The beginning
Some years ago I wrote , The Frog King, a completely off-the-wall play that involved various fairytales (gone wrong, naturally).
One of the characters was a frog (and a king). I had no idea how I was going to create the 'frog'. Puppet? Frog make-up? Silly frog hat? I trusted that inspiration would arrive when it was required (or I was desperate).
The play itself was completely bonkers, and we were performing it in a series of rooms in an empty manor house in the countryside. It was a fantastic challenge. And so, as it turned out, was creating a head for the Frog King. Because I decided I did need to put a very large puppet head on one of the actors. The Frog King needed real presence.
Puppet-making
Luckily, I lived not far from a wonderful Puppet Company (see below). They created amazing puppets, gave performances and, crucially, ran puppet-making workshops.
I put myself down for a weekend of puppet-making. On day 2 we made our own puppets and they graciously helped me make a huge frog's head, instead of the much smaller clay-based puppets included with the course. These wonderful folk pretty much created the head at the 'bendy wood' stage. Creating the frame was the part I had very little idea about and we sailed through it. I still have very little idea about it - although I reckon I could make a lantern at a pinch! I can't even recall if we used bamboo, rattan, cane or willow. But creating that shape was masterful and I highly recommend this company if you have need of puppets - giant ones, small ones - they do it all (based in Herefordshire, UK). Even if you don't - take a look at the puppets on this site - they are breath-taking!
The messy stage
Taking the frame home, I felt like I was halfway to a Frog King's head. I set about covering it with wet strength tissue paper (the sort used for lanterns). Then I created shape and texture with bubblewrap, polystyrene balls (eyeballs and crown detail), wire, felt, and mesh - all held together with PVA.
This is me in my element really - the messy bit.
Then the painting - mostly green and gold. I deployed the airbrush at times and slapped on paint with a brush at others. Excellent fun and so rewarding.
I should mention that the head was created with a mouth that opened (a frog has to be able to croak after all). That meant painting and embellishing (?) his mouth.
Finally he needed fabric. A cloak and collar would help hide the join between actor and head. Some shimmering fabric at the throat similarly served the same purpose and also created a frog-like throat.
You can read about the play on the FROG KING play page. It really was an excellent amount of fun. It was also one of the plays I wrote for adults, although teenagers would LOVE it.
I don't know where the head is these days - I gave it to another theatre company when I decided I wanted to live a 'tiny' life!
It's worth going the extra mile to create something special - as this most definitely was! The gasp from the audience at the first reveal provided evidence of that.
