Make Your Own Cranky Toy Theatre

This workshop has been developed for participants of all ages and shared online and in person at Festival of Curiosity, Puppet Animation Festival, SEALL Festival, Create Puppetry Festival and Dandelion at Lauriston Farm. 

Crankys are traditionally used in folk singing and storytelling, rather than turning a page to reveal the images, they appear across the “screen” of the box by turning a handle (or crank). The Moving Panorama or Cranky Theatre was an innovation on panoramic paintings in the mid-nineteenth century. It became a new visual element to theatre and was among the most popular forms of entertainment, serving as an ancestor and platform to early cinema.

Workshop Design & Facilitation: Emma Brierley (Temporary Commons)
​Workshop Assistants; Jemima Thewes, Jess Raine (Swallow The Sea) & Fiona Oliver Larken