Where the name came from
When I think about Your Man’s Puppets, I think about my grandmother who called everyone either ‘your man’ or ‘your one’. To me as a child this meant we are all one; it seemed to put everyone on a level playing field. I grew up on the West Coast of Ireland where there is a richness and abundance in storytelling, but to become a puppeteer was incomprehensible. It was seen as a hobby in the background while pursuing other work. It took me many years and adventures abroad to fully realise the value and potential of it. Puppetry is a multimedia art form, which covers designing, sculpting, scripting, set design and dramatizing.
Our Audience
Our take on puppetry is highly interactive; we approach each audience with the understanding that this is for them – we want to give them an experience to remember, something to think about and a smile on their face. Our shows are designed for a family audience – I think this comes from my childhood, where, at my grandmother’s house, all ages would come together to play music and tell stories. From our understanding and the feedback we get, the same show can appeal to different ages and each person takes home different aspects of it.
Why we do what we do
I was once asked if what we did was educational or just entertainment? I found this to be a silly question; I think one of the best tools for education is entertainment and that humour is one of the most undervalued resources. The ideas behind our shows are to inspire and fire up the imagination, to ask the “what if’s” and take nothing for granted – and hopefully sometimes they show different perspectives of how people live and who we are. Puppetry is a way of sharing stories about life; it nourishes our emotional intelligence and childhood spirit.
Where we perform
In the last decade we have performed at festivals far and wide throughout Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Europe and the length and breadth of Ireland. We play at large venues with up to 700 seats to village halls, schools, crèches, outdoor events, street theatre and sometimes even birthday parties if we can fit them in. Performances can be inside or outside depending on the weather and if the show set-up is suitable for outdoors.
Thank you for looking us up!