Ipdip theatre

The Good, The Bad and The Lovely

08 May 2023

Tales from the audience are now being hunted! Charlotte had a successful visit to the Edinburgh International Children's Festival Festival Family Encounters day on 27th May meeting people who have been to a live performance with a baby or toddler and recording how they felt about the experience. Some stories were memories from decades past, some from the last twenty minutes. If you'd like to contribute she’s also gathering stories online, just email charlotte.allan@strath.ac.uk for more details.

Presenting Paper (so much paper)

11 Aug 2022

The University of Strathclyde is hosting a large international conference on Early Years Education and The Pages will be in attendance, offering a different kind of paper experience for delegates... This year's EECERA Conference has the overarching theme of "Cultures of Play: Actors, Affordances and Arenas", and as part of the conference Fringe, during a lunch break, The Pages get to join in. No talking, no writing, no powerpoint presentations, but plenty of playful interactions and lots, and lots, AND LOTS, of paper.

Artistic Gifts of no Monetary Value

07 Feb 2022

As part of the research project with took place in the summer of 2021, interviewing and observing people at Up and Down, participant pairs were each given a 'thank you' gift for taking part. To meet ethical requirements for university research these needed to be "of no monetary value" - though as we know the arts have value in many other ways! We thought we'd share those gifts here for all to enjoy, if you've been to Up and Down you'll recognise some of the characters and themes though each one was made for a particular parent and child pair. Hoppity's Invitation is a short video inspired by Hoppity, her worm friends, and role playing. Watching Diggers is a song that grew from a love of dancing, and a conversation around sharing personal joys. Take Time Inside a Lullaby is a lullaby/poem for meeting the needs of the moment.

Smells like Paisley in the best possible way

14 Sep 2021

Pals Charlotte and EmC had the task of exploring Paisley using all five senses and more. As you can see from this 3.5 minute film it was a joyful day with plenty of surprises. Here's the invitation you can download so you can have a go, wherever you are. What happens when you look from another angle? When you go hunting for scents? Or dance to the music of the town? Thank you Paisley Arts Centre, Media Monty and all the buddies furred and feathered we met on our adventures.

Call for research participants

12 May 2021

Since October Charlotte has been working on a research Masters with the University of Strathclyde and is now ready to collect some data! Maybe you, or someone you know would like to take part? She needs four adult - child pairs, where the child is between the ages of 12 and 36 months, to come to (and be recorded at) an online performance at 2pm on Thursday 3rd June. The adults of the pair will also be asked to take part in interviews a couple of weeks later to talk all about it. If you are interested in taking part and would like further details, please e-mail charlotte.allan@strath.ac.uk You can find out more about the show itself here The event is being supported by Renfrewshire Leisure and there will be another performance in the morning if you'd like to see the show but not take part in the research project.

Sky Five!

18 Mar 2021

Here we are practicing a distance high five to celebrate friends that keep us going and all the shows that must, and will go on! In this article, in The List, Charlotte talks about how important organisations like Puppet Animation Scotland and Starcatchers are for keeping art for our youngest audiences alive. And of course why it matters so much. This year's Puppet Animation Festival will be a little different, taking place online it is a mix of workshops, performances and animated shorts and we're delighted to be a part of it. Our 'tour' of Up and Down will take us across the country with our host venues, and further than ever before as people can come and join us from anywhere zoomable.

Reports from Past Projects

10 Dec 2020

So this isn't 'news', definitely more 'olds' but we thought it would be nice to share the internal reports that were made from two previous Ipdip projects: a tour of Head in the Clouds in 2017 and another of Calvinball, with follow-up visual art workshop, in 2019. We hope it won't be too long now before people can once again gather in close together with others to share objects, space and imaginations.

