Articles

The crystalising of a memory, of something learnt, matters. We need an education that provides an environment that is relevant to life.

The first time we got a large group of children to bring a creation myth to life I left the school amazed by several things. I could hardly believe the quality the children brought to the puppet theatre they created in such a short time.

I am writing this because over the last forty years, I have worked in several hundred primary schools across the UK, Ireland, Canada, Taiwan, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Switzerland with many, many thousands of children.

Some time ago a book arrived in the post. The book was Carlos Castaneda’s “The Other Side of Infinity.” It was from somebody whom I’d only met once and so it took me a bit of time to solve the mystery of the book’s source. The opening of the book hit a chord with me.

I began the story of another journey that began in a puppet theatre world. A modern myth that re-imagined conditions in 1970’s Santiago in the show ‘El Tomate y El Condor’ and my story continued into a workshop space that is now an Italian kitchen.

Scheherazade saved her life by telling a story a night for 1001 nights. Whilst my tales are not subject to such an ominous outcome, I do share some of Scheherazade’s fate. My life has depended on stories.

There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of us have to pee on the electric fence for themselves. Will Rogers