Lanchester Marionettes

Lanchester Marionettes
AddressMalvern, Worcestershire
England
OwnerWaldo Lanchester and Muriel Lanchester
TypePuppet
ProductionShakes versus Shav
Opened1936 (1936)
Years active1936–1969

The Lanchester Marionettes, a professional puppet theatre, was co-founded in 1936 by Waldo and Muriel Lanchester. The 50-seat Lanchester Marionettes Theatre in Malvern, Worcestershire, England was “the only theatre in the country exclusively to be used for marionettes.”[1] George Bernard Shaw’s final play, Shakes versus Shav, was written for the Lanchester Marionettes in 1949.[2]

History

In 1934 puppeteer Waldo Lanchester (1897-1978) met potter Muriel Bell (1902-1992) while he was looking for a site to set up his puppet theatre for the Malvern Festival. They married a year later.[3]

Foley House, Malvern. The location of the Lanchester Marionettes Theatre from 1936-1952

They were interested in the early 20th century puppet revival, pioneered by Harry Whanslaw, with whom Waldo had worked in the 1920s as part of the London Marionette Theatre.[4] On 24 July 1936 the couple established the 50-seat Lanchester Marionettes Theatre at Foley House, it was “the only theatre in the country exclusively to be used for marionettes.”[5] It was opened by Sir Barry Jackson, with George Bernard Shaw in the audience.[6] Waldo created the puppets, Lanchester the costumes[7] and both would work the puppets. They would put on three shows a day as part of the Malvern Drama Festival.[8][9] Before WWII they also performed in “many foreign parts”.[10] The Lanchester Marionettes were the first Britons to appear on French television, as part of the World’s Fair in Paris in 1937.[11]

WWII

In 1938 Douglas Fisher, who was working at Malvern’s secret RAF radar base, “managed to scrounge some scarce 16mm Kodachrome colour stock” and shot a film, The Creation of a Marionette, about the Lanchester Marionettes. In 1947 he published a book, The Wooden Stars: The Lanchester Marionettes, and in 1985 he made a follow-up documentary, Waldo and Muriel Lanchester’s Marionette Masterclass.[12]

As part of the Entertainments National Service Association(ENSA) (subsequently CEMA) [13] the Lanchesters ran a touring puppet show that travelled 40,000 miles[14] giving some 700 performances[15] throughout the UK. They appeared in factories, military camps and industrial workers’ hostels,[16] as well as putting on performances for evacuees.[17] When the Lanchesters initially offered their services to ENSA, they were refused on the grounds that “the men wouldn’t want to watch Punch and Judy.” However, after almost two years ENSA realised the Lanchester Marionettes “bore no resemblance to seaside puppets” and they were accepted.[18] Of a performance they gave in Wilmslow in October 1940, one reporter wrote “It was refreshing to sit for two hours in a world without dictators or bombs, but in which the foibles of life were etched with such understanding and without malice.”[19]

Productions

Their puppet shows covered opera, ballet, theatre and circus.[20] In 1937 their under-water ballet featured at the Paris Exhibition.[21] The following year they were invited to perform for King George VI and the royal family at Buckingham Palace.[22]

Their most famous production was Shakes versus Shav, written for them by George Bernard Shaw. The puppet cast was Shaw, Shakespeare, Macbeth, Rob Roy, Captain Shotover and Ellie Dunn, the latter two characters from Shaw’s Heartbreak House (1919). The voice recordings included Lewis Casson as Shakes (Shakespeare) and Ernest Thesiger as Shav (Bernard Shaw).[23] Lanchester made all the costumes, seeking advice from Scotland regarding the correct tartan for Macbeth and Rob Roy.[24] The Shaw puppet is now housed at the George Bernard Shaw Museum and the Shakespeare puppet is owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The others are in the Staffordshire County Museum.

