Puppet Shows
The Sorrowful Tale of Sleeping Sidney
"The Sorrowful Tale of Sleeping Sidney" is a solo show, written by Daisy Jordan and Ulysses Black (who also co-directed), based on the local tale of the Brighton Chocolate Cream Poisoner of 1870. It is a comically macabre tale, told via 7 glove-puppets, made by Daisy.
With a recorded musical score written and performed by Kate Daisy Grant, featuring fiddle and saw playing by Nick Pynn (who also recorded the soundtrack). Apothecary box/sweet shop prop made by Sophie Saunders.
Following its run in the Brighton Fringe Festival 2018, the show was a finalist for the New Writing South's Best New Play Award, and the Pebble Trust's International Touring Bursary.
"...beautiful and expressive puppets [...] and her macabre sense of humour, remind me of Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies [...] I loved the writing so much. It’s economical and direct, with flowing rhythms and great use of varied registers of language." - Quote from Peter Chrisp's review of the show.
Read the whole review here.
"..a gloriously gothic – and surprisingly funny – puppet show.... it's impossible not to fall for its dark, whimsical charms." - Quote from Exeunt Magazine. Read the whole review here.
Reviews from run at the Brighton Fringe, May 2018:
"the kind of charming small-scale show which defines the Fringe. It's funny, self-aware, skilful – and beautifully realised in its seaside milieu.[****]" - Fringe Guru. Read whole review here
"...a miraculous confection, a jewel box of dark delights... This is a gem of many colours. Do see it. The miraculous construction’s matched by Jordan’s storytelling and sense of dark mischief" - Fringe Review. Read whole review here
The show has also been performed at Folkestone Puppet Festival and it is still performed occasionally around the country.
Photos taken by various people (mainly Peter Williams, Ulysses Black and Luke Jones) - click on each one for individual credits!
With a recorded musical score written and performed by Kate Daisy Grant, featuring fiddle and saw playing by Nick Pynn (who also recorded the soundtrack). Apothecary box/sweet shop prop made by Sophie Saunders.
Following its run in the Brighton Fringe Festival 2018, the show was a finalist for the New Writing South's Best New Play Award, and the Pebble Trust's International Touring Bursary.
"...beautiful and expressive puppets [...] and her macabre sense of humour, remind me of Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies [...] I loved the writing so much. It’s economical and direct, with flowing rhythms and great use of varied registers of language." - Quote from Peter Chrisp's review of the show.
Read the whole review here.
"..a gloriously gothic – and surprisingly funny – puppet show.... it's impossible not to fall for its dark, whimsical charms." - Quote from Exeunt Magazine. Read the whole review here.
Reviews from run at the Brighton Fringe, May 2018:
"the kind of charming small-scale show which defines the Fringe. It's funny, self-aware, skilful – and beautifully realised in its seaside milieu.[****]" - Fringe Guru. Read whole review here
"...a miraculous confection, a jewel box of dark delights... This is a gem of many colours. Do see it. The miraculous construction’s matched by Jordan’s storytelling and sense of dark mischief" - Fringe Review. Read whole review here
The show has also been performed at Folkestone Puppet Festival and it is still performed occasionally around the country.
Photos taken by various people (mainly Peter Williams, Ulysses Black and Luke Jones) - click on each one for individual credits!
Puppet Portraits by Ulysses Black
Saippuakivikauppias (The Soap-stone Seller)
Photos taken by Abigail Sidebotham; photos of collages by Daisy Jordan
"Saippuakivikauppias" (meaning the "The Soapstone Seller" in Finnish), is a new collaborative musical and puppetry piece with Jane Bom-Bane for the Brighton Fringe 2015. The original tale was written in verse by Jane Bom-Bane in 2002, inspired by the Palindromic year. The Finnish word was the longest Palindromic word she could find at the time.
For this show, the audience followed the Midgard Serpent down into the underbelly of Bom-Bane's music cafe, where the tale of a troubled craftsman driven and hampered by his compulsion to remain symmetrical was told through original song, puppetry and animation, followed by a home-cooked Finnish feast.
Story, music and songs written and performed by Jane Bom-Bane, with beautiful harmonies by Eliza Skelton and Martin Peters.
Puppets and artwork created and performed by Daisy Jordan
Finnish menu created by Andre Schmidt and Anna Schmidt.
For this show, the audience followed the Midgard Serpent down into the underbelly of Bom-Bane's music cafe, where the tale of a troubled craftsman driven and hampered by his compulsion to remain symmetrical was told through original song, puppetry and animation, followed by a home-cooked Finnish feast.
