The first ever puppet show at Culloden Library was announced as a free bookable event part of High Life Highland’s ever-popular School’s Out programme.
Inspired by the beloved and renowned Canadian storyteller, Robert Munsch, the puppet show followed the narrative of ‘The Paperbag Princess’ and other classic tales of dragons, fire, and children who want to stay up late.
The puppet show took place on Monday 24th July from 11am to 12pm, welcoming children aged 3-12 along with their parents and carers.
A second session had to be added from 12pm to 1pm to meet demand, as the first session was fully booked on the day bookings went live.
A third performance was also held for the adult participants of the library’s weekly Mind Hub session.
Julie Corcoran, High Life Highland’s Head of Libraries, said: “High Life Highland are delighted to have delivered a series of puppet shows as part of the schools out programme.
“The puppet shows helped the service to engage with all different age groups within the Culloden community and enabled High Life Highland to promote a love of literacy, storytelling and book sharing.”
Michelle Gowans, High Life Highland’s Network Librarian, added: “Culloden Library has never before had a puppet show, so we have been really excited to bring this new activity to the highlife membership in time for the school holidays.”
“We didn’t know how the puppet show would be initially received, so we were delighted when tickets had been fully booked in just a day of making the event live!
“It goes to show the demand for free family-friendly activities of this nature in the Highlands, and we were happy to add an additional show time on the day.”
The new puppet show equipment was funded via the Ward Discretionary Fund administered by Highland Council elected members before the pandemic, but it has taken time to get through recovery to begin finding the capacity to work on developing a production.
Michelle continued: “One of High Life Highland’s Young Leaders, who has been coming to Culloden Library since early primary, got involved with their parents in various aspects of the production, demonstrating how much of a supportive, community effort it is to put on the show.
“We were delighted with the turnout and response overall. It has been an anticipated community storytelling project several years in the making, of which other similar puppet shows will be prepared and delivered in due course.”
Kristina, a Highlands-based Mother of two, shared her experience from the event: “My children and I love visiting libraries. Our regular locations are Nairn and Glenurquhart, but we recently started attending Culloden Library’s Mind Hub sessions which introduced us to an inclusive, multi-generational space where different communities can mingle.
“It was at a Mind Hub session where we received the suggestion to go along to the upcoming puppet show. It was a gold standard performance, showing off not only the story, but also the efforts of a creative process along with skilled mentoring of set design, script writing and performance coaching.
“Although the show itself was only 20 minutes, it was a springboard of conversation and reflection for the whole family together. We ended up staying at the Library for an extra couple of hours to learn more about the creative process and to unravel the holistic human connection inspired by the performance.
“It was a strong example of what people can do together within our local communities and overall was a gem of an experience that has enriched us all. Events like these truly make a difference to everyone involved, and everyone who comes along for the show.”
Steve Walsh, High Life Highland’s Chief Executive, concluded: “High Life Highland are so pleased to have delivered a unique and memorable puppet show to an enthusiastic and involved community at Culloden Library.
“I know the staff and volunteers are looking forward to delivering another successful puppet show in future.”
