Lydia Lukidis is a multidisciplinary artist with a passion for creation and visual arts on many levels. Before entering the realm of puppets, she explored such mediums as writing, performing, designing, painting, drawing and printmaking. She studied English Literature at McGill University where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree. Having also trained in wax carving, soldering and gemology, she is an award-winning silver and goldsmith who founded her own jewellery company and label in 1999.

Today, Lydia co-writes, produces and directs all of Panadream Theatre’s plays along with Christopher. She assists in the design of marionettes, puppets and sets, and is in charge of the design and creation of props, backdrops and costumes. She continues her training through various puppet making workshops, and has been coached by world-renowned clowns Francine Côté and James Keylon in acting, clowning and physical theatre techniques.

She considers herself a storyteller and a magic maker, and her work always seeks to provoke thought and feeling. Through entertaining and educational puppet shows, she seeks to help children cultivate their own imagination, pursue their dreams, and believe in themselves. Her personal mandate as an artist has always been to spread love and light.

Christopher Godziuk is a multidisciplinary artist trained in the mediums of puppetry, theatre, writing, dance and video. Before co-founding Panadream Theatre, Christopher studied theatre at Grande Prairie Regional College and at the University of Lethbridge. In 2000, Christopher co-founded a marionette company called Peanut Butter Productions, where he helped write and direct various puppetry plays. Following this, Christopher completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Contemporary Dance at Concordia University in Montreal. While at Concordia, Christopher studied creative process, choreography, movement technique, music and video.

Christopher now integrates all the skills he acquired over the years into his work with Panadream Theatre. In addition to co-writing, producing and directing all of the company’s plays, he designs and constructs the marionettes, props and sets. He also manages details related to music and lighting. He has designed and built over 50 marionettes and 25 other puppets, and continues to research and explore innovative constructive techniques.

His vision is to produce work that combines the mediums of puppetry and theatre through story, thus creating a stimulating and imaginative experience for the audience. Christopher’s desire as an artist is to help people see the beauty of life through art.

Here are some selected tour dates for Panadream Theatre’s various shows:

The Giant Magician
August 2012: Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival- Almonte, Ontario
April 2012: Hudson Village Theatre- Montreal
February 2012: Montreal Highlights Festival- Nuit Blanche- Montreal
November 2011: Centaur Theatre- Montreal
August 2011: Hamilton Art Gallery- Hamilton
July 2011: Montreal International Jazz Festival- Montreal
July 2011: Îles-des-Moulins Historial Site- Terrebonne
July 2011: Neighborhood on the Move Festival- Montreal
May 2011: Toronto International Circus Festival- Toronto
May 2011-now: currently touring Canada at various festivals, theatres, libraries, museums, daycares, schools and community centres
May 2011: premiere at Centaur Theatre- Montreal

Yorgo & the World
May-June 2012: 21st UNIMA Conference and Puppet Festival- Chengdu, China
April 2012: Maison de la culture de la Vallée de la Gatineau- Maniwaki
March 2012 & March 2011: Centaur Theatre- Montreal
July 2011: Just for Laughs Festival- Montreal
April-May 2011: International Puppetry Festival “Visiting Arlekin”- Omsk, Russia
July 2010: Montreal International Jazz Festival- Montreal
July 2010: Neighborhood on the Move- Montreal
September 2010: Journées de la culture- Montreal
February 2010-now: currently touring Canada and Asia at various festivals, theatres, libraries, museums, daycares, schools and community centres
February 2010: premiere at Montreal Highlights Festival- Nuit Blanche

Chris’ Crazy Cabaret (for smaller audiences)
January 2009-now: currently touring Canada at various community centres, daycares, and private functions

Forkman (retired)
November 2008-2010: toured across Canada at various festivals, theatres, libraries, museums, daycares, schools and community centres, the show was presented over 120 times
August 2010: The Hellenic Flame Greek Festival- Montreal
July 2010 & 2009: Montreal International Jazz Festival- Montreal
March 2010 : Canadian Museum of Civilization, Children’s Museum- Ottawa
August 2009: La Fête des Enfants- Montreal
May 2009: Toronto International Circus Festival- Toronto
February 2009: Montreal Highlights Festival- Nuit Blanche- Montreal
November 2008: premiere at Geordie Theatre- Montreal

