As I’m cooking breakfast in the kitchen at my campground, I get chatting with a young couple from the United States, Philadelphia specially. Leah Holleran and Aaron Roberge decided to create a shadow puppet show, The Dragon and The Wanderer, and busk tour it around Europe as part of their three month honeymoon. I immediately liked these folks. Both actors, both new to creating a puppet show – let alone a mobile operation. Did I mention that they are camping too? And it’s been pretty much non-stop rain since I arrived. They’re traveling with two suitcases full of show materials and two backpacks stuffed with camping gear. Sounds like a logistical nightmare to me. Oh boy, did I have questions.
Leah explained that they were admitted into the Edinburgh Fringe to perform on the Royal Mile, but opted out. Their show runs 29 minutes and they would only be allotted 25. Plus, it’s quite complex to set up and break down the set. While they both handle the puppets and Leah is a character in the show, she shared that Aaron is the engineering force behind the show. The entire puppet theater set is made up of 28” sections, with Leah emphasizing that it’s a time-consuming puzzle to put together. However, the setup process has proved to be good marketing. So WHERE are they performing if not the Fringe? In our campground! –plus other campgrounds, restaurants, and venues where they’ve been invited while traveling. The campground kids look in wonder and spread the word as the couple builds their stage and their audience. Ours is the largest campground nearest to the Fringe and they are the only folks that I’ve seen perform here. Brilliant! They shared that their big aim is to participate in the World Puppet Theater Festival in France next month where they are official participants. Oh man, now another event I’d love to check out.
But let’s talk more about set design. What were the challenges with taking their show on the road? Aaron explained that the set had to be light and durable enough to fly, yet not blow over nor be destroyed in weather when busking. The shadow puppet screen is the most delicate part and takes a full day to make. They brought 3 screens and are already down one. Also, they had to make it easy enough to set up with limited tools as tools are heavy to ship and expensive to re-purchase. Six tools get the job done. Aaron had a vision of the entire set actually turning into a dragon puppet, so that complicated things a bit too. But he adds perspective by sharing a quote, “I learned 999 things not to do before getting it right.” Then there’s lighting and sound. Two lightweight photography lights and two small, but mighty, blue tooth speakers connected to a phone do the trick. Don’t forget the puppets and the costumes. The puppets, both shadow and hand puppets, are all original creations and by original I mean the couple invented various puppet concepts that have not been seen before one of which involves a glove with rods sticking out from each finger. I mention it’s shadow puppet theater, right? So the ideal timing for a show is early evening. Too much light can be a problem, but they seem to have worked that part out.
One final important nugget of info for acts coming from other countries to the Fringe — Leah shared that they were supposed to perform at the Bedford Fringe Festival, but found out when they got to Europe that they did not have the correct work permits. She had read carefully the information on the Edinburgh Fringe website and presumed it would be the same for Bedford It was not. Here’s their detainment story: https://thedragonandthewanderer.com/2019/08/18/what-to-do-when-you-get-detained-our-unexpected-detour-in-calais-france/?fbclid=IwAR2-TM5dBi69_CaNleVVV11wnmM1H-Idlm2KKeET0I8CweUzPmI6xyaanYo. Yikes. Thanks for the heads up.
