Richard Bradshaw writes:
The original puppets were destroyed in a warehouse fire in 1969, which was also the year when Lindsay died.
The Marionette Theatre of Australia had been formed in 1965 and in 1970 an M.T.A. production of The Magic Pudding, with new marionettes, was directed by Peter Batey. (At the same time Peter Scriven created the rod-puppet Tintookies 2000.)
A new M.T.A. version, the third official puppet version, this time with rod-puppets was directed by Richard Bradshaw in 1980. Michael Creighton made an excellent documentary about the building of this show, A Puppet Pudding, and this is being shown continuously during the exhibition.
Michael created a fourth version of The Magic Pudding for the M.T.A. some years later, using larger rod-puppets.
Also on show at the exhibition are two of the 1970 marionettes, and two of the 1980 rod-puppets, some set designs, and sketches for the original book drawn in 1918.
Open: 15 December 2008 – 29 March 2009
The Picture Gallery
Admission: Free
Tags: puppetry, puppets, unima australia, unima, australia
