Today was a mix of puppets, pixels, and pain relief — a day of quiet achievement wrapped in physical discomfort.

This morning, my right eye burned with the kind of inflammatory pain that’s hard to describe. I have a chronic eye condition that flares without warning, and today was one of the worst in recent memory. Medications, eye drops, advice from my ophthalmologist — all on loop. Pain, discomfort, exhaustion.

And yet, in the middle of all that, I achieved something I’ve been trying to do for three months: I finally designed the stage set for our new musical puppet show.

It’s a show full of vibrant, short-form segments — musical numbers, playful scenes, funny moments, heartfelt beats. A live host (that’s me, Zietta) introduces and weaves through it all, sometimes onstage, sometimes behind the puppet theatre. And the puppetry? It’s a wild mix. Traditional hidden hand puppetry. One walk-around puppet. Some Bunraku-style moments. A splash of Avenue Q-style too (in puppetry style not in content!). It’s a hybrid show with a chaotic spirit — full of colour, character, and fun.

The challenge? Designing a single set that could hold all that.

We needed something beautiful but lightweight. Tourable. Something that packs into our van. A set that allows me to be both visible and hidden. Something that makes it look seamless, even though the design process behind it was anything but.

I sketched for months. Started, scrapped, circled back. Ideas came and went, each one hitting a wall. But yesterday afternoon, something shifted. I drew a rough concept on paper. It felt different – like it might actually work.

And today, between eye drops and pain management, I sat down and recreated the sketch in Canva. I used graphic elements — curtains, textures, stage shapes — to build a digital version. It started to come alive. I even used some generative AI to experiment with ideas for inflatable components — a new set addition that brings visual impact without heavy weight.

I won’t share the final image here. That moment will come onstage. But I will say this: the design feels right. It holds the energy of the show. And after months of stuckness, circling, and second-guessing, that feels like a small creative miracle.

It’s strange to end a day with both a major accomplishment and significant physical pain. But that’s where I’m at — proud, sore, grateful, and tired.

Set design for puppetry is a whole artform in itself. Especially when you’re balancing visibility and invisibility. Especially when you’re trying to honour the integrity of puppetry traditions while innovating for contemporary audiences and while making something original and portable and playful.

I’m thankful for the small Council grant that gave me time and space to wrestle with this — to go deep, get frustrated, and ultimately find something that works. I’m thankful to my body for letting me get through today.