Where to study puppetry in Australia
Please note: this post only applies to education opportunities in Australia. If you are from another country, I would suggest visiting The Puppetry Homepage, UNIMA USA, or UNIMA UK.
Are there educational places in Australia where you can make or perform with puppets? Yes!
The only full course for puppeteers in Australia is at VCA. The course is three years, and is a postgraduate/masters combined. I can’t speak of the quality of the course myself, but I do know that many of the professional puppeteers consider the course to be excellent. It is run by Peter Wilson, one of the foremost Australian puppeteers. UPDATE 9 June 2009: VCA may be shutting down the puppetry course for good; currently there is NO full-time degrees in puppetry in Australia. Read more here.
Second to that is the puppetry component at Swinburne; it is only part of their acting/tech course. It is was run by Ken Evans (as a sessional lecturer), one of the founding members of Handspan, until 2007. In 2008, Julia Davis from Dream Puppets is running the puppetry component (sources inform me). I undertook this course, and can highly recommend it. It has changed since I was there, and the puppetry component has become a larger part of the course; I also know that the coordinators hope to extend it into an undergraduate counterpart to VCA’s course. UPDATE: I have now written a rather lengthy post discussing the Swinburne course in more detail. You can read about it here.
There are no puppet-making short courses that you can do in Melbourne, but there are a few classes (see next paragraphs). I don’t know of any in other states. If you are already a theatre or arts student, you can ask your university or TAFE if they offer work experience placements with local puppetry companies. (I’m not aware of any other TAFE or university that specifically has puppetry as part of its curriculum; if you do, please let me know) UPDATE: You can indeed take puppetry at the University of South Australia. This is a summer school only and not a complete degree. The school is run by Sue Harris.
Outside of that, your best bet is to find a local puppetry company (there are many!) who offer classes. Very few offer adult classes, but they do exist. Try checking out Puppetry Australia or UNIMA Australia for companies who offer classes. I am not aware of anyone who offers classes for ventriloquists/ventriloquism; outside of a few who do instruction for muppet-type lip synching and performance. Likewise, I am not familiar with any place that offers courses or degrees in animatronics (this is most likely something you could get into through doing degrees in robotics/engineering).
Polyglot Puppet Theatre in Melbourne has some children’s classes, but I am not aware of any adult classes on offer by them and they offer masterclasses for professional puppeteers - nothing really for newbie puppeteers though. Polliwog Puppets in Gippsland offer kids classes and ones for seniors, but none (it seems) for adults in between those ages (read more about Polliwog here). Festive Factory in Woodend, Victoria, offers performances and workshops. They seem to be mainly focused on children’s events and festival pieces. Purple Capsicum Puppets, also based in Melbourne, offer workshops for kids and schools. Richard Bradshaw often runs workshops, which you can hire for your event, or if you’re lucky to find him at a festival. (Your question answered: where to find classes or groups in Melbourne?)
If you are near Sydney, you can try my good friend Gary Friedman, who does offer classes for students and adults (I took his paper puppet workshop in April 2008 and highly recommend him; the workshop was great, and he often runs muppet-type classes for adults. He’s Henson trained, so I would think that workshop would be good too). Erth Visual and Physical Inc based in NSW, produce large puppets, combined with physical theatre (circus, acrobatics, etc.). They also offer workshops. Sydney Puppet Theatre also occasionally offers workshops for adults. Murray Raine Puppets in Sydney offer puppet shows and workshops (the former for both kids and adults, the latter for just kids). Terrapin Puppet Theatre in Tasmania, offer masterclasses for adults. In South Australia, Sue Harris Puppets offers performances and workshops for both adults and children.
You can also travel overseas, where in Europe, the UK, and America, there are more opportunities for formal study. If you need to find somewhere to study, I recommend checking out UNIMA Int, which has links to all the puppetry union’s branches around the world; from there you can find a course in the country you want to go to.
I can say that in my experience, since VCA’s course came into existence - only a few years ago - professional puppeteers have become reluctant to take on mentorships or internships with emerging artists. This used to be the only way to gain learning experience in Australia (and just as common overseas), but now puppeteers are all directing prospective protegés to VCA. I personally find it disappointing, because I want hands-on practical experience, without having lecturers, assignments, and classrooms. However, I believe that if you want to study puppetry, you can do no better than applying for either Swinburne or VCA.
See also my post on finding puppetry work in Australia. And do also check the category Puppet Courses (for best results, use the right hand menu to scroll through the updates) on this page where I will add posts about new or upcoming classes.
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