Story, music and songs written and performed by Jane Bom-Bane, with beautiful harmonies by Eliza Skelton and Martin Peters.
Puppets and artwork created and performed by Daisy Jordan
Finnish menu created by Andre Schmidt and Anna Schmidt.
Beowulf (developed for Brighton Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe festival, 2015
With puppeteers Ulysses Black and Annie Brooks. Directed by Andy Cresswell.
"Beowulf" is a collaborative production based on the Anglo-Saxon epic. Written by resident writer, Craig Jordan-Baker, it is a story of brashness and bravery, wildness and civilisation, the human and the inhuman. It is an hour long piece combining live music, poetry and puppetry, and was first performed at the Theatre Royal as part of their "Out of Hours" programme, New England House and The Phoenix Theatre in Lewes.
"Totally original... an excellent, modern, family-friendly take on the tale." - The Argus
A developed version of the show was then performed in May 2014 as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival, after the show received a reward from Ideas Tap. It was directed by Andy Cresswell. In 2015, it received Arts Council Funding and was further developed for the Brighton Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2015.
"...[5*] One of the best constructed and intricate shows I’ve seen this year" - Broadway Baby (Edinburgh Fringe 2015)
"...an enchanting multi-sensory experience...a dazzling feat of the imagination." - Ideas Tap
Written by Craig Jordan-Baker. Puppets made by Daisy Jordan. Shadow puppets made by Laura Dumbrell. Music written and performed by Paul Mosley. Costumes by Kerrie Curzon (Charm and Laundry)
Cast: Poet - Tom Dussek. Puppeteers - Jessica Cheetham, Sian Rees, Daisy Jordan, Laura Dumbrell, Olivia Morgan (2013 - 14); Ulysses Black and Annie Brooks; Eleanor Conlon and Katie Sommers (2015) Music - Paul Mosley.
Produced by Jessica Cheetham (2013-14); Atomic Force Productions (2015)
Director (May 2014) - Andy Cresswell
"Totally original... an excellent, modern, family-friendly take on the tale." - The Argus
A developed version of the show was then performed in May 2014 as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival, after the show received a reward from Ideas Tap. It was directed by Andy Cresswell. In 2015, it received Arts Council Funding and was further developed for the Brighton Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2015.
"...[5*] One of the best constructed and intricate shows I’ve seen this year" - Broadway Baby (Edinburgh Fringe 2015)
"...an enchanting multi-sensory experience...a dazzling feat of the imagination." - Ideas Tap
Written by Craig Jordan-Baker. Puppets made by Daisy Jordan. Shadow puppets made by Laura Dumbrell. Music written and performed by Paul Mosley. Costumes by Kerrie Curzon (Charm and Laundry)
Cast: Poet - Tom Dussek. Puppeteers - Jessica Cheetham, Sian Rees, Daisy Jordan, Laura Dumbrell, Olivia Morgan (2013 - 14); Ulysses Black and Annie Brooks; Eleanor Conlon and Katie Sommers (2015) Music - Paul Mosley.
Produced by Jessica Cheetham (2013-14); Atomic Force Productions (2015)
Director (May 2014) - Andy Cresswell
Photos taken by Peter Williams.
The Fiji Mermaid
Lynne Thomas, Bill the monkey and myself present the audience with proof that mermaids really do exist. With live music, puppetry and rhyme, we tell the tragic tale of the beautiful Fiji Mermaid, a curiosity famously exhibited by P.T. Barnum in the 1800s.
Perfomed at the Booth Museum, Brighton, and Brighton Museum in Autumn 2014, and Spring 2015.
Written by Daisy Jordan and Lynne Thomas. Puppetry by Daisy Jordan. Music written and performed by Lynne Thomas.
Perfomed at the Booth Museum, Brighton, and Brighton Museum in Autumn 2014, and Spring 2015.
Written by Daisy Jordan and Lynne Thomas. Puppetry by Daisy Jordan. Music written and performed by Lynne Thomas.
Beowulf (Developed for Brighton Fringe May 2014)
Written by Craig Jordan-Baker. Puppets made by Daisy Jordan. Shadow puppets/set made by Laura Dumbrell. Music written and performed by Paul Mosley. Costumes by Kerrie Curzon (Charm and Laundry)
Cast: Poet - Tom Dussek. Puppeteers - Jessica Cheetham, Sian Rees, Daisy Jordan, Olivia Morgan
Directed by Andy Cresswell.
