Pilot: Jayne Eyre
Dog puppet design and construction commission from Director Rebecca Gadsby for a new production of Jayne Eyre by Blue Orange Theatre.
This large puppet to play Rochester's dog companion Pilot was inspired by the Irish Wolf Hound breed. I also took inspiration from the gorgeous textile sculptures by the artist Holy Smoke who creates wonderful textured and layered hessian dod sculptures. The design of the show featured a pallet style backdrop with abstract shapes and obvious gaps and shadows between the slatted wood. I therefore designed this puppet in a similarly abstract and contemporary style with an open frame and obvious puppeteer. Pilot can be manipulated by either one or two puppeteers depending on level of movement required. The show toured successfully in February/March 2015 to around 20 UK venues.