Various puppet making and manipulation workshops
June 2007-now: workshops given across Canada at various festivals, libraries, museums, daycares, schools and community centres
Festivals (selected): Pointe-Claire Cultural Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Neighborhood on the Move, Journées de la culture
Libraries (selected): Montreal Children’s Library, Bibliothèque Georges-Vanier, Bibliothèque Langelier, Bibliothèque Le Prévost, Kirkland Library, Bibliothèque Mercier, Bibliothèque municipale Saul-Bellow, Bibliothèque Roland-LeBlanc, Bibliothèque Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Ottawa Public Library
Other (selected): Museum of Civilization- Children’s Museum (Ottawa), Montessori International, Montessori Blainville, City of Kirkland, Îles-des-Moulins, Ethan’s Playground, General Vanier Elementary School, Sainte-Marie Catholic Elementary School (Ottawa), Chabad Camp Gan Israel

Panel discussions
April-May 2011: International Puppetry Festival “Visiting Arlekin”- Omsk, Russia, lead a panel discussion on Canadian and Quebec puppetry

 

Panadream Theatre is dedicated to creating quality theatre and workshops for young audiences, and aims to help cultivate children’s imagination and creativity. By exposing children to marionette theatre and the art of puppet building, the team seeks to stimulate their imagination, stir their emotions, and open their hearts. Panadream Theatre is committed to producing shows that are not only entertaining, but also educational and interactive, that compel their audience to laugh, think and feel. In addition, the puppet creation workshops are designed to engage and inspire the children, as well as activate their artistic potential.

 

Role Within the Artistic Community

Panadream Theatre is an active member of the Association québécoise des marionnettistes and of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette, which are organizations that help bring the community of puppeteers together and facilitate the diffusion of their work. The company is very involved in the puppetry scene in Montreal and beyond: Lydia has been sitting on the board of directors of the AQM as treasurer since 2010 and is also part of the UNIMA-Canada committee. The company is also an active member of both the Playwright’s Workshop Montreal and the Regroupement arts et culture Rosemont–Petit-Patrie.   

Panadream Theatre is community-oriented and gets involved in festivals, charity events and other special cultural events that expose the public to art. They regularly give free workshops and shows for charitable causes, and are always interested in promoting art with outreach programs for underprivileged children. They feel driven to keep the ancient tradition of string puppetry alive.

Christopher Godziuk and Lydia Lukidis founded Panadream Theatre in 2007. Before they came together as co-artistic directors, Christopher had been working in the field of puppetry since 2000 and Lydia had studied English Literature and visual arts. The company now specializes mainly in traditional string marionettes, but also explores other mediums of puppetry. They design and build all of their marionettes, sets, and props, and they write their own original stories and tour their shows. Christopher and Lydia also create and manipulate puppets for use in mediums such as film, video, and musical performances.

Panadream Theatre focuses on theatre for young audiences and produces plays for children aged 2 to 12 and their families. These plays are ideal for small theatres, festivals, schools, daycares, corporate events, community centres and libraries. In addition, they also offer puppet making, manipulation and theatre workshops. In each workshop, the students are guided to create their own unique puppets and are able to manipulate their creations behind a professional puppet theatre.

Panadream Theatre has presented their work at the 21st UNIMA Congress and World Puppetry Festival (China), the International Puppetry Festival “Visiting Arlekin” (Russia), the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival (Ontario), the Toronto International Circus Festival and at the Just for Laughs Festival (Montreal), among many others. They have also collaborated on independent projects for Cirque du Soleil and musical artist Feist, and have constructed and manipulated string marionettes for the movie Mirror Mirror directed by Tarsem Singh, starring Julia Roberts.

 

Grants and awards

2012: Awarded an Audience and Market Development grant from Canada Council for the Arts
2011: Awarded a travel grant from Canada Council for the Arts
2011: Awarded a travel grant from Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
2010: Awarded a creation grant from Canada Council for the Arts
2008: Won award for best project, and awarded a production grant from Youth Employment Services and the Fondation du Maire de Montreal pour la Jeunesse
2005: Awarded a research and development grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts