Over the coming Easter week-end there is to be an amazing theatrical event in the nearby town of Halifax. One of the tourist attractions of the town is the “Piece Hall”, which is an eighteenth century structure originally intended as a market for the local hand-loom weavers to sell their cloth. It is in the form of a large square surrounded by an elegant colonnade that housed that offices of the merchants who bought the cloth. These days it is used as as venue for all kinds of cultural events.
I discovered tonight that this week-end will feature a puppet theatre, but with a vengeance. The central figure will be a baby seven metres high, and operated by a crew of nine puppeteers. It wail operate on the same principles as were used in the celebrated stage version of War Horse. (I think they are called “handspring” puppets, for some reason.) The company performing it is quite well-known in Britain, called “Mind the Gap”, and their distinctive feature is that all the members of the cast have some kind of mental disability. I’ve seen them in action before and they really are first rate. The event will certainly be of a high artistic standard, even ‘though there has never been anything quite like it.
It would certainly be worth seeing the show, but unfortunately we have arranged to spend the holiday in Sheffield with other family members.