Other places would be delighted to host Paddington’s puppet show. No strings attached

Until now, Muppet Show balcony critics Statler and Waldorf had the puppetry quips market cornered. “Well, they say all good things must come to an end,” Waldorf once remarked as Kermit wrapped up another zany episode. “What’s that got to do with this show?” Statler replied. Cue self-congratulatory laughter.

It seems puppet angst lives on – at least it appears so in parts of downtown Paddington. Some residents of the leafy inner Sydney suburb have raised written concerns with the City of Sydney Council over a planned puppet performance at Paddington Reservoir Gardens.

The event would be held at the Paddington Reservoir Gardens.Credit: City of Sydney Council

The performance, which includes a four-metre puppet called Fauna, explores “themes of climate change and deforestation” and promotes conservation. The production firm has a record of educational programs and installations in museums and galleries across Australia and New Zealand.

According to a selection of the reported grievances, the proposed Paddington puppet show might cause: “health and sleep disturbances, potential noise impacts, rowdy crowd behaviour, light spill into homes and crime”.

Not since the infamous US television show Crank Yankers, featuring impudent prank-calling puppets, has the world of marionettes promised so much while angering and confounding so many. It’s enough to raise even the staunchest eyebrows, a la Parker from the Thunderbirds. “Yes, m’lady.”

From the balconies of the comparatively culture-starved reaches of regional NSW, Paddington’s problem looks like a solution. The puppet show is part of the City of Sydney’s Art and About festival. “Expect art in any corner of our city, at any time” the blurb reads. The promise of the unexpected, for some in Paddington at least, looks as welcome as the Spanish Inquisition.

Here’s an idea. How about cities on the edge, literally and figuratively, formally partner with Sydney in something wonderfully original? Imagine an Art and About festival that was truly mobile. Think Uncle Max bringing a puppet theatre to the children von Trapp in the wilds of prewar Austria. Even the Nazis, Marta’s sluggish set changes, or men drinking beer with the foam afloat, couldn’t stop The Lonely Goatherd: “Layee odl, layee odl layee-oo”!

Imagine taking puppets, unwanted in Paddington, to areas comparatively starved of arts investment. Areas like the Central Coast, the Illawarra or the NSW Central West contend with government arts investment levels, per capita, well below those enjoyed in the eastern suburbs, which has received 23.5 per cent of total federal government arts funding over the past decade.

Surely, without pulling too many strings, this is a chance for councils to collaborate and bring the arts to areas where it is not simply unexpected but underdone. Equitable federal funding to assist such a program must also be forthcoming. The promised “intimate exchanges” and “thought-provoking” interactions that underpin Art and About would undoubtedly be embraced by communities that, in the absence of a fair share of arts investment, would understand and appreciate its value.

The four-metre puppet, Fauna, is the star of the show planned for the Paddington Reservoir Gardens.Credit: City of Sydney Council

Equally, a visiting arts program, partnered with Sydney, would create opportunities for a truly balanced arts exchange. Perhaps art touring Sydney from the edges might help some disaffected inner-city residents see creativity anew through a lens of true reciprocity with their regional cousins. A genuine two-way exchange would achieve that.

The City of Sydney program is coming from a good place. It sets out to be “participatory and inclusive” and it promises to “create unique experiences through diverse and interesting collaborations”. Sometimes the best collaborations require opening your own space, and your consciousness, to outside influences.

Some people can never be convinced. Fears that the proposed Paddington puppet show “could affect the heritage value of the gardens” should of course be considered. Heritage is for everyone’s enjoyment, just like the arts. Still, resident apprehension that visiting teenagers “fuelled by drugs and alcohol” might “take risks” can reasonably apply anywhere, any time, with or without puppets. The fact remains that the risk of violence is by far greatest at home.

There are other risks to contemplate. For instance, the risk that we, as a society, let insularity smother curiosity. Cities that allow that to happen are cities that stop imagining new possibilities. The question then becomes, what are we preserving?

If fear does hinder the path to puppetry in Paddington, then we would be wise to heed the words of the greatest puppet sage of all, Yoda.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Andy Marks is a political analyst, social and cultural commentator.

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