The Tramp Clown marionette made by Waldo and Muriel Lanchester

Other productions included:

After WWII the Marionettes received financial support from the Arts Council.[36] In 1945 they were “taken bodily up to London” to appear in the film The Seventh Veil, starring Ann Todd and Hugh McDemott.[37]

The plaque outside Foley House, Malvern

In 1946 their Foley House theatre became too small and was closed with the hope that a new, larger venue could be found. They would tour for the following five years,[38] and by 1952 they had “clocked up 100,000 miles” of travel around Great Britain.[39] In 1949 they appeared at the British Theatre Exhibition in Birmingham[40]

From 1951 onwards

In 1951 they moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, where they opened a Puppet Centre opposite the birthplace of Shakespeare. They also sold puppets, including Lanchester-Lee marionettes in kit form, made from easy-to-carve “Leetex”, a material developed by Waldo and John Lee.[41][42] The shop also housed a “permanent exhibition of English & foreign puppets.”[43]

As part of the Festival of Britain in 1951 they performed at the Marlowe Theatre, Bath Assembly Rooms and Wigmore Hall.[44]

In 1955 they made the film Magic Strings, directed by John R F Stewart.[45] It was featured on a “number of ocean liners, and the British Council purchased 15 copies for their overseas centres.”[46] During the 1960s they created maller-scale productions, staged exhibitions and gave lecture-demonstrations,[47] retiring in 1969. In 1972 the couple were elected as Honorary Members of the International Puppetry Association, UNIMA.[48]

In the 1980s their collection of 3,000 marionettes, sets and props[49] was donated to the British Toymaker’s Guild headquarters at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon.[50] In 2006 a selection of some 40 items was bought by the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, through a National Lottery grant.[51][52] It is kept in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.[53]

See also

  • Fisher, Douglas Wooden Stars: The Lanchester Marionettes (London; 1947) pub. TV Boardman Ltd

