Marie is a first time community producer and has supported Clare in the development of Broken Puppet Theatre since before the company even launched. Also a  puppet maker in training, Marie has a passion for marionettes and is currently learning skills for our upcoming stop motion animation projects!

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Marie's professional background is as a support worker, where she has extensive experience working with people who live with mental health issues and/or drug and alcohol misuse.

 

With over 12 years experience working in different community settings, such as rehabilitation units, prisons and hospitals, Marie is a real 'people person' through and through, and a great advocate for the children and families that we work with here at Broken Puppet Theatre.

 

Marie is also a qualified Reflexologist, but unfortunately had to give it up because of her own chronic illness, so has a genuine grasp of the issues faced by our project participants and collaborators. 

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Marie:

"Since I was 5 years old I have had rheumatoid arthritis. Having this condition has given me a deep understanding and highly developed sense of empathy and patience. These things have  made me the person I am today. I was introduced to puppet making through meeting Clare about 8 years ago, whilst on a mental health training course.

 

I fell for puppet making straight away. Broken Puppet came out of conversations that Clare and I have been having over those years. We both felt that something was missing in the Plymouth area to support people like us -  with long term health conditions  - but in a fun, engaging and non-medical way.

 

 We had both used creative expression as a means of coping with our own struggles, and Clare was looking for ways to reignite her theatre and film career after being forced into semi-retirement, so Broken Puppet came out of Clare's head and sprung into the world with my full support, quickly gathering pace as we developed new workshop programmes and performances for a children's hospice project together.

 

We've been running the company together ever since, and it's been a really worthwhile challenge! Balancing time off for our health issues and supporting each other's roles as best we can when one of us is sicker than the other, and learning to let go of the reins a little bit and admit we need a bit of help sometimes is hard, but has turned out to be a great decision for us.

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Over the next 12 months I am looking forward to producing  and performing our two shows around chronic illness,  as well as continuing to learn and develop new skills in puppet making and performing.  Sharing our story with others seems to provide hope for them - and for us - and that is what drives us to keep on going, even when our illnesses like to throw obstacles at us!"