(See above for more details)
Cast: Poet - Tom Dussek. Puppeteers - Jessica Cheetham, Sian Rees, Daisy Jordan, Olivia Morgan
Directed by Andy Cresswell.
(See above for more details)
Beowulf - 2013
Photos by Mary Martin.
Written and directed by Craig Jordan-Baker. Puppets made by Daisy Jordan. Shadow puppets/set made by Laura Dumbrell. Music written and performed by Paul Mosley. Costumes by Kerrie Curzon (Charm and Laundry)
Cast: Poet - Tom Dussek. Puppeteers - Jessica Cheetham, Sian Rees, Daisy Jordan, Laura Dumbrell.
(See above for more details)
Cast: Poet - Tom Dussek. Puppeteers - Jessica Cheetham, Sian Rees, Daisy Jordan, Laura Dumbrell.
(See above for more details)
"Roll Over; Play Dead" Solo exhibition in Trondheim, Norway (Residency)
Photos by Per Kristian Nygard
For the whole of March 2014, I was a guest artist at Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder in Trondheim, Norway.
Exhibition Statement
I work by collecting stories, bits of narrative, ideas and materials together. These are then collaged together, and then often translated into puppetry, which I have found to be a perfect way of combining visual art with narrative and storytelling.
The work in this exhibition mainly looks at the concepts of simulation, illusion, deception and disguise. I am interested in simulated environments, for example children's playgrounds (which inspired one of the pieces in this exhibition). The theatre can also be seen as a simulated environment: it is a place where performance happens so deals with illusion, though actually perhaps we are always performing in real life. We pretend, we lie, we exaggerate, we wear masks.
I find puppets interesting for many reasons. Puppets can do anything- whatever we want them to! They are lawless beings, or outlaws, perhaps.
They are comic, but there is also something very tragic about them, because they can live only under our control. They simulate life, so we empathise with them, though the puppet has no life without us. We inflict life upon it: it lives because we want it to. It lives off our life (that is, the life of the puppeteer, and the audience who believes in it) kind of like a parasite, so perhaps it makes us think about and question what it is to be alive.
Puppets are objects, created by humans from materials to simulate a living "thing", often something in our own image. They are the bridge between us and the object world- the land of inanimate "things".
Finally, the work here also explores the idea of disillusionment. I think puppets can articulate this very well. The disillusionment that can be the result of becoming aware that something is an illusion, having to accept failure, starting again, and having to let something die.
Exhibition Statement
I work by collecting stories, bits of narrative, ideas and materials together. These are then collaged together, and then often translated into puppetry, which I have found to be a perfect way of combining visual art with narrative and storytelling.
The work in this exhibition mainly looks at the concepts of simulation, illusion, deception and disguise. I am interested in simulated environments, for example children's playgrounds (which inspired one of the pieces in this exhibition). The theatre can also be seen as a simulated environment: it is a place where performance happens so deals with illusion, though actually perhaps we are always performing in real life. We pretend, we lie, we exaggerate, we wear masks.
I find puppets interesting for many reasons. Puppets can do anything- whatever we want them to! They are lawless beings, or outlaws, perhaps.
They are comic, but there is also something very tragic about them, because they can live only under our control. They simulate life, so we empathise with them, though the puppet has no life without us. We inflict life upon it: it lives because we want it to. It lives off our life (that is, the life of the puppeteer, and the audience who believes in it) kind of like a parasite, so perhaps it makes us think about and question what it is to be alive.
Puppets are objects, created by humans from materials to simulate a living "thing", often something in our own image. They are the bridge between us and the object world- the land of inanimate "things".
Finally, the work here also explores the idea of disillusionment. I think puppets can articulate this very well. The disillusionment that can be the result of becoming aware that something is an illusion, having to accept failure, starting again, and having to let something die.
Orangutan and Me
As a little girl, Daisy was not allowed a real orangutan, so she had to make do with an imaginary one. On growing up, she decided to create her beloved companion in physical form, to try and capture its spirit in material flesh. Of course, she was disappointed.
This short one-woman (and-a-puppet) show explores the troubled relationship between myself and Orang-utan - the physical manifestation of my childhood imaginary friend, sewed together from bits of leather and man-made fur. On stage the audience is made witness to my frustration with Orang-utan (and ultimately myself) for her shortcomings, both as puppet and ape; and our mutual resentment of, yet co-dependence on, one and another. This 15 minute show explores, through our dynamic, the relationship between our imaginations and what we can achieve physically; the conflict between our child selves and our adult selves; and our relationship with (and manipulation of) the natural world.