References

  1. ^ "Marionettes Feature". Bath Chronicle and Weekly. Bath, UK. 1944-08-02. p. 1.
  2. ^ "The Lanchesters". The Stage. London, UK. 1969-09-25. p. 16.
  3. ^ E.S.F. (1935-05-30). "An engagement". Evening Despatch. Birmingham, UK. p. 8.
  4. ^ "Harry William Whanslaw". World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Marionettes Feature". Bath Chronicle and Weekly. Bath, UK. 1944-08-02. p. 1.
  6. ^ "Marionette Opera". Evening Despatch. Birmingham, UK. 1950-01-20. p. 4.
  7. ^ "Farewell GBS". shaw-institute.com. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  8. ^ "Salute the Lanchesters and GBS". Puppetry Journal (Vol. 2 No. 4 ed.). Oxford, Ohio: Puppeteers of America Inc. January 1951. p. 2.
  9. ^ Steve Cockaigne. "Puppeteers remembered". worcesternews.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  10. ^ "Day by Day". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham, UK. 1944-08-02. p. 3.
  11. ^ "The Lanchester Marionettes". wepa.unima.org. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  12. ^ "Puppets on a screen". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham, UK. 1985-10-11. p. 26.
  13. ^ "Colour film on making of a marionette". Stratford-Upon-Avon Herald. Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. 1948-10-22. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  14. ^ "Lanchester Marionettes". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast, UK. 1948-03-12. p. 8.
  15. ^ "Colour film on making of a marionette". Stratford-Upon-Avon Herald. Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. 1948-10-22. p. 3.
  16. ^ "Marionette Theatre". Staffordshire Advertiser. Stafford, UK. 1946-11-02. p. 8.
  17. ^ "Marionette Opera". Evening Despatch. Birmingham, UK. 1950-01-20. p. 4.
  18. ^ Merriman, Andy (2014). Greasepaint and cordite: How ENSA entertained the troops during World War II. London, UK: Aurum. p. 76. ISBN 978-1781311622.
  19. ^ "Lanchester Marionette Theatre". Alderley and Wilmslow Advertisro. Wilmslow, UK. 1940-10-18. p. 4.
  20. ^ <--not stated-->. "Lanchester Marionette Theatre, Stafford". search.staffspasttrack.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  21. ^ "C.E.M.A. at its best". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeen, UK. 2002-10-08. p. 4.
  22. ^ "The Lanchester Marionettes". wepa.unima.org. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  23. ^ White, Eric Walter (1975). The Arts Council of Great Britain. London: Davis-Poynter. p. 271. ISBN 0706701089.
  24. ^ Peterson, Arthur E (1949). The Puppet Master. Cottingham, UK: British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild. p. 237.
  25. ^ "Snitterfield". Leamington Spa Courier. Leamington Spa, UK. 1936-12-25. p. 3.
  26. ^ "London Television". Daily Herald. London, UK. 1945-01-18. p. 15.
  27. ^ "Northampton". The Stage. London, UK. 1939-01-05. p. 11.
  28. ^ Niculescu, Margareta (1967). The Puppet Theatre of the Modern World: An international presentation in words and pictures. Boston, USA: Plays Inc. p. 219.
  29. ^ Vecchi, Orazio (1977). L'Amfiparnaso: a new edition of the music with historical and analytical essays. insert: University of North Carolina Press. p. 104. ISBN 0807812870.
  30. ^ Arnott, Peter D (1964). Plays without people knowledge. Indiana, USA: Indiana University Press. p. 44.
  31. ^ "Punch's mailbox". Puppetry Journal (Vol. 8 No. 3 ed.). Oxford, Ohio: Puppeteers of America Inc. February 1953. p. 29.
  32. ^ George (March 1961). "Punch lines". Puppetry Journal (Vol. 4 No. 4 ed.). Oxford, Ohio: Puppeteers of America Inc. p. 24.
  33. ^ Insert, insert (1964). Encyclopaedia Britannica, a new survey of universal knowledge. Chicago, USA: Encyclopaedia Britannica. p. 986.
  34. ^ Arnott, Peter D (1964). Plays without people knowledge. Indiana, USA: Indiana University Press. p. 45.
  35. ^ "Novelty at Riverside". Kinematograph Weekly. London, UK. 1945-01-18. p. 33.
  36. ^ "Marionette Theatre". Hawick News and Border Chronicle. Hawick, UK. 1945-01-18. p. 5.
  37. ^ "Puppets in the studio". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham, UK. 1945-01-24. p. 3.
  38. ^ "Marionettes Feature". Bath Chronicle and Weekly. Bath, UK. 1944-08-02. p. 1.
  39. ^ Keith Brace (1969-09-01). "Puppet King rings down the curtain". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, UK. p. 26.
  40. ^ "Marionette's journey to fame". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. Northampton, UK. 1950-07-11. p. 4.
  41. ^ "Puppet". collections.vam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  42. ^ "Lanchester-Lee Marionette Kits". www.iandenny.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  43. ^ "The Lanchester Marionettes". The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild Festival Exhibition. London, mUK: British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild. 1951. p. 43.
  44. ^ "The Lanchester Marionettes". The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild Festival Exhibition. London, mUK: British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild. 1951. p. 43.
  45. ^ "Magic Strings (1955)". www2.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  46. ^ "Punch's mailbox". Puppetry Journal (Vol. 8 No. 3 ed.). Oxford, Ohio: Puppeteers of America Inc. November 1956. p. 29.
  47. ^ "Summer school for singers". The Musical Times (Vol. 104 No. 1443 ed.). London, UK: Musical Times Inc. May 1963. p. 311.
  48. ^ <--not stated--> (1972-10-19). "Puppets by Chas. Trentham". The Stage. London, UK. p. 36.
  49. ^ "Waldo: A most famous puppeteer". Stratford Upon Avon Herald. Stratford Upon Avon, UK. 1978-12-29. p. 2.
  50. ^ Pearson, Margaret M (1987). Discovering London for children. Aylesbury, UK: Shire Publications. p. 92. ISBN 0852638892.
  51. ^ "The National Puppetry Archive". britishpuppetguild.com. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  52. ^ "Lanchester Marionette Archive". www.heritagefund.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  53. ^ Kelly, Paul (2013). ASLIB directory of information sources in the United Kingdom 17th edition. London, UK: Taylor and Francis Group. p. 185. ISBN 9781857436648.

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