Dinosaurs, Sea Giants
(And The Occasional Firebird and Monkey God)
If you’re interested in hiring a monster, scroll down to the 'Current Creatures' section at the bottom of this page. You'll find a list of their owners and their websites,
If you’d like to hear about my puppet journey and how I found myself making 4-metre-tall sea giants and 6-metre-long dragons for a living, then read on!
The Ancient Giants, built for Inspirate Ltd. Photo: Tom Platinum Morely.
I had been a propmaker and scenic artist in the Visitor Attraction industry for many years when I took a sidestep into set painting for Theatre companies. My work proved popular and I was asked to design sets, too. These were well received and the increased attention brought in illustration work and a commission for a 2-metre-wide lionfish and a 4-metre-long dragon for New Walk Museum's "Animal Stories" exhibition.
The 2 pieces served their purpose without setting my heart on fire. However, the tubular construction techniques I had developed suggested new possibilities and I decided to explore them. I wondered if I could apply them to walk-around puppets, to make them stronger, easier to transport, and more suitable for the rough and tumble of festival-style environments.
Cosima the dragon, built for Cosmopolitan Arts.
My first working prototype, a half-size Utahraptor, saw action at Mantle Art's “Coalville Comes Alive” event in 2013. It was by no means perfect but the great reception it received inspired me to build bigger and better and I returned to New Walk Museum some years later with an improved version.
Brimstone the Dragon..
I pushed on with further dinosaur experiments, 2 dragons commissions for Loughborough Town hall, my first Chinese dragon for Cosmopolitan Arts, early versions of Hanuman And Ravan for Inspirate Ltd, and my own 6-metre-long dragon, Brimstone.
"Firebird." Built for Bamboozle Theatre Limited. Director: Christopher Davies.
In 2020 I was commissioned by Autin Dance Theatre to design and build the 4-metre-tall, 5-person-operated Sea Giant, Eko. My brief was to create a colossal character capable of a complete range of anatomical movement that could interact directly with a human performer. The design challenges were considerable and the hours were long and exhausting, but I was successful and the joints and articulation systems I created triggered my snowballing interest in bio-mechanical art and engineering.
A second version of Eko followed, along with a 5-metre-wingspan phoenix for Bamboozle Theatre Ltd, more dragons for Cosmopolitan Arts, a nature-inspired Hugel for Theatre Factory, a grim Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come for 14/48 Leicester and appearances at increasing numbers of events.
Eko, built for Autin Dance Theatre.
If you've ever tried to fit 4 metres of tyrannosaurus into 2 metres of Vauxhall Zafira bootspace, you'll appreciate the benefits of modular construction. Puppets that can be broken down into smaller sections are easier to store, easier to transport and easier to maintain. They're also easier to upgrade as old components can be removed and experimental parts bolted in place and tested. With this in mind, I took the technological advances I had developed for Eko and applied them directly to the 2 puppets I had built for Inspirate. With new limbs and articulation, Hanuman and Ravan were suddenly capable of greeting and interacting with audiences, dancing and, most excitingly of all, fighting!
Inspirate were open to my idea of a great puppet battle and engaged a team of talented puppeteers and martial arts expert, Chirag Lukha, to create a choreographed combat performance that premiered at Leicester's Diwali celebrations in 2022. We returned in 2023 and, I'm pleased to say, will be taking the show on tour in 2024.
To be continued....
Cosmo (Cosima's brother) built for Cosmopolitan Arts.
Current Creatures. Who owns what and where to find them.
The Ancient Giants (3 metres tall, performable) are owned by Inspirate Ltd.
Brimstone the dragon (6 metres long, static display and performable) is owned by Mr Cleaver’s Monsters and operation is shared between myself and Autin Dance Theatre.
Cosmo and Cosima the Chinese dragons (4.5 metres long approx, static display) are owned by Cosmopolitan Arts.
Eko the Sea Giant (4 metres tall, performable) is owned by Autin Dance Theatre.
Firebird the phoenix (5-metre-wingspan, performable) is owned by Bamboozle Theatre .
The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come (2.5 metres tall approx, performable) is owned by 14/48 Leicester.
1448leicesterfest.wordpress.com
Hugel the nature spirit (2.5 metres tall approx, performable) is owned by Theatre Factory.
Utahraptor V3 (now retired) exhibited in the New Walk Museum Dinosaur Gallery.
Little Rah (now retired) at The Haymarket Shopping Centre. Picture credit: Haymarket, Leicester.