This show has been an ongoing work-in-progress, and the subject matter has also been explored through various drawings and other art work. First premiered in 2012, it is still evolving.
Performances include - Punched, Brighton 2012, 2013; Over the Moon Festival, West Sussex 2012; Babel Art Gallery, Trondheim, Norway, 2014; Ernst Busch Hochschule, Berlin, 2015; Folkestone Puppet Festival 2020.
Written, created and performed by Daisy Jordan.
Recent direction by Ulysses Black (2017) www.ulyssesblack.com
This short one-woman (and-a-puppet) show explores the troubled relationship between myself and Orang-utan - the physical manifestation of my childhood imaginary friend, sewed together from bits of leather and man-made fur. On stage the audience is made witness to my frustration with Orang-utan (and ultimately myself) for her shortcomings, both as puppet and ape; and our mutual resentment of, yet co-dependence on, one and another. This 15 minute show explores, through our dynamic, the relationship between our imaginations and what we can achieve physically; the conflict between our child selves and our adult selves; and our relationship with (and manipulation of) the natural world.
This show has been an ongoing work-in-progress, and the subject matter has also been explored through various drawings and other art work. First premiered in 2012, it is still evolving.
Performances include - Punched, Brighton 2012, 2013; Over the Moon Festival, West Sussex 2012; Babel Art Gallery, Trondheim, Norway, 2014; Ernst Busch Hochschule, Berlin, 2015; Folkestone Puppet Festival 2020.
Written, created and performed by Daisy Jordan.
Recent direction by Ulysses Black (2017) www.ulyssesblack.com
The Monkey Train
Photos taken by Mary Martin.
This is a walkabout performance piece featuring a poem written by Craig Jordan-Baker especially for the show. It tells the tragic tales of five performing monkeys (each of a different species) as they continue their endless journey aboard the Monkey Train.
Created and performed by Daisy Jordan. Poem written by - Craig Jordan-Baker. Music - Lucy Cougherty and Mary Martin; Lynne Thomas; Foz Foster; Felix Clement
Created and performed by Daisy Jordan. Poem written by - Craig Jordan-Baker. Music - Lucy Cougherty and Mary Martin; Lynne Thomas; Foz Foster; Felix Clement
Various commissioned projects
Troubadour Tales
In May 2012, I created puppets for and performed in "Troubadour Tales" as part of the Brighton Family Fringe Festival. Written by Craig Jordan-Baker, this is a cross-discipline, collaborative piece combining story-telling, puppetry and live music. It took place in the Hurly Burly theatre tent.
Also performed at the Theatre Royal, Brighton in August 2012.
Directed by Andy Cresswell
Written and produced by Craig-Jordan Baker
Cast - Rebecca Santos, Andy Cresswell, Daisy Jordan
Costumes by Kerrie Curzon (Charm and Laundry)
Also performed at the Theatre Royal, Brighton in August 2012.
Directed by Andy Cresswell
Written and produced by Craig-Jordan Baker
Cast - Rebecca Santos, Andy Cresswell, Daisy Jordan
Costumes by Kerrie Curzon (Charm and Laundry)
In Her Hands
Photos taken by Olivia Morgan.
In December 2011, I collaborated with my friend singer/songwriter Rosi Lalor on the half-an-hour piece “In Her Hands”. The puppet heads are carved from avocado stones. In this piece I wanted to use materials that were slightly more organic, and to experiment with lending parts of my own body (ie. hands and fingers) for the puppets’ bodies.
This piece was also performed alongside other smaller collaborative pieces in February 2012 in "Dreams from a Winter Garden" at The Brunswick in Hove, and then in "Dreams from a Spring Garden" in April 2012 at the Black Dove, Brighton.
In December 2011, I collaborated with my friend singer/songwriter Rosi Lalor on the half-an-hour piece “In Her Hands”. The puppet heads are carved from avocado stones. In this piece I wanted to use materials that were slightly more organic, and to experiment with lending parts of my own body (ie. hands and fingers) for the puppets’ bodies.
This piece was also performed alongside other smaller collaborative pieces in February 2012 in "Dreams from a Winter Garden" at The Brunswick in Hove, and then in "Dreams from a Spring Garden" in April 2012 at the Black Dove, Brighton.
Orson and Valentine
In May 2011, as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival, I wrote, directed and made puppets for “Orson and Valentine” - a show based on a medieval folk-tale. Produced by Jake Spicer of the Brighton Life Drawing sessions, it was a successful collaborative piece with a live original music score, composed by Thomas Newman.
