sound over ait eile but unfortunately their hospital was experiencing problems which will hopefully be rectified by next week. So I went out to the day ward and worked with one boy aged six and his three year old sister, with a lot of help from their mom we made two really fun puppets that played lots of shaky instruments. A really nice day back to the puppet portal.”
continue to make three little films using her own soft toy and the puppet I had used and left with her instead of Storybear for infection control reasons. They showed the camera the new bear she had been given but who had to stay in his plastic and they invited him to come and sleep in the empty bed in her room because he had to go to hospital ‘it’s not so bad, we’re here’
Niamh Lawlor:
“A three year old driving a train over my head and driving Storybear around the ward on his toy truck. Even if his affection with the bear meant I had to retire him from service for the day – he has just been scrubbed in vodka and had a spin in the washing machine, for infection control reasons. Not a good idea to use a soft toy in the hospital.
“I am glad I visited on Monday before starting – it always helps to know the place before you start and I even had a chance to meet a couple of the children. It also helped prepare me for what will be one of my biggest challenges in this project I think – walking into the hospital and seeing the little cots in the corridors was enough to put a lump in my throat. I had to immediately give myself a talking to – I could not afford to be swamped by sympathy if I was going to be useful. That non-working visit also alowed me a chance to do the test web-link with Trinity which once successfully achieved – after some technical assistance - proved a huge weight off my mind. “My preparation was a bit feverish, a symptom of my nervousness around the new job and I came with a plan A and a plan B and materials for both. I felt the way I feel the night before travelling, packing bags for every eventuality. Funnily enough our agreed theme for the moment is Journey. Luckily plan A worked so Plan B is in line now for next week! “Storybear, a small teddy I use a lot as a performer for interactive storytelling, made a video diary from the attic window where I work. He declares it his favourite place and shows the view – back gardens and the high buildings of the city in the distance, he attempts to point out the Spire on O’Connell St and the big wheel at the docks (but they can barely be seen), and he tells how his favourite journey is the walk into town. “The premise was that Storybear is a reporter for Puppet Television, and having invited the children to see his ‘film’ he encourages them or their own cuddly toy to talk about their favourite place or journey. They then would be invited to draw their favourite place, and later, to show it on ‘puppet television’ (either on the Vado little camera with playback which seemed a good size to be Storybear’s tele or on the web link on the laptop) with their own cuddly toy as presenter, in front of it. I offered them a choice of white or coloured card (everyone chose a colour – lovely bright A2 sheets from Evans) and gave them child friendly oil pastels to work with. It had the advantage of my being able to give them a task and move off to another child/ward and return to them later – this is a bit risky in the hospital setting as they are so busy they are in and out, but luckily I managed to get back to everyone who got as far as the drawing stage. With the youngest boy we just played together for a while. “Not sure how successful the content of the film was for some of the children– it was probably too long (2:52 mins) and wordy and hard to hear sometimes in the chaos of the ward, tele blaring etc. but it did impact on the four and nine year old, and certainly communicated the idea of using film and inspired response.
“A seven year old’s well loved bear appearing suddenly out of her bed in response to Storybear’s arrival, and the beautiful drawing she subsequently made of the inside of her school bag – his favourite place. “Particular challenges – when I was on the floor with a three and a four year old attempting to operate Storybear while he was being driven around on their toys, and involve a seven year old confined to bed above us. Trying to do a web link with more than one child at once in the ward situation was also difficult, as was the challenge of not showing the child on the web cam while also letting them see the image of the people they were talking to – the windows are very small. I used the premise that the humans were all secret agents, hiding from the camera. Must try and get the external camera working for next week, and try and source a mike too, it can be very noisy in there and children need a lot of warming up before their puppets can be loud. “Lowlights of the day – when Storybear’s ‘knocking’ in the doorway of the second ward was immediately greeted by a wail of despair from a boy of about three. When this happened again on the corridor later the nurse manager wisely concluded the trolley I was using was possibly the source of terror, it being what accompanies a lot of medical procedures. I had been pleased with it both as a prop and for its usefulness with all my baggage, but of course it has other connotations. If I use it again I will cover it in bright fabric or something. By the end of the day though I was getting little smiles from him, so if he’s still there next week we may do something together. At least it is good he can refuse some ‘treatment’. “Leaving the hospital, exhausted, the sympathy that had been put aside all day jumped on me. It is so hard to see children seriously ill, and to see their parents witnessing this. “Ah..I can’t leave it there, here’s another highlight – trying to burn dvds at the end of the day a staff member clearly bogged down by admin jumped up from her computer and ran over to see when she recognised a child’s voice performing with a purple poodle. She seemed delighted.” The artists participating in the Puppet Portal Project are: Emma Fisher, Niamh Lawlor, Sally Maidment, Fionnuala Conway, Ezther Nemethi Siobhan Clancy and Anna Rosenfelder. Artist Mentor: Ann Henderson.
“Highlights of the day – When a nine year old in isolation was thrilled by interacting with Siobhán’s glove (literally) puppet through the web link and whose confidence in voice projection (gently encouraged by the puppet) and operation increased rapidly. When the web exchange was finished she was keen enough to 13