Shadow Puppet Theatre
Mathilde Chevallier and Eddy Charreau were just passing through the village when they heard about Project Ix-canaan. They asked if they would be able to work for two days with the kids to teach them about Shadow Puppets.
The first step in the process was to divide the children into two groups, each of which had to find or write a story to produce.
Then they had to determine what characters and props were necessary to get across the idea of the story.
Each figure had to be mounted on sticks or hung from strings.
Each figure was painted black.
Everybody loved making the puppets that were to play the principal parts in the production.
And they were pleased and proud of the results.
The next step was to create a stage for the production. They cleaned off one of the shelves in the library, and found a sheet to tack to the back of it, and the lamp from the clinic provided the light and shadows.
Here are some scenes from the first production, which was taken from a story in one of the children’s books of the library.
Behind the scenes of the first production Eddy reads the story while the cutout actors are manipulated by a group of happy children.
Here are some scenes from the second production, which was a story that the group wrote themselves when the couldn’t find a story that they wanted to produce.
And behind the scenes, amidst much fun and hilarity, Alex reads the story while the children put the shadow puppets through their roles.
The audience was suitably entertained and appreciative.
Everyone posed for a cast photo at the end.