I has of yet delved into performing.  I am mainly a puppet maker.  I can't do the behind-a-curtain-type because my shoulders are too badly damaged for the over-the-head performances.  I could do the 'Avenue Q' style, but being out there is currently a bit out of my comfort zone...   Otherwise, I'd have to add another form of puppetry and I am too obsessed with these to add more to do! lol

  Already have two lazy lay-abouts! Must be feeding them too much.   

Been thinking about the same question, meself. Our calendar of events has shrunk somewhat since 2011 (affordable venues that are still standing are as scarce as hen's teeth), so ... it's mostly likely a week of glove puppet outdoors during January/February and one/two indoor shadow theater performance(s) sometime during the rest of the year. I have, however, seen evidence of outdoor, sunlight Chinese shadow puppet theater, for example, here, so it is doable.

Regards,
Dorian

As the resident shadow puppeteer, I thought I'd post this (scroll down) - a backpack/jetpack shadow puppet screen
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/state-of-the-arts/archive/2010/08/going-for-miles.shtml

There's also this screen idea:
https://twitter.com/Prof_AForbes/status/288890338377093120

Hello and welcome from your neighbour Australia!

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff!

Thanks for sharing the video of the sun shadow puppet show. Don't think I've ever seen it done that way. Amazed at how well the images show on the screen. Na, the backpack screen is also very cool!

Yeah, I just found that yesterday. I've never seen anything like it before. It's not very clear from the pic, but I wonder if there's some sort of light attached with a battery in the backpack.

Having set up my shadow puppet screen outdoors during the day for a market, I can say that the direction you sit can either help or hinder the puppets. Obviously, having the sun behind you helps light the puppets better; having it in front hurts because they appear duller. So if you're going to be out during the day, you make sure you have your audience in the west and your screen in the east for the a.m., and vice versa for the afternoon. The only real trick is to make sure you don't have too much of the sun in your audience's eyes, so probably doing it on a slight angle to the sun's direction is a better way of doing things.

Looking at that Chinese video, I'm guessing they use the same principles - notice the direction of the shadows of the people at 00:48 or the shadow of the chairs at 2:03.

I am amazed that you can do shadow puppets outdoors and the backpack is cool. What dedicated performers to figure that out.

@pagestep007: Just PM me if/when your're out this way and we can arrange to at least meet for coffee (or a brew).

@ArthurS: Ah! Gottcha.

@Na: thanks for the links. The traveling screen is very close to what I envisioned (mine will just be somewhat smaller). The pack pack idea is very clever. (The SCA, however, imposes particular constraints (which I shall post about later on in the Project forum).   

@Billy D. Fuller: Many thanks for the welcome. 

@Shawn: You're welcome. I had previously read about Ming Dynasty daylight performances during some earlier research I had conducted. Annie Rollin's blog demonstrates the traditional form (wealthy village patrons hiring a troupe to give free performances for the locals) is still alive ... but with the current massive urban drift, for how much longer is anyone's guess. We are, sadly, witnessing the death of an art form.

Regards,
Dorian