Puppetry

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Why Puppets?

Ever since I was a young child I always had a fascination with putting on shows for my family and used to create sock puppets and use my stuffed animals and toys to create productions. Once I became older I learned that the use of puppets is used all over the world and is not only for my childhood productions. Puppetry is a fascinating skill and allows many creative and amazing way to bring stories to life onstage.

Over the years I have seen puppets being used in Bunraku productions, Avenue Q, The Lion King, War Horse, and more. One production that had specifically stood out to me was the Redmoon Theatre’s production of Hunchback of Notre Damn using a wide variety of puppetry skills, sizes and styles.

In becoming a theatre professional and educator I decided to continue to grow and build on my knowledge and love of puppetry from my childhood to enhance and create entertaining productions.

I have utilized puppetry and it’s teachings in my classrooms as well as in the productions of: James and the Giant Peach, Charlotte’s Web, Little Shop of Horrors, and Shrek The Musical.

Using and Building of Puppets: Charlotte’s Web & James and the Giant Peach

Puppetry is a skill that has enhanced and brought several of my productions to life adding unique ways to attack various issues brought on by scripts. For Charlotte’s Web and James and the Giant Peach I did not put much thought into having the actors dress in animal costumes. I believed the best way to utilize the actors and to teach new skills was to have them learn and perform using various types of puppets.

For the production of Charlotte’s Web designs were created and brought to life all of the main animal characters including: Wilbur the pig, Charlotte the spider, the Goose and Gander, The Goslings, Baby spiders, Templeton the rat, and Mama Sheep and Baby Lamb. These puppets were created using wiring and light hinged wood. Puppets were then stuffed and fabric was added to create the body shapes. Once the base was created details were added along with facial expressions and the control rods.

Each puppet had a unique feature and aspect that made them come to life on stage. These included the turning neck of Goose, flapping wings of Gander, bending knees and turning head of Wilbur. Each aspect was worked on with the students and integrated into their performances to bring the puppets to life and entertain the audience.

For my production of James and the Giant Peach there was also discussion on how to create the large bugs that each actor takes on within the show. I once again decided that puppetry would be a skill I would teach to this new group of students and have them work in their Ensemble class to create and develop the puppets utilizing the various styles I taught to them: rod puppets, hand puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, and more.

It was decided that each character would be created using various styles of puppets. These included: The Glowworm (large hand puppet with rod), The Ladybug (rod puppet), The Spider (hand puppet), The Sharks/rhino/seagulls (shadow and cut out puppets), Centipede (large handheld puppet) and The Grasshopper (full body puppet). The students and I then took found objects from the costume room and prop closet to create the insects to interact with James throughout the show. Each puppet once again had unique controlling capabilities for each actor that made them unique and come to life for the audience.

Both of these shows were amazing learning experiences for myself and the students involved. Learning new styles of puppetry, how to build and construct while also teaching students to interact and perform with puppets were all fantastic moments for all involved. I look forward to continue the growth in my knowledge of this skill and bring more shows to the stage utilizing this unique style of theatre.

Teaching Puppetry: Shrek The Musical & Little Shop of Horrors

Teaching of puppetry is something I have done throughout my career as a teacher. Reading various texts, viewing productions, and working with puppets throughout my years has given me a chance to bring this unique theatrical experience to many of my students.

When directing and working on Charlotte’s Web and James and the Giant Peach I taught puppetry basics, handling of puppets, and the styles and types of puppets. Students researched the various types of puppets and brought this research into the designing process of the characters mentioned and seen above. This knowledge and classroom learning helped them amplify their performances and bring a fresh take on these classic stories.

Two other productions puppetry was utilized was in Shrek The Musical and Little Shop of Horrors. With each productions there were new challenges and styles of puppetry that needed to be learned and taught to the students so they could bring their characters to life.

In the production of Shrek The Musical there are various times throughout the production puppets can be utilized to help tell the story. A few of these include the deer and exploding bird, the gingerbread cookie “Gingy”, and the Dragon. The Dragon is often played by an actress singing and acting as puppeteers control the Dragon puppet. In our production the director decided to do this also and I found an amazingly crafted dragon from a colleague’s production a few years earlier. The dragon puppet was controlled by four to five actors/technicians who moved everything from the eyes to the feet and tail. The puppet was controlled by rods, pull cords, and the human bodies inside the puppet. The massive puppet took time to learn and train the technicians on how to move, when to move, and how to make the puppet “come to life” for performances. In the end the students created a fantastic moment in the show utilizing this incredibly made puppet.

In the production Little Shop of Horrors we were able to work with excellent puppets for the character of Audrey 2. Once again reaching out to a colleague from another district I was able to acquire a fantastic Audrey 2 puppets. The puppets were built in four stages of growth throughout the production. There was a small hand puppet in a can, a larger hand puppet potted in a planter, a full body outfit that had the puppeteer sitting with the puppet controlled by them moving their torso, and the massive final version that was controlled by a strapped in technician who controlled the puppet by bending up and down. Many hours were spent teaching and learning how to control and portray the character of Audrey 2 through movement, subtly and grand gestures. These puppets added to the joy and excitement of this production and audiences were thrilled with Audrey 2 coming to life onstage.