Five great humans joined me the workshop last week to sample the ageless storytelling potential of shadow puppetry. In training to deliver Terrapin’s new series of intergenerational workshops, the participants were thrown in the deep end: I told them a story from my own childhood, and they had two hours to figure out how to tell it back to me in shadow.

Shadow is a mesmerising form, and while articulated shadow puppets are simple to construct there are also countless ways to make meaning using the human body, cutouts, and objects in silhouette.

The key ingredient is a crisp, bright light source such as the sun, an overhead projector or a single point LED. While a projection screen helps, you can also use a wall or even a shower curtain. The rest is discovery and play.

photo credit: Hannah Todd
Participants: Mads Hillam, Danny Miller, Tanya Maxwell, Nic Iceton, Edith Perrenot