Ann acted as a mentor in Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Emerging Creator’s Unit in 2019, with Brock Hessel and his work-in-progress, Crystal Meth.
2019 Crystal Meth with Buddies in Bad times ECU unit
2010 & 2011 Eating with Lola with Catherine Hernandez
Ann was director for Catherine Hernandez’ Eating with Lola, performed at fu-GEN Theatre’s GENesis Festival, 2010, and at the Next Stage Festival 2011.
2003 On Wings of Tongue with Suzanne Hersh of Threshold Theatre
Ann was designer/creator/performer, along with Suzanne Hersh of Threshold Theater, of a theatrical adaptation of Adele Wiseman’s On Wings of Tongue, performed at Hysteria, a Festival of Women at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 2003.
Fall 2023 Courses for Adult Learners
Take a course with Puppetmongers this fall to begin your puppetry journey, or to hone your skills as a puppeteer.
Please note, registration deadlines are one week before each class begins.
November 5th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $125 registration
Marionettes, or String Puppets, move and work quite differently from other types of puppet. Their unique relationship to gravity, and the balance of tension and weight created in their construction gives them a very special character. In this introductory workshop, each participant will create a simple cloth marionette, with just a few well placed strings, and with an emphasis on experimentation, discover how to animate it. N.B. If there is enough interest, we will also offer a Beyond Basics Marionette course in winter/spring 2024.
November 12th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $125 registration.
There is something mesmerizing about shadows. With the animator hidden, the audience’s eyes are drawn into the action on the screen, much as we are now seduced by computer and movie screens. Creating a shadow puppet play is like making a “live movie” for a live audience. This workshop will immerse the participants in contemporary shadow puppetry methods and technology, and visit the living traditions of shadow puppetry around the world. Participants will design and build their own shadow puppets, explore animation techniques and light sources, and then work together to develop short shadow skits.
November 19th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $125 registration
\At first glance looking like a set and costume designer’s scale model, a Toy Theatre is a complete theatre in miniature, with little puppet actors manipulated by rods from above or beside the stage, with scenery that rolls, folds or flies, and all kinds of wonderful theatrical surprises. In this workshop, participants will each transform an ordinary cardboard box into magnificent miniature theatre, complete with little puppet actors, and discover the possibilities of scenic effects – perspective and scale, pop-up scenery and scenic vistas, trap doors and moving dioramas to name a few.
November 26th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $125 registration
Puppets should act believably, just as actors do. What is the character feeling? What do they want? Why are they doing that? Bringing acting to your puppetry means creating a discernable inner life for your character. The audience should be able to see its feelings, understand its thoughts, and relate to the goals that it has from one moment to the next within a scene. Teach Your Puppets to Act will give puppeteers the basics of acting – from breath to movement to script analysis – so that your puppets can engage the attention of your audience and keep them with you all the way from “lights up” to “curtain”.
2016 Komagata Maru Incident with Stratford
The shadow images were made in 2016 for a workshop for the Komagata Maru Incident at our studio, directed by Keira Loughran. The images are based on a Thai form of shadow puppetry called Nang Yai. This style of shadow puppetry was not used in the final production at the Stratford Festival.
2022 Bunny Masks with Valerie Buhagiar
Bunny masks made by the Puppetmongers for a work in progress by Valerie Buhagiar.
These masks are made from Bristol board, masking tape and acrylic paint.
2023 Last Landscape with Bad New Days
Bad New Days – Last Landscape workshop production
Prototype puppet design and build, Goose – Ann Powell; Dog – David Powell
Director, Adam Paolozza
Photos, Ann Powell
2019 Winter Festival at Canada’s Wonderland
The Winter Festival puppet show at Canada’s Wonderland, 2019:
Puppet and set design & build, Ann Powell & David Powell
Puppet design consultant, Johan van Der Gun
Playwrights, Ann Powell, David Powell & Emilia Nechita
Director, Emilia Nechita
Music creation/recording, Rick Sacks
Performers, Emilia Nechita, Sasha Flengas, Courtney Lamanna
Photos, Ann Powell and David Powell
The Rain Bride
A Ritual Puppet Workshop led by Afsaneh Zamani
A workshop performance for adults and youth 14 +
Date: October 22nd, at 3:00 p.m.
Location: Puppetmongers Studio (Carlaw and Dundas East)
Duration: 30-40 Minutes
Tickets: $15
Reservations only please – no walk-ups
Description:
“The Rain Bride” is a rain ritual from west Iran, traditionally performed with puppets, based on latent themes of femininity and fertility. During drought, young women build a wooden cross and adorn it with colourful fabrics to make it look like a young woman whom they call “The Rain Bride.” Afterwards, they walk her through the town, singing and encouraging onlookers to give money and food to the bride as an offering for her holy marriage to Heaven.
This workshop performance is the first development phase of an immersive project in which participants will take part in a journey to create their own” Rain Bride” and share food. Please bring some food, such as fruits and snacks, as the offering.
Afsaneh Zamani is an award-winning theatre director, puppeteer and performer. She has created and performed numerous interactive theatre and puppetry works focusing on rituals and folk stories. She has performed in international festivals across Asia, Europe and North America and received acclaimed international awards. She has experience being a board member of Mubarak UNIMA (the Iranian branch of UNIMA). “The Rain Bride” is her new project, exploring puppetry and recreating rituals.
OAC Recommender Grants 2023
Puppetmongers is accredited as a Recommending Company for the
Ontario Arts Council’s Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators 2023-24
We have a total of $5,000 to divide between all worthy projects
All applications are now online! Deadline is October 26, 2023 at 1 pm ET
CLICK HERE for the full guidelines and application form
Puppetmongers is seeking applications from artists who wish to develop puppetry projects. Our priorities and areas of interest are:
- The development of theatrical work with puppetry
- The integration of puppetry into theatre productions
- The creation of new forms of puppetry and new theatrical uses of puppetry
- The nurturing of professional, mid-career, new-generation, and culturally diverse artists
Projects may be at any stage of development prior to production or workshop production. These small grants are particularly suited to helping artists with the earliest phases of creation, the development of ideas, the building of a creative team etc.
We have a total of $5,000 to assign between all successful applications, thus the grants we can recommend range from a minimum of $1,000 to the unlikely maximum of $3,000. In previous years, our recommendations have tended to be on the lower end, in order to spread the support over a few projects. We are curious and excited to see what the artistic community has percolating, and extremely grateful to the Ontario Arts Council for their increased support of puppetry.
Deadline for applications is 1 p.m. ET on October 26, 2023. We strongly recommend that you submit your application at least by the day before this deadline, to avoid technical glitches.
Application Info:
Before you apply, note that we request that submissions include a budget and a short bio for all participants in their support material. NOTE: We do not wish to receive script samples but do want ideas in the form of sketches, influences, photos… which can be included as stills or video in the Audio/Visual link.
These small Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators are to provide time in which to explore, experiment, and develop an idea in its infancy, and the why, what and how of the puppetry of it. This is not a grant to write or finish a script; it is not a grant to build already-designed puppets; or to complete a show for performance bookings.
With puppetry being such a visual artform, we don’t find script samples useful in helping us get a feel for your proposed project: so please attach in your application any images, inspirations and influences; sketches and storyboards; any mock-ups of puppetry and performance ideas – anything that would give us insight into how puppetry is to be incorporated into your plans. We do not want scripts!
All applicants must meet the criteria requirements of the Ontario Arts Council.
For more information on Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators, and to access the full guidelines and the application form: