Rowan's story

Rowan Watts
Speaking in Summer 2021

Rowan is the power and genius behind company: VIP Puppets. They specialise in making giant puppets and parade whilst also delivering community projects in parallel to their work. They’ve delivered creative workshops and content all around the world.
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The Audience Agency sat down with Rowan after our Summer Celebration 2021.

'It’s been a very tough couple of years… the minute the pandemic hit, everything just stopped for the company so that was devastating really! About the same time, I had a baby! It was a weird time for the company and this, working with Stage Directions, has been one of the first things I did after that.'

How did it begin with Stage Directions?
'Gently coming off maternity leave, someone put me in touch with Steph (Programme Manager) and I did a couple of workshops in schools. They could not have been more supportive. It was amazing. You know, my first thing back after having a baby- I’d never worked with them before and they were bending over backwards… they were supportive about times and everything. Even helping out with insurance and DBS check. In terms of getting me back into work again, it just couldn’t have gone better.'

How did it lead to doing Summer with Stage Directions?
'I did a few things and it fed into this much bigger thing (Summer). Having all these collaborations as well was amazing! The crew have been amazing and they’ve been able to teach practices that we’ve all done together. That’s been brilliant'!

How did the learning on the project impact your professionalism and by extension, develop the sector in Salford?
As an experienced artist working across the North West, Rowan had a wealth of knowledge regarding children and facilitating workshops that she could bring to Stage Directions.  Through the programme structure, Rowan was able to explore new workshop styles and group dynamics.

'Most of the puppetry I might do is non-verbal. This project, I  understood it was about children’s voices. I thought well, it would be better if we made puppets that could speak and show emotions. The children made these [puppets] in 20 minutes and they had a voice and they could say things! That was interesting for me because I haven’t done it like that before.'
 
'In terms of my professional development, that’s been amazing because I’ve made loads of connections. Actually, I’ve been able to develop the puppetry in slightly different ways, for example, making new hand puppets, which has been really lovely.'

What impact did having a dedicated core team to facilitate the programme have?
'They’ve done lots of care of the children, so I can focus on the puppetry, these children need a lot of support because of their age and because we’ve just met them! They’ve been there to deal with any issues that might come up. I can focus on sharing the skills, it was gorgeous.'

'In terms of my professional development, that’s been amazing because I’ve made loads of connections. Actually, I’ve been able to develop the puppetry in slightly different ways which has been really lovely.'

​Is there anything different that you’d like to comment on from Stage Directions compared to other projects you’ve worked on?
'I liked stuff coming from the kids especially… really importantly, it needs to be their work. I feel like they came away from that feeling like they did a beautiful show'!

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