Penny Francis MBE: Edward Gordon Craig and Puppetry
Channel: Who is Gordon Craig?
Date: 13/12/2017

Penny Francis MBE
Edward Gordon Craig and Puppetry

Featuring excerpts from unpublished The Inner World of Edward Gordon Craig by Henryk Jurkowski (1927-2016) Professor of Theatre, Krakow

50 years after his death on July 29th 1966, Stevenage Arts Guild, in partnership with Stevenage Museum, supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund, celebrate the life and work of the town’s ‘forgotten son’ who became a radical and visionary theatrical pioneer.

A presentation recorded on July 31st 2016 at The Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage.

For more information, images, videos and educational resources visit http://www.edwardgordoncraig.co.uk/

Penny Francis MBE, born 1931 in Calcutta, educated in various private schools in India and England, trained and worked as an actor, from 1950 to 1956. She was married to actor Derek Francis from1954 until his death in 1984, together having two daughters, Tessa and Julia. From 1961 she became involved with professional puppetry, recognising the artistry of several young practitioners in a profession then disregarded by the arts world. Penny co-founded the Puppet Centre Trust in 1974, an organisation designed to promote and develop the art form, and initiated a wide-ranging programme which helped to raise its profile and status and to attract statutory funding. She edited the magazine Animations for 14 years and received M.B.E. for services to puppetry in 1998. A tutor at the (now Royal) Central School of Speech and Drama from 1992 to 2008 she is now ongoing international consultant in puppetry to the School. Awarded Honorary Fellowship by the School in 2009, and Honorary Membership of the international association UNIMA in 2012, Penny published Puppetry, a Reader in Theatre Practice (Palgrave. 2012).