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Leeds Puppeteer, Wilf
Thwaites was a talented professional graphic artist
who followed a familiar pattern of some of the early
members of the British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild
in developing his skills from the Model Theatre to the
Marionette.
He became interested in
Model Theatre in the early 1940s and embarked upon a
grand project to re-create the complete works of Gilbert & Sullivan in
miniature, including a 60-piece orchestra which 'tuned
up' before each performance. For the non-Gilbert &
Sullivan aficionados, he also staged Variety Theatre in
miniature, populated with caricatures of the Variety
Greats of the day, who he researched by going to the
Leeds City Varieties Theatre every Saturday to both
the Matinee and Evening performances.
Between shows, he would
dine at a nearby fish and chip shop and sketch pictures
of the stars of the show - stars such as Sandy Powell
and George Formby - he would then return to the Stage
Door to present his sketches to the performers
themselves before seeing them again in the evening show
and upon his return home, re-creating those same variety
stars as toy theatre figures.
Wilf
Thwaites' Model Theatre "Yeomen of the Guard"
In 1952, he changed
direction and began working with marionettes - his
performances being staged mainly as fund-raising events
for local charities. He performed regularly in his
local Village Hall and as Scoutmaster, encouraged his
Scouts and Cubs to take an interest in making and
performing marionettes. His proudest
moment in puppetry came in 1955, when he won the "Bulto
Bowl" Award for the best circus-themed puppet at the Annual Guild Exhibition. Below is a report of that
event from the 5th November 1955 edition of "The World's
Fair."
THE BULTO BOWL
On Saturday morning, I
paid a third visit to the British Puppet & Model Theatre
Guild Exhibition, the purpose this time being to
function as one of the panel of eight judging the
entries for the 'Bulto Bowl' (Award for the Best Circus
Puppet) - the others being Mr Stanley Bult himself,
Butch Reynolds, Smokey Townsend, Chester Field, Toni
Gerbola, Tommy Keel and Harold Whiteley.
Stan Bult
- Originator of the Bulto Bowl
In due course, we all
finished our examination and assessment, agreeing that
the standard of entries for the Bulto Bowl showed a
marked advancement. Yet we were puzzled as to the
continued fall from grace of so many puppeteers who, in
fashioning their clowns, show the quaintest of notions
in regard to make-up and costuming. One of the
marking provisions on Mr Bult's cards every year being -
"Is it correct in character?" - and that is where, time
and time again, these puppeteers lose points.
First of the thirteen
entries was "Blotto" - figure of a droll - the work of
Mr Wilf Thwaites. Out of a maximum possible
200 marks, Blotto secured 185.
A very close second
was "Bannister" - another droll - product of the Pompet
Puppets and Third, not very far behind, came a pair of
beautiful clown glove puppets made by the Worth Puppets.
Marionettes by Wilf Thwaites |
