Heights of Abraham
THEATRE BUILD
During Covid Lockdown
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THIS WAS A BUILD THAT LASTED A WHOLE YEAR
Ironically 'Lockdown' was the only way I would ever time to attempt such a project.
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It's nice that an event as awful as COVID created something that brings so much joy & laughter.
A Phoenix from the Flames.
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To return to the Punch & Judy pages, these little builder guys are placed at regular intervals.
They take you back to the Heights Page when you've seen enough. Enjoy !
WARNING
There are a LOT of photos.
My good friend, and Spitting Image Puppet Builder SCOTT BROOKER once called me the 'Frank Matcham of the Punch & Judy World'.
I will take that compliment : FRANK MATCHAM was an extraordinary architect and designer of some of the UK's most opulent and grand Theatres.
The Hackney Empire and The London Colosseum to name but two.
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So if you are onboard for the journey - buckle up, it's gonna be a long ride.
And it begins here at the start of Covid Lockdown, when I built this flat platform in my back garden.
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Using the base sections from the old theatre as a size guide.
It all looks so clean and fresh and sparkly new.
I am so glad I decided to do this when I did.
By the time the theatre was finished, the cost of the timber and plywood had virtually doubled thanks to Covid and the war in Ukraine.
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Getting the foundation right took time.
Now the base level is complete -it's time to start building the bolt together wall panels.
These are much faster to make.
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First layer of wall sections going really well.
Obviously I cannot build any higher with the gazebo on .
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But what I can do is get the plywood glued and pinned onto the wall frames.
Also sand it all ready to paint.
That is a LOT of edges and corners to sand.
Nice to finally get some colour on the panels.
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As it is now the depths of Winter , outdoor work has to pause for a few weeks.
So it is out with the Paper Pulp!
Time to start the Sculpts for the Proscenium.
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Sun and Moon motifs.
The Moon came together really fast first time.
The Sun took some adjusting.
But that's the great thing about working in pulp : your can build things in layers, and get a chance to make improvements.
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A bit of paint certainly brightened up a Winters day. These were painted in 'Betwixtmas' : that curious time between Christmas and New Years Eve.
These were like bright beacons heralding warm sunny days ahead.
And merely hinting a the possibilities of a big colourful Puppet Theatre still to come. Exciting.
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They don't look like much now.
But this is the first layer for my 'Comedy & Tragedy' Masks.
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I'm often asked if paper pulp is strong?
Mine has PVA glue mixed in with the paper and cardboard fibres.
So it is VERY strong !
When dried it is like wood , and I had to cut these holes with an oscillating saw.
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This is how the golden statues of Punch and Judy began their life.
Simple hollow shapes.
I make a basic shape out of scrunched up newspaper , wrap it in fin foil , then put a layer of pulp all over.
When the piece has hardened , I cut it open , and pull out and discard the stuffing.
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Hey What's Cooking ?
Pulp parts this size could be dried out on a radiator.
But for speed , an oven set to very low will also do the trick.
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Building up the features layer by layer.
I am not averse to wiring in beads for eyes or other decorative parts ...it's far easier and faster than sculpting spheres in pulp.
Here is how the low relief sculpts of Punch and Judy began life. I only needed a rough drawing to start with as I had the Victorian Doorstops as reference.
Having only recently sculpted the Doorstops on a different proscenium, I admit I wasn't thrilled at the thought of doing them all over again.
But with the other proscenium, the Victorian portraits had to be elongated and stretched to fit the available space.
Here at least I was free to sculpt them nearer to their proper proportions.
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The cardboard is light enough as a way of building up mass and shape.
Anywhere there is card there obviously won't be any pulp.
And pulp is much heavier.
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The cardboard is light enough to be left buried inside the finished pulp sculpt of necessary.
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Putting different dye into the batches of pulp just helps to keep the sculpting interesting for me.
Work also continues on the Masks and the Statues.
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Two small 3-D curved ovals with decorative rope frame .
And this far bigger one, which will be the centre shield of the proscenium.
Using ropes and decorative cords is something I've done on Prosceniums a few times already.
But here I upped the ante by filling in between with pulp and pressing in a design.
Im certain the whole thing will take gold paint very well.
I could have put 3-D borders on just flat plywood cut outs.
But the curve on these will look more special. Definitely worth the extra effort.
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The weather has warmed up a bit, so woodwork can now continue outdoors.
But it's still mid winter, so daylight time is short.
Here is a project for those winter nights sat in front of the TV.
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Over 370 tassels need hand tying for the Pelemt.
