HermanusTimes

The second International Puppets for Peace Day will be celebrated around the world on Saturday, 15 May and in Hermanus local puppeteer John Coates is also busy getting groups ready to participate in this event.

The international day is an effort to create positive change in the world. The event was founded by the Puppets for World Change Institute. According to them, Puppets for Peace can be a peace movement of healing whose power comes from many people offering peace puppetry in different parts of the globe on the same day.

Coates is currently busy training community puppeteers in Hermanus on a three-year programme funded by the Vodacom Foundation.

He has a group going at Camphill and parents of the Waldorf School have also shown interest in being trained, says Coates. He also often helps schools to put up puppet shows for the children.

He concentrates on marionettes and plans to train groups of two to four people in each of three communities in the Hermanus area. These are Camphill, Zwelihle/Mt Pleasant and Hawston. Once trained, these groups will have the use of a puppet kit for a number of weeks during which time they can use the kit to present puppet shows in their respective communities.

Coates' interest in puppetry started some twenty years ago and he has a long-term vision of developing the local people's skills into an art form that can be used to build bridges among all communities in Hermanus.

He wants to develop a puppetry culture in Hermanus and further afield. He has created a puppetry studio for himself at his house in Onrus that will let every imagination - young and old - run wild.

“Puppetry is a wonderful medium that relates to all ages,” he says.

To further his goal of developing a puppetry culture, Coates has also set up the Puppetry In Education (PIE) Trust. “It's as easy as pie!” he says.

For more information, contact Coates on (028) 316-1165.