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Wellington Puppetry Festival logo: silhouette of a hand holding a bird rod puppet. The rod is held between the first finger and thumb. The bird has it's wings extended and a long flowing tail.Wellington
Puppetry Festival
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Sunday · Workshops

Puppetry in Warzones

Simone van Kan

When
11:15–11:50am · 40 mins
Ages
14+
Where
Upstairs
Vogelmorn Bowling Club, 93 Mornington Road, Brooklyn, Wellington 6021
In the Precinct building. The toilets here are up a short flight of stairs (fewer than five) and are not wheelchair accessible. Crossing to the Hall means several sets of steps and a lawn.
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A woman with short blond hair laughing while holding up a fantastical furry monster hand-puppet with purple hair and big round eyes

Immerse yourselves for a while in the true meaning of ‘Puppets for Peace!’ Come and hear how Simone performed for orphans and refugees in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania during the nineties with her work ‘The Serious Road Trip’. If you ever doubted the power of puppetry to heal and inspire, this talk is for you!

Simone van Kan laughing while holding up a fantastical furry monster hand-puppet with purple hair and big round eyes
An old photograph of two performers posing beside large costumed puppet figures, one in a polka-dot dress, one blue-faced in striped pyjamas

About the artist

Simone began her puppetry journey by performing fairytales and other stories with ‘The Little People’s Puppet Theatre’ in Rotorua in the 70s. She was able to draw on this experience when touring orphanages and refugee camps with her own puppet and clown work ‘The Serious Road Trip’. On returning to Aotearoa, she developed this story further, honing and specialising in Puppetry. She received scholarships to train with masters from around the world such as Berlin, Bochum, Paris and Wellington with Capital E. Simone is visiting the Festival from the Bay of Plenty.

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