Artistic Director

Jo's experience in the role of artistic director covers both dance (The Claquettes) and puppetry (Clink & Clank, Peter & the Wolf).

The Claquettes: A tap trio, formed by Jo in 2005. Although the company is not constantly in operation, it forms a name under which tap events, performances and workshops can operate. Utilising tap talent when and where it's available allows the company to remain fresh-faced and exciting.

Clink & Clank: A puppet production by Jo Turbitt. The show was an epic adventure from beginning to end. It was the first time, Jo had worked with an original story rather than an adaptation. The characters were born out of a conversation with an animator, the story was based on their adventures within a massive comic strip; A game of hide and seek goes wrong. Clink finds himself traveling through different worlds, while Clank freaks out about being alone. It all ends happily though.

The script went through several drafts. Ideas were filtered through, down and down until the little gems were left. This served both the characters and plot well, proving to be simple yet effective. Jo worked with an incredible team of people for whom nothing was impossible. In the role of creative/artistic director her challenge lay in the accumulation of all the pieces of the jigsaw, the staging and the direction of the piece. Character workshops, movement analysis, mime, comic timing and story telling with no words all played a major part in the end result. The project saw a merging of dance and puppetry, a successful marriage that drew on the Japanese puppetry style of Bunraku, which was implemented successfully by Julie Taymor in the Broadway production of "The Lion King".

Clink & Clank was a huge production. Jo is currently brainstorming ideas, investigating the possibilities of taking it to the other extreme, Clink & Clank in table top form.

Peter & The Wolf: A puppet production based on the original work by Prokofiev. Adapted for the stage by Jo Turbitt. The production marked Jo's debut as a director/ production developer/ artistic director. I chose

The Wizard of Oz: A puppet production based on the orginal story by…. Adapted for the stage by Jo Turbitt, Ian Turbitt and The Handyworks Puppet Company Ltd.

Future Performances/ Productions: updates coming soon.