One of my oldest friends is Joana. We've known each other since we were 6. Her father is a Puppet Master and ever since I remember from all the infinite hours spent at their place, the love put into every new puppet was truly inspiring. My favourite one - o Gato - still makes my cry after all these years and the most amazing part of it all is that he uses only his mastering techniques and music to make the puppets come alive and tell amazing stories.
So, when Joana told me they would be going to Beijing for a show (they travel every year and I don't remember the last time they came back without a prize), I had to make it possible for them to also bring their magic to Macau, my new home.
Having found the perfect venue and sponsors, I did the production of a two-days event at Albergue SCM, full of playground activities for children that culminated in a puppet show by my long-time friends - TRULÉ. In this free-entrance event, children (and grown-ups!) could play traditional games, do canvas painting, get a face painting, play with animals (and adopt them), know more about the Red Cross or the “I am a bone marrow donor” campaigns, play badmington or play with a giant tangram! There was also free coffee for all of the grown-ups!
The puppet show, entitled ”Puppet Variations on a Musical Theme” by TRULÉ was beautiful and everybody loved it, including the staff. Despite being the only producer of this event, I had the good help from very good friends and without them this wouldn’t have been possible.
It was very exhausting but heart-warming and extremely rewarding to have a bit of home come to me because of my will to make it happen. I definitely surprised myself with my ability to do it!
