VIEW PROFILE: Marc Parrett

'There's a lot of love for puppetry'

PUPPETEER MARC PARRETT moved to Bridport two-years-ago to join the hub of creative artists on the St Michael's trading estate.

He is the artistic director for his production company Stuff and Nonsense and currently has two shows on national tours.

This summer he plans to launch his second company and establish a puppet theatre in the town. He spoke to TOM GLOVER this week about why he doesn't regret taking the leap into the world of puppets.

AFTER eight years in his day job Marc Parrett decided he had delivered his last letter and made the leap from postman to puppeteer.

Despite the early starts, being a postman appealed to Marc as it left his days free to create. Marc refers to this time of his life as his “apprenticeship” as he tried to find the right outlet for his creativity.

Dreams of becoming an animator were quashed after long weekends spent working on seconds of material, as were attempts at sculpting and circus skills. Through trial and error Marc eventually found the right path for him.

“I’ve always had this sense of performing and also for visual imagery so puppetry was the perfect thing for me as it combines the two,” he said.

“Since discovering it I have been solidly experimenting with puppetry and most of it is self-taught. I’ve had some tuition from some great people but it’s really a journey of discovery. You know when it works and when it doesn’t.”

As his reputation grew Marc plucked up the courage and made the move into puppetry full time.

Years of hard work followed with long periods baron of work and money but his persistence paid off. Today Marc runs his own company Stuff and Nonsense which currently has two shows on national tours.

Following a successful debut tour “The Little Red Hen” has been re-designed in double its original size for a UK tour and his latest show “Across the Deep Blue Sea” kicked off its own tour last week.

“The tour started in Morden and we have 36 dates planned with two or three shows a week,” he said.

“It is the story of a little man in a homemade boat out in the middle of the sea. He’s adrift but is actually quite happy in the middle of the sea having these adventures. He would quite like someone to talk to though as it sometimes gets a bit scary as there are lots of storms. There’s a lovely puppet sequence with him, a big octopus and a giant whale that sings Frank Sinatra.”

If you think of puppets you probably conjure up images of Punch and Judy at the seaside or Rod Hull and Emu on the TV but Marc has almost reinvented the term with his work.

“I’m sort of a renegade puppeteer,” he explains.

“I’m not your traditional puppeteer with glove puppets doing funny little shows, I like stirring it up and bringing in all these weird elements.”

Marc brings his own artistic streak to his shows making them instantly recognisable and his workshop is filled with puppets in different stages of development, a result of his constantly evolving ideas.

“My ideas come all the time, no matter what I’m doing, I can’t stop them, it’s slightly annoying. Ideas come to me and I get to the point where there are enough ideas for a show. I don’t know quite how it happens but it does. I’ve got other shows I’m cooking up now,” he said.

In his career Marc has been approached to work with some major players in the industry. He has developed puppets for the Royal Shakespeare Company worked with Aardman animations and turned his talents to TV adverts for Kenwood and Tenants Pilsner, creating dancing kiwis and marching pints of beer.

One project that stands out among the rest was his work on the stage production of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” which appeared in London’s West End.

“I had to build a nine foot bear puppet for it, which was an astonishing thing. I was originally in the show and then it sort of got bought up and went off touring without me. Every now and again I go and fix the puppets as they do get quite a battering. The poor puppets, you make them look all lovely and they go off and the actors trash them and you have to give them new arms and things.

“You do sort of feel for them a bit. Sometimes I make puppets for people and I’m sad to see them go,” he said.

Marc has only lived in Bridport for two years but was instantly inspired by the community around him. After developers bought his workshop in Bristol he joined the hub of artists at St Michael’s Trading Estate.

Marc’s enthusiasm for Bridport is no more prevalent than in his latest project. This summer Marc plans to launch “The Bridport Puppet Theatre Company” and has his eyes set on a building in the town to turn into a venue solely used for puppetry.

“We are looking at several places around town, particularly the old Lyric Theatre and Dance School. We are fundraising at the moment to try and buy a building and convert it into this lovely space for puppetry,” he said.

“We are talking to circus people about doing aerial puppetry, which is something that has not been seen much in this country or anywhere as far as I’m aware. My partner Niki McCretton has been experimenting with puppetry and dance with one of the youth dance shows at the arts centre and it was really well received.

“There’s a sense that there’s some great puppet work happening in this town and every time we do shows here people are so positive about it. I really think Bridport is the place for a puppet theatre. There’s a lot of love for puppetry.”

Marc admits the move from postman to puppeteer wasn’t easy but he doesn’t regret his decision.

“I have been doing it now for over 15 years and I love it. I’m a fully-grown man who gets to play with toys all day, it’s a dream come true,” he explains.

“There are things I could have said yes to but there are equally some things I did say yes to and it was absolutely the right thing to do.

“It’s been a hard journey and there have been whole years when I’ve had virtually no money but I just had to keep going with it because I knew I was on the right course.

“I would never have traded it in, as long as I have got enough to live on and I’ve got some space to make something I’m happy.”

“I just love my work and I’m really passionate about it. It goes beyond just being interested and it’s almost one of those compulsion things, it is a slight affliction but it’s a joyous one and I’m not really fighting it.”

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