Puppeteers - Olivia Morgan, Ellen de Vries, Christopher Murphy, Robert White, Lucy Clougherty, Freyja Lee, Daisy Jordan
Musical Director - Thomas Newman
Musicians- Thomas Newman, Joss Holden-Rea, Calum Bowen and Fionn Lennie Duffy
Costumes by Kerrie Curzon and Sarah Walpole
Set by Olivia Morgan, Sophie Saunders, Jake Spicer and Daisy Jordan
"Orson & Valentine is a resounding success" - Totaltheatre review
Puppeteers - Olivia Morgan, Ellen de Vries, Christopher Murphy, Robert White, Lucy Clougherty, Freyja Lee, Daisy Jordan
Musical Director - Thomas Newman
Musicians- Thomas Newman, Joss Holden-Rea, Calum Bowen and Fionn Lennie Duffy
Costumes by Kerrie Curzon and Sarah Walpole
Set by Olivia Morgan, Sophie Saunders, Jake Spicer and Daisy Jordan
"Orson & Valentine is a resounding success" - Totaltheatre review
Beast and the Blonde
With a title inspired by Marina Warner, "Beast and the Blonde" was created in October 2010 wherein a young orang-utan falls in love and begins her journey of self-discovery and sexual awakening.
It was performed in Bom-Bane’s cafe. Music composed and performed live by Thomas Newman. Puppeteers: Daisy Jordan, Robert White, Olivia Morgan and Christopher Murphy. Set by O. Morgan, Sophie Saunders and D. Jordan
Costumes by Sarah Walpole and Kerrie Curzon.
It was performed in Bom-Bane’s cafe. Music composed and performed live by Thomas Newman. Puppeteers: Daisy Jordan, Robert White, Olivia Morgan and Christopher Murphy. Set by O. Morgan, Sophie Saunders and D. Jordan
Costumes by Sarah Walpole and Kerrie Curzon.
Degree Show photos 2009 - Invitation
Photos of my degree show - a mixed media installation."He may not enter anywhere at first, unless there be some member of the household to bid him to come; though afterwards he can come as he pleases."
- Bram Stoker, Dracula
An invitation is an opening; to be invited is to be placed in a liminal situation, on a threshold between possibilities. It arouses a tension between our longing to explore the unknown and our desire to stay within the comfort of the familiar.
Most of the work here is derived from personal memory. The ape, the spectral house and the staircase all exist between states. Ghosts occupy the border between life and death; the ghostly house is neither invisible nor entirely visible. It represents a place which, like a ghost, now exists between the tangible and ethereal - my memory of how it used to be and its current actuality. Like ghosts, memories can transcend the boundaries of time.
On the cusp between the human and the animal, apes encompass the contrasting nature of our bestial and civilised sides.
I have created beast-like creatures and animals in my work as metaphors for the darker side of human nature and the repressed parts of the psyche.
Sometimes toy-like in their dimensions, the beasts are simultaneously innocent and sexual; both the victim and the predator. I am interested in the tension between fear and desire, helplessness and empowerment.
I hope to create a setting which evokes the atmosphere of a childhood playground or toy shop, and then subvert it, creating a world depicting repressed desires and irrational fears in the form of puppet-like characters.
I would like the viewer to feel pathos towards the creatures, wanting to caress and nurture them, whilst at the same time be repelled by them.
- Bram Stoker, Dracula
An invitation is an opening; to be invited is to be placed in a liminal situation, on a threshold between possibilities. It arouses a tension between our longing to explore the unknown and our desire to stay within the comfort of the familiar.
Most of the work here is derived from personal memory. The ape, the spectral house and the staircase all exist between states. Ghosts occupy the border between life and death; the ghostly house is neither invisible nor entirely visible. It represents a place which, like a ghost, now exists between the tangible and ethereal - my memory of how it used to be and its current actuality. Like ghosts, memories can transcend the boundaries of time.
On the cusp between the human and the animal, apes encompass the contrasting nature of our bestial and civilised sides.
I have created beast-like creatures and animals in my work as metaphors for the darker side of human nature and the repressed parts of the psyche.
Sometimes toy-like in their dimensions, the beasts are simultaneously innocent and sexual; both the victim and the predator. I am interested in the tension between fear and desire, helplessness and empowerment.
I hope to create a setting which evokes the atmosphere of a childhood playground or toy shop, and then subvert it, creating a world depicting repressed desires and irrational fears in the form of puppet-like characters.
I would like the viewer to feel pathos towards the creatures, wanting to caress and nurture them, whilst at the same time be repelled by them.
