Yesterday saw the "Ups and Downs" puppet team heading to Guildford for the One Way UK Puppet Ministry Regional Festival. Helen and I are still relatively new to this puppeting thing, so we allowed ourselves to be persuaded by Ros (our team leader, who has many years puppetry experience) to enter the song competition. We were amazed to find, on arrival, that we were the only team to have entered this particular competition, which removed some of the pressure. However, as each entry is judged on its own merits (rather like the Chelsea Flower Show), we still needed to put on a good performance.
Here is a video of a practice session for the routine
The morning consisted of workshops and performances by visiting puppet teams, who put on some very impressive shows. Lunch was next, and then the moment we had been waiting for arrived and we were on. The performance went without any major hitches, and we were then able to relax and enjoy the skit competition that followed, with 4 entries ranging from single puppeteers, to a sizeable team that told the story of the ascension of Elijah with a very impressive chariot.
When the team competitions were over, it was time for the Lip Synch challenge, which Ros had very kindly entered me for. This involved 4 contestants at a time going behind a screen, choosing a puppet, and then lip synching and performing along to a previously unannounced song. Ros and I both won our initial heats, which meant that we were competing against each other in the semi-final. I couldn't believe it when both our numbers were called to go through to the final, but really thought my ears were deceiving me when they announced the song for the final - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! I had great difficulty stopping my arm from shaking at the end of that one!
The final workshop was followed by the results of the competitions. We were awarded a very respectful Silver for our song, and I was stunned to get second place in the Lip synch challenge (ahead of Ros who came third). Thankfully she didn't take it personally, and still agreed to drive us home after a very successful and entertaining day!
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