Month: June 2025

Today we experimented with one of several mechanical solutions to making stage props move… by themselves! I presented dad with my suggestion, which was that I felt there must be a way using cogs or cylindrical objects of some sort, for a person to turn a handle in one location, and a large disc in another location would turn. There were a lot of details to be worked out, such as, how much do you want it to turn, and would you be able to turn it back again in the other direction etc. etc. But after a lot of conversations, he had a neat little solution which I immediately realised could work.

It needed to be something I could do by myself when back in Ireland, many miles away from my father and his wonderful engineering skills and even more wonderful workshop.

In bright and colourful surroundings of my hometown during a visit back to Malta. I started work on my latest project. A Mechanical Theatre to replace my old cardboard theatre that has now been retired and a new show called “The City of Lost Trees”.

I needed to get to work without any further ado which meant working while on holiday. Building on the reputation of past puppet shows I have designed, built and performed in my local town of Skerries back in Ireland, I was happy to accept when asked to perform at Fingal’s upcoming Festival of Children’s Literature.

The stage of the previous portable puppet theatre was adequate but there was no room for scenery. A new theatre, custom-made to accommodate a larger stage area was desperately needed, so new designs were drafted within a week of accepting the offer. The idea of creating human-powered moving sets had been niggling at me since my last performance at the Scarecrow Festival. A few sketches and prototypes later and the reality of what could be achieved became ever more appealing.

I combined catching up with my father in Malta with several visits to his workshop. We tinkered, and we wrestled a few possible solutions to the mechanical problems. Finally, we worked something out, but while he continued to tinker in his garage, I would have to start work on the sets right away. There is so much to be done!