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Puppet (R)Evolution Company
Raven Kaliana established Puppet (R)Evolution in 2008.  Puppet (R)Evolution creates theatre pieces for adult audiences using both puppetry and performers onstage together.  We communicate stories we feel are socially significant in strikingly visual ways.  The company has been awarded a yearlong residency at the Battersea Arts Centre through the Puppet Centre Trust and Centre for Excellence in Theatre Training.

Development Process
The first two versions of this piece were devised at the Central School of Speech & Drama by Raven Kaliana, Rebecca Brown, Robin Dearden and Valentina Tamiolaki in 2008, written by Raven Kaliana and based on her autobiographical material. Sarah Wright mentored these versions. The piece was developed further by Puppet (R)Evolution company members in 2008, 2009 and 2010.  Other past collaborators have included Clara Giraud, Yin Lam, Tinka Slavicek, Mel Scott, and Andy Jones.  Hooray for Hollywood has toured to the CSSD Puppet Festival in London, Stay Tuned Festival in London, Bialystok Puppet Festival in Poland, and Little Angel Theatre in London, and the Rosemary Branch Theatre in London.  

Outside eye assistance for the Feb 2009 run was provided by Sarah Wright and Peter Glanville. Outside eyes for the June-July 2010 run were Nenagh Watson and Darren Goad.

The company plans to tour Hooray for Hollywood around the UK and abroad in 2011.  If you wish to bring Hooray for Hollywood to your venue or festival, please contact us.



  Puppet (R)Evolution Creative Team:
Raven Kaliana directs Puppet (R)Evolution, a puppetry/performer company which she established in 2008.  She wrote Hooray for Hollywood based on her own autobiographical material.  She has freelances as a puppet maker, puppetry coach, and puppeteer, and presents to charities and other organizations on the topic of child abuse. She holds an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice/Puppetry from Central School of Speech & Drama, and got her start in puppetry at Folkmanis Puppets in 1997.  www.ravenkaliana.com

Luke Wallens assists in directing Puppet (R)Evolution, and is a writer/actor/dramaturg with an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice from the Central School of Speech and Drama. He writes for many genres of theatre including puppetry, and specializes in writing for movement. Luke provided assistant direction and dramaturgy for BlackSun Theatre Company’s critically acclaimed Duchess of Malfi and 100% Comedy 100% Chekhov.

Cast: 
Sara Kirkpatrick has puppeteered Sooty and friends in theatre shows, as well as TV and radio appearances and premiering Zippy from Rainbow in a theatre show.  She has worked with Compagnie Pippo Delbono at The RSC; developed a show called Feral at The National Studio; operated Charlie in Simon Buckley’s theatre version of Charlie and Lola and various marionettes in Kirsty Ameldia’s Spider Music Video. www.sara-kirkpatrick.blogspot.com

Kat Damvoglou
holds a BA in Theatre Studies, an MA in Physical Theatre, and has trained at LISPA, the Lecoq school in London.  Credits include creative collaborator in ‘3 Good Wives’; (Inkfish Puppet Theatre Company); Puppeteer in ‘The Taste of Strawberries’ (Nabokov Theatre)


Julia Eve trained at King’s College, Court Theatre Training Company, and Desmond Jones School of Mime & Physical Theatre.  Credits: Quince/Puppeteer in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Puppeteer/Malcolm/Lady Macbeth in ‘Macbeth’ (DeadKat Productions); Mary/Puppeteer in ‘Que Sera, Sera, Whatever She’ll Be' Will Be’ (PuppeTrees Theatre Company)

Rachel Warr recently returned from Singapore, puppeteering in a show first performed in at 2009 Edinburgh fringe festival, which was nominated for a Total Theatre Award.  ('Antoine & The Paper Areoplane').  She is currently developing an adult puppet show as part of Incubate with support from The Little Angel and CSSM.

Susanna Ferrar performs improvisational violin with The Improvisors' Orchestra in London.  Her CD A Boy Leaves Home is available through Amazon and JazzLoft.


Technical Crew:
Jinyi Tang grew up in Beijing, China, where she received professional music training and also worked as sound technician. With a passion for theatre and sound design, she came to London and completed her MA Advanced Theatre Practice – Sound Design and Music for Performance course at Central School of Speech and Drama.

Elizabeth Newport trained in Lighting Design at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Additional puppetry and technical assistance provided by Ida Tjalve and Abigail Hirsh, filming and film editing by James Ingram and Jason Griffiths, lighting on videos designed by Leo Woolcock.



Director's Note:
"It’s my goal to humanize this issue.  I want to bring it back into public discourse, so that it’s not taboo to talk about this crime.  So that the perpetrators, however monstrous their actions, become in the mind’s eye only human.  …So that the children, however anonymized by the medium of their abuse, become familiar and living people with faces, names, families.  …So that we can begin to view this as a social problem that people who are also ‘only human’ can address.  It is by caring that you unlock the door.”   -Raven Kaliana

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