Up and Down with Renfrewshire

15 Sep 2020

If you missed the previous outing of Troggle and Mira fear not! Future Paisley, Renfrewshire Leisure and Paisley Arts Centre will be presenting performances of Up and Down at the end of September. It's an interactive performance presented through Zoom which aims to offer something for little ones to play along and share with grandparents who they still perhaps can't hug yet in real life. We also got this funky new promo image by Amy McIlhenny

Up and Down

19 Jun 2020

We've been lucky these past few weeks to be able to work with Starcatchers as one of their Big Inspirations commissions - exploring ways to connect artistically with the very young during this unusual time. Our offer is a piece of theatre via Zoom and we are now able to share our first performances with families on 26th and 29th June. If you would like to express interest in joining us follow this link. We're still aiming to connect generations through shared experiences but this time we're all online, and not in a room together. One of us in fact lives in the sky, and another underground...

Toys are Puppets

11 May 2020

Here's a 4 minute video made by Charlotte (and household) during lockdown with some tips on bringing toys to life. Anything can be a puppet and a lot of us have all kinds of characters lying about that can be brought into stories, games, imaginative play - songs maybe? Making things a little bit more theatrical can grow the experience for everyone involved. Look out for the brief cameo by dear old Cirrus! (now a bit grey) x

Covid-19

22 Mar 2020

All our activities are on hold for the time being. We're sad not to be able to be meeting new audiences this spring but we're taking inspiration from our shy little mouse and looking for the signs of seasons shifting close to home. Stay strong, stay curious, and give yourself a hug when you need it.

PAF 2020

17 Feb 2020

We're delighted to be part of this colourful collection of performances, screenings and workshops happening across Scotland - Puppet Animation Festival 2020. Taking place between 28th March and 18th April, you can seek out Anonymouse here and there between 5th and 18th April. Designed to be accessible to the youngest of audience members - it's also a unique treat for older children and grown-ups. Here's a wee trailer.

Elves coming to Glasgow Southside

30 Jan 2020

Dr Faye Greenwood can't wait to come and meet some new elfologists as part of Workers Theatre Weekender: Something Has To Happen. Shhh... the elves are very shy will be at The Deep End, Nithsdale Street, on Thursday 13th and Saturday 15th February. As long as we can find our elves of course. They are really, really good at hiding.

Autumn and Spring

15 Aug 2019

We're pleased to announce that Anonymouse has been selected to be part of Puppet Animation Festival 2020 so our favourite little furry poet will be popping up across venues in Scotland during the Easter holidays next spring. But if you can't wait that long we have a one day visit to Paisley Arts Centre as part of Doors Open Day on 7th September. It looks to be a fun day all over so come along and make some new buddies : )

Thank you for letting us play!

27 Jun 2019

We had a grand couple of weeks sharing games of Calvinball with folk who wouldn't have had the chance were it not for the support of people like The Robertson Trust to whom we raise a toast. Big thanks too, to The Maple Trust (as sweet as they sound), The Souter Trust (sooo nice), Foundation Scotland (who helped get the project off the ground) and The Lynn Foundation, who alongside the others are helping us with the second half of the project - Calvinball themed visual arts workshops! We met playful parents, preschoolers and prisoners; creative care home residents and a ton of terrific toddlers. And we didn't get rained on once. Which happened last time we took Calvinball out around Scotland. We may actually be magic.

Warming up for some more Calvinball

18 Apr 2019

After our successful Awards for All supported tour of Head in the Clouds in 2017, we're delighted to be able to bring our work out again to groups of families who wouldn't otherwise get to come. And this time it's Calvinball! So we're warming up a fresh cast, dusting down the orange whatnots and getting fine weather sorted for the middle of June. This has been made possible with support from The Robertson Trust, The Maple Trust, The Souter Trust and Foundation Scotland so thank you all - we can't wait!

Elves in the North East

10 Dec 2018

We're delighted to be taking our little elves to meet some new people in Tarland and Forglen on the 14th and 15th December. Perhaps a little early for snow so a good chance we might find some of the local elves hiding in the Aberdeenshire countryside. Thank you to North East Arts Touring (NEAT) for inviting us up! And here's that trailer for the show again.

