The Front Page

What do you want from this program?

Next Saturday is the last date people signed up for in our first round of invitations. A few more names have come in since, and I’m glad to see them. We still need more people coming regularly before we can launch a troupe or book a tour. So I’m wondering what would make this worth showing up for in your life.

Would you like somewhere to play with a puppet for an afternoon? Are you looking for people to make scenes with, or a way to use theatre to talk about something that matters to you? Maybe you’d rather build a set, write a sketch or work behind a camera. And if the time, the travel or the commitment is the sticking point, I’d like to hear that, too.

We have dates at JDF and Studio Time at Manzer Commons booked through April. There’s room to come once and see what catches your interest. There’s also room to come back and help build First Threads if you find yourself wanting more. The morning is for trying things together. The afternoon is an easy first visit, and you don’t need a puppet of your own.

If you’ve been meaning to come, pick a session above and invite someone to go with you. If Saturday is out for you, tell me what would make it easier to join in. One honest sentence will do. You can also see the winter dates and reserve a later visit.

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Around the Village

From the café to Route 9

Last week we showed you the drawings. Here’s what happened when we put the pieces together and gave the puppets a turn in the opening. A stage flat is a piece of scenery that gives the audience a place to imagine. Building our first one taught me how different a design looks with real puppets in it. You can see where a face disappears behind another and how much a little space can do to suggest a conversation.

We’re getting it ready for the workshop. The next flat will be designed around two or three performers, although the café already does a good job with a small group. One possibility is a radio studio. Give one puppet a microphone and another a question they weren’t expecting, and we might have ourselves a programme.

Around Manzer Commons

What would you make room for?

Last Sunday I wrote about the student team looking at possibilities for Manzer Commons. Their report is expected in early December. In the meantime I keep thinking about the everyday side of the question. If we had a permanent neighbourhood space, what would you want to be able to do there on an ordinary week?

A table where a half-built set can stay overnight would be high on my list. Yours might start with somewhere to meet, work quietly beside somebody, or learn a skill from a neighbour. Send us one thing you’d use. The small details help us picture who the space is for.

Your Two Cents · Jules at the café

The blue wave: are you hopeful or more concerned?

At the café this week, Jules is asking what you make of the U.S. midterms. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. They’ll take their seats in January, with Donald Trump still in the White House. Associated Press coverage

Watching from this side of the border, does the result give you hope, or are you more concerned about what comes next? Is there one thing you’ll watch for when the new Congress gets to work? Send Jules your two cents. She’d like to hear what’s behind your answer.

A Moment of Practice

Begin with a moment you already have

In The Japanese Art of Reiki on Audible, Bronwen Logan and Frans Stiene describe ways to make the practice part of ordinary life. In their notes for beginning students, they name three foundations: the breathing meditation Joshin Kokyu Ho, reflection on the Reiki precepts, and hands-on practice for yourself. Print and ebook from the authors’ site · Their notes on personal practice

Here’s how I’d start this week. Choose a cue that already belongs to your day, like the kettle going on. Sit comfortably while the water heats. Bring one precept to mind, perhaps the invitation to be compassionate, and think of one place it might matter today. If you’ve learned the breathing meditation or self-practice in class, give the exercise a few unhurried minutes at the same time. If the day gets away from you, begin again the next time you put the kettle on.

The Study Box

Ten lines to get a character talking

The My Lines cards give you nine short responses and a longer passage from one character. There’s language for starting a scene, buying a little time, repairing a misunderstanding and finding your way back into the conversation. Say the lines aloud, turn the card over and see how much you remember. Then try one with a partner and listen to what their reply does to your delivery.

Jules Edenshaw’s My Lines card

1. Setup. I might be reading this wrong. Can I ask something?
2. Pause. What did you mean, just so I’m not guessing?
3. Repair. Thanks for explaining. I get it better now.
4. Welcome. Hi! Pull up a chair. What brought you in today?
5. Ask. Sorry, can I check what that word means?
6. Agree. Oh, that makes sense. I was wondering the same thing.
7. Invite. Does anyone else want to jump in? I’d love to hear it.
8. Steady. Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me slow down.
9. Return. Good. Where were we? I think I was about to ask something.
10. Passage. I’m not the expert here, and that’s the point. If I ask the question out loud, somebody else in the room gets to stop pretending they already know. So I ask, I listen, and we all learn a bit more than we did.

Compare Jules’s pause with Tavi Beckford’s: “Give me a second. I want to think before reacting.” Jules makes space by asking the other person to explain. She often voices the question someone in the audience is sitting on. Tavi, our challenger, usually helps people see a choice and take a step. Here she gives herself a beat so she can respond thoughtfully.

A role is the job a character often does for a scene. The character is the person doing it, with a history, a voice and a sense of humour. The same eight roles recur across our three casts. Two characters can both ask the question the audience needs, and you might recognise which of them is speaking before the puppet comes into view. Try playing the same interruption twice, once as Jules and once as Tavi. See how a change in the pause gives your partner a different way back into the scene.

For more rehearsal material, open Voice Found.

Quoted from the Jules Edenshaw and Tavi Beckford My Lines cards, © 2026 Tau Wellness Cooperative, CC BY-SA 4.0.

A Little Play

A riddle from the prop shelf

I have a neck and a body, but no head or legs. You can fill me up. What am I?

Hiring Hall News

Where the funding stands

Good news for Garden with an Elder: the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada approved a $1,000 A.P.E. Fund grant. It’s included in the four awards totalling $35,820. The November 5 budget review shows about $1.25 million in known declined requests and $3.07 million in documented requests awaiting decisions.

Support Our Troupe · Members’ notices

Give a puppet a Festivus outing

The First Annual All Puppet Festivus is on Saturday, December 19, from 1–4 p.m. at JDF, Room 201. Tell a friend on the Island who has a puppet they’ve been waiting to take somewhere. If you’re new to puppetry, come meet the cast. The Airing of Grievances should provide ample evidence that a puppet can hold a grudge.

Book a free Festivus place · Help with a gift, a prize or practical support

Have a show, workshop or gathering coming up? Send the date, location and booking details for a future issue.

From the Troupe Guide

What would count as a win for you?

For me, a good Saturday would be seeing someone come in a little unsure, find a puppet they like and leave with a reason to return. Someone else might have a very different good day. They might want two hours to learn how to make a puppet listen, or one scene they can take home and work on. I can plan the room and the afternoon. I need to hear from you to know what would make it your kind of gathering.

That’s how I think about Stephen Covey’s habit of thinking win-win. In a troupe, it means being candid about what each of us needs and making an agreement we can keep. Someone who can come occasionally might help us test a scene or build a prop. A company member preparing for a performance needs partners who will turn up for rehearsal. Both contributions have a home when we’re clear about what we’re asking of each other.

Listening first might show us that two people who can’t make the same full workshop can still meet for a short read. Then we can picture what we want to make together, choose a manageable first step and give ourselves enough breathing room to want to do it again. If you come on the 14th, I’d love to hear what would make the trip worthwhile for you. Covey’s Habit 4

— ChrŸs, Troupe Guide