Duo to take puppet show across Cumbria in a handcart (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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Duo to take puppet show across Cumbria in a handcart
7:49pm Friday 11th March 2011 in News
By Rachel Ryan
WALKING TOUR: Gary Bridgens and Phill Gregg, prepare to git the roads of South Cumbria. Photo: STEVE BARBER
TWO Cumbrian artists are to walk the byways of south Cumbria with a handcart full of puppets in the footsteps of a famous British entertainer.
Gary Bridgens and Phill Gregg, of Headzup Theatre in Barrow, will travel 100 miles, mainly on foot, through the countryside of South Cumbria, performing shows along the way for visitors and local people alike.
The trip, as part of the Lakes Alive festival, is inspired by the travels of Walter Wilkinson, a world famous showman and puppeteer, who toured throughout Britain and the USA during the 1920s and 1930s.
Wilkinson set up his show wherever he could find an audience and wrote travelogues of his experiences which became a series of popular books.
Gary said: “As performers we’ve long had a fascination with the journeys of Walter Wilkinson and it was something we wanted to do ourselves.
"Like Walter, we will travel with a small cart that doubles as a puppet booth and carry a collection of puppets, props and instruments – as well as a tent and a change of clothes.”
The show, called Vagabonding, will feature songs and stories devised from local heritage and folklore. Along the way, the performers will collect and document stories from the places they visit, sharing them with new audiences each day.
The duo will be stopping off in places including Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands, Kendal and Windermere.
