RTÉ / Caboom

Gerry Hoban’s award-winning documentary; ‘My Astonishing Self’ on the life of George Bernard Shaw featured several cameo appearances of a 70-year-old portrait marionette of the playwright himself. The puppet was originally built by the Lanchester Marionettes in the 1940’s for Shaw’s final play ‘Shakes Versus Shav’, written by Shaw especially to be performed by the Lanchesters.

Darryl had the pleasure of meeting Muriel Lanchester in the1980’s and she was very supportive of his early work as a puppeteer. In 2017, Darryl was invited by Damian Farrell of Caboom to restore to working order, and also puppeteer the original portrait marionette of GBS, for filming at Shaw’s Corner.

“The puppet was a pleasure to work with, such a finely-honed piece of traditional marionette craftsmanship”. We were really impressed at how Darryl delicately and sensitively restored this amazing 70-year-old marionette, without impinging on any of the historical craftwork. Heal so helped bring the puppet to life in various locations around the Shaw’s home at Ayot St Lawrence. The performance was superb and it’s inclusion in the film added a layer of magic and charm to the documentary that none of us could have expected”.

Gerry Hoban Writer / Director