Elves at the Edinburgh Fringe

21 Aug 2018

We've been loving meeting new elfologists at the Edinburgh Botanics as part of the Fringe festival. Tickets here!. And evidence of elves is being shared using #elfology on instagram, twitter and facebook. And here is a link to our trailer where you can meet elfologist Faye Greenwood.

Elves in Scotland and Wales

06 Jun 2018

Dr Faye Greenwood is very excited to be taking her elf friends to meet new people in Clwyd and Edinburgh this summer. They've been hiding in all kinds of curious little places but with luck they'll be ready to come out and say 'hi' by the end of July. Tickets are on sale for the fringe dates here and for our one day in Mold here. And here she is herself to tell you more!

Shhh... the elves are very shy

27 Nov 2017

Just like busy, shy little elves we've been working away on a new show. And now its ready to come out! Faye Greenwood will be sharing her knowledge and research into the lives of elves at The Bungo in Glasgow on 2nd and 3rd December and at Carnegie Hall Dunfermline on 7th, 8th and 9th. Look carefully, and you might also get to see some of her elfin friends. Happy spotting!

Thank you!

05 Sep 2017

What a lovely summer we've had with Ipdip; Head in the Clouds touring in Wales and Calvinball a great success at the Botanics in Edinburgh as part of the Fringe. A major behind-the-scenes player in all of this was our producer the Wee Maverick herself, Janis Marshall-Reilly, so here she is in classy black and white. We'll be taking a little time now to write reports, some fresh applications and work on new ideas, that might include elves... watch this space.

Heading to Wales

03 Jun 2017

Our sheep are getting very excited about their tour in Wales in July; hoping to meet some friendly new faces - maybe even some sheep? There are dates here, more about Head in the Clouds here, or click on this one for a wee trailer for the show.

Calvinball takes to the field again

01 Jun 2017

We're taking to the great outdoors this August with Calvinball - our outdoor show for babies, toddlers, little ones and bigger ones. It's always a little different and heaps of fun whatever the weather. Go to the Edfringe website to get tickets and there's more information and pics here

Trailer

05 Apr 2017

If you'd like a little glimpse into what Head in the Clouds is all about here's a wee trailer put together by the splendid Paul Kozinski at Unscene Productions

Big Lottery Funding

01 Mar 2017

Had to keep the big news under wraps for a while but now we can shout it from the rooftops! This spring we have received funding from Awards for All to support two weeks of free performances of Head in the Clouds. These shows will run alongside our Puppet Animation Festival tour and take place as visits to groups of young families who wouldn't otherwise be accessing live performance. It's an ambition Ipdip has had from the very beginning so we're super-excited to be realising it!

Puppet Animation Festival Tour

20 Feb 2017

We're delighted to be touring Head in the Clouds with the Puppet Animation Festival this Easter - on the festival website you can see some of the excellent company we'll be keeping. And if you have a look at our dates page and see if we'll be coming to a venue near you!

Sell-out Laurels

27 Oct 2016

We're very happy to announce that Head in the Clouds has been given Sell-out Laurels from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. A full run of packed out shows officially recognised by the Fringe Society with these majestic leaves. Thank you!

Head in the Clouds

05 Oct 2016

Cirrus had a marvellous time in August, meeting hundreds of new friends and never once letting the sheep escape out into the gardens. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was once again an excellent, beautiful venue; and this year we were in fine Fringe company with other great baby theatre happening across the city (as noted by Lyn Gardner on her Guardian blog). Time now for a little rest to plan our spring tour and start working on some new ideas...

Anonymouse

05 Jun 2016

Anonymouse had a splendid time touring as part of the 2016 Puppet Animation Festival making new friends across Scotland. We also made a trip down to Cockermouth in the Lake District and now have a taste for adventure we hope to expand on in the future. There is more here about the show itself and you can watch this little film made by Jack Nurse at Wonder Fools

Calvinball

05 Oct 2015