folklore Shadow Stages

This two-part workshop invites participants to delve into traditional tales and reimagine them as silhouetted story stages. Designed for group settings such as cultural programmes, wellness retreats, or community events, the workshop is especially well suited to audiences who enjoy slow-paced, reflective creative activities with a storytelling element. It offers a calm and structured environment, encouraging conversation, collaboration, and connection — while making something both playful and meaningful.

Between Shadow and Story

The workshop will incorporate a conscious theme of cultural roots and shared narratives, brought into the space through a guided meditation at the start of each session. Participants will be gently encouraged to reflect on stories that have shaped them — whether personal or cultural — and how these might be re-told visually. This theme is carried through quiet journalling after the meditation and can be revisited during a final round of optional sharing in the closing circle.

Paper, Pencil, Presence

Participants will work with simple and accessible materials — black and white paper, tracing paper, pencils, card, skewers and string — to create layered backdrops and moveable paper characters. A basic theatrical frame is created by layering paper elements into a stage-like scene, into which hand-held silhouette figures can be placed. While inspiration comes from familiar folktales and fables, the process encourages personal interpretation, experimentation with form and shadow, and playful group collaboration. The workshop is fully guided and requires no prior artistic experience.

A Scene Worth framing

At the end of the workshop, each small group will have created a complete shadow stage — with background, framed layers and at least one moving character. These finished pieces act as visual reimaginings of well-known or much-loved tales and can also be used for simple storytelling performances or as displays. Beyond the object itself, the theatre serves as a reminder of the value of shared narratives and the collaborative process of bringing them to life through image and gesture.

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