The old Punch Theatre lasted me fifteen Seasons, not bad, considering it was only ever varninshed with quick drying 'Internal' water based varnish.
But it was rot and water damage in quite a few places that eventually spelled its retirement.
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So this time I had learned my lesson ...it was all going to get varnished properly.
I vowed to find a car body repair shop to just spray the base sections in two part 'Clearcote' vehicle varnish.
But I got lucky, I found an outstanding craftsman and all round nice-guy to do the job, less than a mile from home. I found Geordie at GEMINI BODY SHOP.
Geordie made such an excellent job of spaying the base sections purple, that I asked him if he fancied spraying all the components of the theatre ?
I was so lucky he said yes.
Because now I know the whole booth is weatherproof for many years to come.
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I did not really think anyone who repairs and sprays metal vehicles everyday, would want to spray daft, silly shaped bits of wood.
I truly thought I would struggle to find anyone willing to undertake the project.
Geordie jumped at it ! He is man who 'thinks outside the box' and was up for a challenge.
If you've got a daft project Geordie is the bloke you need.
It was such a thrill getting these parts home from Gemini Bodyshop and back in the garden to assemble.
And because Geordie had made it all totally waterproof, I could leave it outside for the next few months without the need to dismantle or cover it up when it rained or indeed -snowed-
This let me get the protective gazebo off of it, and start building upwards.
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With the weather slowly warming, it was wonderful to stop Pulp Sculpting for a bit, and get outdoors and build in wood again.
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Bare wood was alright being left out in the elements for a few days at a time - any small amount of rain wetness soon dried out in the sun.
It was only important that the base section be weatherproofed at this stage.
Giving myself permission to leave things out in the open, really allowed me to build up quickly.
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Getting the height of the 'PLAYBOARD' correct is crucial in any puppet theatre.
The Playboard is the 'ground level' on which the puppets appear to stand, or actually sit on.
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If the height isn't right, then operating puppets is a harder task , as the puppeteers arms are forced to be held at an awkward height while performing.
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So getting this far, is a hugely important milestone in a booth-build.
THE PROSCENIUM ARCH
Quite literally, the Arch part of the Proscenium.
Wisely, for this piece, I decided to pay out a lot of money to buy 18mm plywood that was super -lightweight. - The stuff they use for building caravans and trailers -
Even before timber prices went bonkers this cost me £79 for an 8 x 4 sheet.
And I was lucky to find a timber yard willing to order in just one sheet for me.
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It was money well spent, with the lightweight plywood I had built a component I was able to lift into place safely by myself.
Had it been made of regular plywood, it would have needed two people to hoist it into position. And my goal was to have a theatre I could build entirely unassisted.
At Heights there are always people around to help, but at other venues in the future perhaps not.
I must say it looks great in position ...Things are really taking shape now.
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Checking where the flat sculpts will go. Now they need transferring onto their bigger side panels.
First the Punch and Judy flat sculpts are going to pieces on the bandsaw.
Then, like a jigsaw puzzle they are reassembled on newer, thicker bits of plywood.
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The rebuilding puts all the parts flat again, as they had warped while drying on the radiator.
But it also allows for a bit of re-shaping. And also total reworking of the mouths, (which I wasn't happy with). You always get a second chance with pulp.
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.... HERE BE DRAGONS !....
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Initially I had thought I would make them identical. But that soon changed.
With wood carving you take away wood to reveal your finished item ...
But with pulp work, you add and add. layer by layer until you get the sculpt you want.
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So now, one has become a Cyclops Sea Creature and the other is a Wyvern type of Dragon.
Even so their bodies need to be of an equal size to keep the theatre proscenium balanced.
Tin foil bulks out the start of the sculpt to use less pulp and keep the weight down too.
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Much too big to go in the oven, these have to dry slowly on a radiator.
They were just going to be little gargoyles on either side of the proscenium , but in the end they have become very large, defining features.
I'd taken my inspiration from an old wooden CODMAN proscenium that had mythical creatures carved into each panel.
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Take a moment to appreciate the sheer size and height of this Codman Proscenium.
Amazing !
Facial details continue on the Punch and Judy heads.
Now I need to create the plinths on which these Statues will be mounted.
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The Proscenium is certainly startling to look interesting.
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The DROP BAG from the old theatre just doesn't fit sadly.
I had hoped to be able to get away with adjusting it a bit and using it again.
But that clearly wont work.
The drop Bag is vital to making the Crocodile Routine run smoothly.
So it is worth starting again and making a really good one.
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Here is a peek into the future, with the bag all finished and loaded up with puppets.
