Biography

Formal Qualifications:
2012 – University of Plymouth – PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) Secondary Level – Art and Design
2011 – Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London – BA(Hons) Theatre Practice – Puppetry (First Class Honours)
2008 – University College for the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey – Foundation Diploma in Art and Design (Merit)

Performance:

September 2015 – Present – Various – Theatre of the Ancients, Ibiza, Spain (you can follow and support Joanna’s present work by joining her Patreon community)
January – August 2015 – The Weeping Tree – writer/designer/lead artist/performer – a revived edition of this non-verbal paper theatre/paper automata/kamishibai performance, developed with Arts Council funding in collaboration with Jon Nash and Philip Kingslan John. Performed at Radiant Art Space, Plymouth (July 2015), and The Little Angel Theatre’s HATCH! festival (Sept 2015)
April – June 2015 – Four of Swords Theatre – performer/puppeteer, (Atalanta the Huntress) Jason and the Argonauts, a site-specific, immersive production featuring large scale puppetry in the derelict Rolle College, Exmouth, Devon (as part of Exmouth Festival)
July 2014 – October 2015 – Puppetcraft – performer/puppeteer in Monkey, a touring marionette production (script written by poet laureate Michael Rosen) (currently on UK tour)
August 2014 – The Port Elliot Festival – walkabout large scale puppetry and storytelling piece in collaboration with All Seasons Stories and Rogue Theatre, St Germans, Cornwall.
Sept 2013 – Resurgam – walkabout puppetry performance – immersive theatre and multi-platform storytelling piece, the Royal William Yard, Plymouth (Plymouth University and Rogue Theatre)
June 2013 – The River Lethe – acting role in Ioannis Souris’s play The River Lethe, directed by Jon Nash, performed at the Exeter Ignite Festival.
June 2010 – The Weeping Tree – solo toy theatre piece performed at The Great Small Works International Toy Theatre Festival, New York, and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama’s International Student Puppet Festival, London
August 2009 – Jim Hensen Memorial Walk – director, performer – Camden Council guided walk with interactive puppetry interventions, Camden, North London
March 2009 – Our Lady of the Flowers – installation & solo mask performance, The Central School of Speech and Drama International Student Puppet Festival, London

Freelance Commissions:

September 2015 – Present – Various – Theatre of the Ancients, Ibiza, Spain (see website)
April – May 2015 – Four of Swords Theatre – puppet design and construction for Jason and the Argonauts, a site-specific, immersive production at the disused Rolle College, Exmouth, Devon (part of Exmouth Festival)
October 2014 – Four of Swords Theatre – marionette design and construction for Four of Swords Theatre‘s immersive production of Dr Faustus at St Nicholas Priory, Exeter, Devon
March – August 2014 – Puppetcraft – puppet- and prop-maker for the company’s touring  marionette production Monkey! (Dartington, Devon)
January 2014 – The Wood Sisters Winter Storytelling Festival – visual artist, (large scale processional puppetry and costume) (Totnes, Devon)
November 2013 – Four of Swords Theatre – large scale puppet- and prop-making for Four of Swords Theatre’s interactive, site-specific production of Gawain and the Green Knight, performed at the Exeter Phoenix and Exeter Cathedral, Devon.
August 2012 –The Westcountry Storytelling Festival – visual artist (large scale puppets, fire ceremonies, theatrical storytellers’ backdrops and signage), (Embercombe, Exeter, Devon)
February 2012 – The Wood Sisters Winter Storytelling Festival – visual artist (large scale puppetry). (Totnes, Devon)
July 2011 – The Live Literature Company – shadow puppetry commission and performance for the company’s adaption of Rabindranath Tagore’s play The Postman, performed at the British Library & the Nehru Centre, London.

Workshop Facilitation:

