Clare Testoni and Jessica Harlond-Kenny have been announced as this year’s participants in Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s Artist in Residence program. Our Artist in Residence Program, is the next evolution of our FirstHand Puppetry Artist Training Program.
The program offers a two-week residency at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre in Fremantle and includes use of rehearsal/performance space, technical equipment, workshop/making facilities and support from company artistic and technical staff.
The two successful applicants are both past members of FirstHand program and during their residency will develop two new works under the guidance and support of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.
Clare Testoni, award winning theatre maker (Tale of Tales, Best Production, The Blue Room Awards 2018) will work on the creation of an immersive and digital puppetry adaptation of the children’s classic The Secret Garden, relocating the story to Western Australia. Drawing on themes of reverence for the power of nature and a sense of agency in children, this work will be presented in a future Spare Parts season. Dramaturg and sustainability consultant Alexa Taylor will collaborate on the script development as Clare also develops the visual and immersion concepts for the performance during her residency.
Jessica Harlond-Kenny, performer, director and devisor will create an interactive and performative art installation called Heart. The concept for this project arose from Jess’s investigation of a question posed to strangers and friends “What does your heart look like?” as a way to draw our inner state into tangible form. Heart invites the audience on a meditative journey; asking them to reflect on their own emotional landscape while understanding the complexities and similarities they share with others. Jessica will develop design and interactivity during her residency, culminating in a in-progress exhibition of the work.