When I was a very young performer, the main purpose was literally as a 'Drop" bag - to catch discarded puppets that have finished their part in the show.
Throwing puppets in the bag is quicker than re-hanging them on their hooks when there is a fast change of character.
As I've gotten older and more experienced , I tend to hang up finished puppets. But I still use the bag to quickly 'drop' used props.
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The bags principle function today is to facilitate my signature 'Crocodile-Routine'.
Without the bag to keep both crocodiles separate, I could not achieve the super fast switch over.
This headless version of Mr Punch needs holding in this position to work the full illusion.
For this reason, each and every one of my many Theatres needs to have their own tailored Drop Bag.
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Back to building :
A quick Spring visit up to The Heights to double check the new Theatre will fit within the footprint of the new pitch.
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It's tight ..but yes it will, with very little room to spare.
Phew !
While I'm up at Heights, more painted parts are at Geordies getting sprayed with Clearcote vehicle varnish.
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The unpainted frontage, 70% complete. And Painted centre oval
Great to have paint and varnish on the ARCH
Decorative mounts for the Sun and Moon motifs.
This is the Blue Pelmet from the old theatre.
It's about 10 inches too short for this new theatre.
If time runs out I will make some panels to extend it.
The plan is to make a new one for this theatre.
In 2025 for my 20th season, I decided to resurrect and extend this lovely Pelemet.
Mounts on the frontage. And the top centre panel locked to the Arch
Now I know the centre panels fit, I can take them off Theatre and work on them in isolation under the gazebo.
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Even though there is no roof made for the theatre yet, it's never too early to start acclimatising Bugsy to his new holiday home.
He stayed there with me for a few hours at a time each day while I carried on building.
Nice to have company.
And before anyone emails about it being cruel to put a cat in a cage : save your breath...
Bugsy is a strange creature, he is a house cat with agoraphobia .
He HATES being outside the house at all, and is genuinely happiest in small spaces.
When he comes to Heights with me he snuggles up in his cozy blankets in this Busgy-Motel and just sleeps and purrs.
Everywhere on the proscenium that will eventually be gold is first painted black.
This is an old scenic artists trick. The black underneath really gives the gold paint extra lustre.
DONE ... but jump ahead to 2024 and this part needed a rebuild.
When I built my brand new website on Wix in 2024, it was 'all-change' for this piece.
Unfortunately the new web address was many letters longer than the old one.
So just painting over the old ribbon was not an option, new longer ones needed to be made in plywood.
Fiddlesome work.
But it turned out well.
Better than the original.
Back to 2021 and under the gazebo work can start on the decorative parts of the Proscenium.
This will be a mix of plywood low relief and also actual sculpture made of paper mache Pulp.
Part of the function of the sculpts is to disguise and hide the joins between panels.
The bodies of these crocodiles are fairly simple.
The crocs heads are fairly complex, because of the teeth and the sausages.
The string of sausages will form the central peak of the whole show.
And on top of that there will be a little Robin
The Robin is in memory of two lovely chaps that have passed away.
I really want the theatre to acknowledge Covid and that it was built during that awful year of Covid.
Some friends tried to dissuade me from putting this on the Proscenium saying it was morbid and a downer.
But it was such an awful event that really bought the world together. And I think it should be acknowledged and marked.
It's good to celebrate something good being created during that artistically barren year.
When me and my brothers were tiny tots, our Nan used to make us sit by the window and spot Robins in the garden. So these little birds make me think of her. I think quite a lot of folk have similar associations with these bright little birds.
In recent years I've lost two champions of my Punch Show ; my dear Dad Mel and Mike the general manager of Heights.
There are lots of Robins around the grounds at Heights, and they make me remember these two lovely men.
So it seemed right to crown the show with one in their memories.
There is one on my van too.
Starting to see it take shape now The monkey head is out of my mood for monkey puppets. So when I eventually get them made, they will match the proscenium.
As well as all the plywood and pulp construction thats got be done, there is also all the fabric parts. These are perfect to work on indoors when its bad weather days.
Staggering the join on the three parts to help disguise them.
The front of the show might be coming along gangbusters, but it's a false sense of security.
Such a lot still to do on the Top side-panels. And the whole back section doesn't have a roof yet.
Because if the mix of odd angles and uneven shapes, this proved the best and fastest way to may roof panels that actually fitted the booth.
Building the struts to span the space and then putting on the plywood afterwards.
Looking back Im amazed it all got finished in time for the season.
The roof panels alone are an astonishing amount of time consuming labour. And in normal use, the Public never gets to sees them.
