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It's half-term here. All the schools are on holiday. I looked through the papers to see if there were any special events on for the week here. And I noticed that Francis Firebrace was giving a storytelling session at my local museum. Captain Cook came from here, so we have quite a few events with Australian/New Zealand connections. Francis Firebrace is an aborigine. Well, half of one anyway. I saw him earlier this year in a Festival at Hartlepool, teaching children to dance like a kangeroo.
So, my day was booked for a visit to the museum. I decided to take Lambton Puppet with me. I thought some of the children would enjoy seeing him. He's a sunny puppet with a smile on his face.
Bit of a rainy day, but never mind. There was a full house at the museum. Lots of children and parents out for the half-term. Francis Firebrace was in excellent form. He's an extrovert, larger-than-life personality. Very open and forthright. Perhaps slightly eccentric. He wears a possom skin. He launched into stories about the aboriginal way of life, and eventually had a group of young boys up doing the Kangeroo dance. You should have seen how proud those young boys were!!!! How much they loved it!! He chivvied and praised them alternatively. And they beamed back at him.
Then there was a break for tea etc. I'd been showing Lambton to some of the young children. He went down very well. One brain-damaged child in a wheelchair was fascinated by him - I explained to her carer where she could buy similar puppets locally. Sadly she was too brain-damaged to play with the puppet herself, but she was able to watch someone else manipulating it. Then I showed it to a toddler. He was captivated by Lambton. After watching it, his hand came out to touch it. Clean luckily. His fingers touched Lambton's ears and his tongue, and his snout. Like most glove puppets Lamton has good textures and is soft to the touch. I looked on approvingly as the child explored Lambton.
At this point Francis Firebrace suddenly noticed Lambton and me. He was charmed by the puppet and wanted to know if I went round with him, and what his name was. So I said he was called Lambton. Well, being Australian he would not have heard of the name Lambton, so he misheard me. "Laughter? What a wonderful name!!!" he beamed back at me. I didn't feel able to correct him very easily. And after all, it IS a good name for a puppet.
Then I explained briefly about having been seriously ill, having recovered and my interest in storytelling. I suspected that an aborigine would have a good insight into what it is like to face serious illness. He was concerned and asked if I had recovered, so I said yes. He said I should look for a Storytellers' Association. Then I was flabberghasted to find myself on the receiving end of a kiss! Just a peck on the cheek of course, but you could have knocked me down with the proverbial feather.
Anyway, after that there was the second half of the performance, and this time Francis Firebrace had the little girls up and dancing like emus, then we all got a turn to imitate a snake.
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