turtle Dove kite.
In 2020 we were commissioned by Forestry England to research & develop a magical, interactive journey to publicise the plight of the endangered Turtle Dove and to engage young children & their families in its remarkable story.
We spent the summer testing ideas out in Dalby Forest. The event was always intended for small audiences in a natural outdoor setting so despite these troubling times we were still able to conclude with a successful pilot performance.
We trust that we will be able to roll it out once more in the Spring & Summer of 2021 both for Forestry England in Dalby Forest & for any other interested wildlife organisations & schools [particularly suitable for key stage 1] It can adapt to playgrounds, parks, fields and woodlands, as long as there are a few trees or shrubs on which a bird can perch!
Rollercoastival Children’s Arts Festival
Immersive shadow theatre performances & workshops:
‘Time & Tide’ & ‘Albert Ross & the Rime of the Ancient Mariner’
Entering an undersea environment or voyaging to the Antarctic, children imaginatively engaged with how our seas are polluted & maritime creatures threatened. Considering how we might change the course of the narrative to a more positive outcome, Children repopulated the seas & skies with shadow & UV puppets made from recycled materials.
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Hospital Arts for North East Yorkshire
A six month residency on a children’s ward & clinic exploring ways in which puppetry can be used to distract young patients from invasive procedures.
Shadow screens were hung round beds & a series of magical ‘umbrella’ environments created where the children, their nurses & parents could animate their own colourful shadow & glove puppets & begin to share & tell stories…..
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Created in response to particular exhibitions, a series of immersive shadow theatre workshops & performances for family audiences.
‘Enchanted Forest’, ‘Small World’ & ‘Paper Palace’ A workshop space dramatically lit can be part of an installation, a workshop activity, practised & refined becomes a performance.
“It was such a success thanks to your vision, inspiration & graft! The whole site was transformed into such a joyful space.”
Janette Pratt, Head of Education, The Yorkshire Sculpture Park
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Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Tread Softly – Site sensitive walks of guided imagery.
Children took turns to lay and follow magical trails, making whilst moving through different habitats in the YSP landscape, creating for others to discover…..
Vivify encourage curiosity & sensory exploration of the natural environment. How can children imaginatively encounter place & space? From individual quests & small discoveries to shared games, songs & celebrations.
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Chrysalis Arts & North Yorkshire County Council
‘Car Space, Our Space’
Shadow puppet workshops & performances promoting travel awareness in schools throughout NorthYorkshire. A subsequent teachers‘ seminar & manual attest to how shadow puppetry enables children to fully & creatively engage with topics & issues.
“Vivien’s innovative use of puppetry was the highlight of the workshops. Her inspirational approach and creative use of simple and effective materials and resources was a fantastic success. Both children and teachers were motivated and excited to create a shadow puppet show delivering an important message. It was such fun!”
Jane Macdonald, Regional School Travel Curriculum Adviser