September 2015 – Present – Various – Theatre of the Ancients, Ibiza, Spain (see website)
August 2015 – Puppetry for Foreign Language Students – puppet-making and -animation workshops with foreign language students aged 13 – 17 at Mayflower College, Plymouth. (Hosted by Theatre Royal Plymouth.)
July – August 2015 – Bigfoot Arts Education – arts and drama facilitation within summer schools for children embarking on secondary school education.
June 2015 – Funky Llama Festival – Creating a large scale, ‘weavable’ llama sculpture, embellished and woven into by visitors to the Theatre Royal Plymouth’s music festival for young adults with disabilities.
January 2015 – Plymouth College of Art – two day Commedia dell’Arte and Medieval Puppet-making workshop with 2nd year Costume Production and Associated Crafts students.
December 2014 – Present – Schumacher College – Story of a Seed – working with storyteller/facilitator Sara Hurley and horticulture lecturer Bethan Stagg to develop a pilot workshop teaching KS3 Botany through storytelling and visual arts. (Dartington, Devon)
November – December 2014 – Plymouth College of Art – National Art and Design Saturday Arts Club. Puppet-making and film project using laser-cutting and 3D printing technology in PCA’s Fab Lab.
September – October 2014 – Stonehouse ‘Three Towns’ Parade Project – working with community groups Stonehouse Action and Take A Part, and three Plymouth schools to create a large scale lantern puppet based on the Greek god, Janus. (Plymouth, Devon)
July – October 2014 – Exeter Extreme Imagination Festival – series of story-mapping and paper theatre workshops with Yr 5 primary school classes, to coincide with the Northcott Theatre’s stage adaption of Michael Morpurgo’s An Elephant In the Garden. (Various schools, Devon)
April – June 2014 – The Theatre Royal Plymouth ‘Funky Llama Festival’ – working with young adults with learning disabilities to create a mixed-media, large scale llama sculpture for the theatre’s youth culture festival for adults with learning disabilities. (Plymouth,  Devon)
February 2014 – Arts Wave Devon – a series of primary- and special school puppetry workshops in association with Devon Arts in Schools Initiative. (Various schools, North Devon)
January 2014 – Plymouth University – working with PGCE Secondary Art students to create ‘moving panorama’ paper automata devices.
December 2013 – January 2014 – Woodlands Special School/The Theatre Royal Plymouth – series of consultancy- and INSET sessions introducing visual theatre and folk theatre  techniques to teachers for creating visual and multi-sensory classroom environments.
November 2013 – Exeter University – ‘Puppets Have Got Talent’ puppet-making and ‘puppet talent contest’ working with MA Education students and primary school children.
March 2013 – Present – Bigfoot Arts Education – drama workshops, performances and summer schools within primary and secondary schools, focusing on PSHE and emotional well-being themes. (Various schools, Devon)
February – July 2013 – The Theatre Royal Plymouth – large scale puppet-making project with Dove Tales, a creative arts group for female asylum seekers living in Plymouth.
January 2013 – Present – The Theatre Royal Plymouth – various primary and secondary school workshops at Plymouth’s TR2 centre, including shadow puppetry and model box designing.
October 2012 – Present – Brixton Primary School – after school puppetry and visual theatre club for Yrs 4 – 6, including puppetry, paper theatre and large scale school-mascot making.
October – November 2012 – The Theatre Royal Plymouth – puppet-making and manipulation sessions with Dare to Dazzle, a theatre group for children from asylum seeker backgrounds.
September 2012 – Brixton Primary School – paper theatre workshop with Yr 2/3 children in conjunction with nationwide ‘Dahlicious Day’ celebrating characters from Roald Dahl stories. (Yealmpton, Devon)
July 2012 – Chances South Devon Youth Service – two day puppet-making workshop with KS3 students at risk of permanent exclusion from mainstream school (Newton Abbot, Devon)
February 2012 – Dartington Primary School – week-long puppet-making residency with Yr 3 children on the theme of Ted Hughes’ book The Iron Man. (Dartington, Devon)
July 2011 – Capital City Academy – Year 8 puppet-making and storytelling project in collaboration with professional storyteller Xanthe Gresham. (Willesden Green, North London)
June 2011 – The Boy in the Dress – week-long visual arts and puppetry primary school residency with Drama and Applied Theatre students from Central School of Speech and Drama. (Hove, Sussex)
March – April 2011 – Liminal Space – co-director, co-producer and co-facilitator of ‘storytelling arts’ drop-in pop-up shop in a disused dry cleaners. (Camden, London)
Oct 2010 – May 2011 –  The Cecil Sharp House – ‘Apple Day’ and ‘May in a Day’ seasonal and celebrational craft workshops. (Primrose Hill, North London)
Nov 2009 – The London Colliseum – puppet manipulation taster workshop for Theatrecraft, an A Level student careers day.

Internships/Professional Development:
January – May 2014 – Into the Woods: Storytelling for Screen – online course exploring story structure for screenwriting in film and television, led by screen-writer John Yorke and the Professional Writing Academy.
October 2014 – Remy Bertrand Impro Workshop – two day theatre- and musical improvisation workshop with Imprology, Dartington, Devon
February – July 2013 – Cooling Conflict – training project in association with Plymouth’s Barbican Theatre, using forum theatre and drama techniques to address bullying, Plymouth University and Plymouth primary schools
January 2013 – The Guests of Chance: Exploring the Arc of the Facilitator – three day workshop exploring approaches to arts facilitation through metaphor, The School of Workshop, Seale Hayne, Newton Abbot, Devon
Nov 2012 – Rainbow of Desire – Theatre as Therapy – Augusto Boal masterclass, Cardboard Citizens, London
2010 – 2011 – The Westcountry School of Myth and Story – residential, year-long myth and storytelling course, Dartmoor, Devon
Jan 2011 – Actor as Educator – two day drama facilitation workshop, Bigfoot Arts, London
June 2010 – Great Small Works International Toy Theatre Festival – internship (assisting with community arts festival and curation of festival exhibition), Brooklyn, New York
July 2009 – The Bread and Puppet Theatre –  internship (large scale puppet and costume construction, collaborative devised outdoor performance), Vermont, USA
Nov 2009 – The Philippe Genty Company – object manipulation masterclass, Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2008 – 2009 – The Spontaneity Shop – improvisation training (Levels 1A & 1B), Camden, North London

Languages:
Fluent in German and Spanish