The Puppet Improv Project is hosting two <<FREE>> PUPPET PLAY DAY workshops in July to give puppet lovers the opportunity to come join us for some Summer Playtime!
There is a 12 person limit per day, so register TODAY to save your spot.
Whether you are a beginner wishing you had some basic puppet manipulation skills, or you are more experienced puppeteer looking for others to play with, this event is open to all ages* and experience levels.
*NOTE: Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Though we encourage a playful atmosphere, participants who are making a scene or disrupting the workshop may be asked to leave.
Workshop Agenda
10:00am Introductions & Warm-Up
10:15am Puppet manipulation overview
10:50am Break
11:00am Games
11:20am Scenes
11:40am Puppet Q&A
11:50am Closing
Puppet Use Puppets will be provided, and we ask that you treat them with respect. Our puppets are handmade “foam and fleece” hand and rod puppets and do wear out and break. For those wishing to support this event and help maintain the puppets, there will be a donation jar.
If you have your own puppets, you are welcome to bring them.
The PIP also hosts puppet build events to fix broken puppets and add new ones to the inventory. If you are interested, make sure to tell the workshop facilitator.
We will provide hand sanitizer for before and after use, and ask those who are participating to keep their hands clean.
Join Us!
Come let out your INNER CHILD and play with like-minded folks. Hope to see you there!
What do Puppets, Masks and Control have to do with each other? I’ll bet you a set of carving knives that the common thing you are thinking of is something creepy or scary. And you’d be right… but maybe not in the way you are thinking creepy/scary.
Puppets
Puppets are scary. When something that is supposed to be inanimate becomes animated, it is pretty creepy… or joyful. It depends on how you look at it. There are several horror movies that play on the fear of “sweet and innocent childhood things” that are “not acting at all sweet and innocent.” Puppets, dolls, clowns and kids fall into this category – see Magic (1978), Child’s Play (1988), and Puppet Master (1989) for some great examples. However, I have always loved the magic of animation and secretly believed my toys came to life when I was out of the room, but in a sweet way… like in Rankin & Bass’ “Island of Misfit Toys” from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964) or Buzz and Woody in Pixar’s Toy Story (1995).
For the record, historically puppets were pretty violent and anarchist. Some forms of puppetry may have originated as long ago as 3000 years BC.[1] In fact, puppets are older than actors. Ancient man worried acting things out to tell a story was dangerous, and invited bad luck or demon possession. Puppets were thought of as sacred objects and used in rituals. The French word Marionette came from the mid-16th century Medieval time period when a Mary effigy was used in Catholic ceremonies. Later the word’s use expanded to include more types of petite figures.
The French have a long history with puppetry. The Guignol (who hit the French puppet scene around the early 19th century) is a funny little Punch-and-Judy-esque fellow whose main pursuit is going around hitting people with his signature baton. In France, laws can be broken if a puppet is doing the offense. This is probably where they got the idea for the Great Muppet Caper (1981). And yet while French theaters remain shut because of the pandemic, live puppet shows for young audiences (kids in schools) are still allowed. Unlike theater, puppet shows are nimble. A cast with 20 characters doesn’t need 20 actors, and an entire show can fit into 2-4 boxes.
Masks
When you mention MASK today in the pandemic, people will think you mean a protective mask to keep you from becoming infected and infecting others with COVID-19. But as a puppeteer, when I think of “masks” I think of puppets. Historically, masks were a device allowing a human to embody an otherworldly spirit or character… just like puppets!
French designer Anne Sophie Cochevelou has been designing extravagant face coverings to make people smile. Look at some of these stunning designs. And yes, she does have an online shop though most of her bespoke masks are sold out.
Control
Giving up control to the puppet, to the mask; mask protects you from the spirit – masks protect us from the virus. In performance, when we wear a theatrical mask, we are giving up control to the character that is the mask and exist in a space between the real world and spiritual world. Wearing a mask in the real world also allows us to enter into a world that could be dangerous, but with some protection. Wearing a mask we give up control. Tying to control an environment you can’t control… so wear a mask.
Commedia dell’arte — or “comedy of the profession” — was an Italian form of comedy that was especially popular in the 16th to 18th centuries. Commedia troupes would travel from town to town (and eventually country to country), performing in the open air. It was an ensemble genre, and built its comedy around physical humor and the improvisational skills of its actors.
Some of my favorite puppets are the ones that are very small. A tiny puppet, by its very size, is diminutive. Watching tiny puppets, we identify with that feeling of being a small creature in a big world. A tiny puppet sets up a childlike experience.
I loved Sesame Street’s “Twiddlebugs” (1971) for two reasons. First, Twiddlebugs (living in Ernie’s flower box) are a perfect reminder that there are hidden worlds all around us – even in our own backyards. Second, they experience similar adventures and experiences opening the door to teaching empathy with the natural world.
In Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock (1983), small, playful creatures – the Fraggles – live in an underworld system of natural caves under the workshop of a human (AKA “silly creatures”) inventor named Doc. And in this small Fraggle Rock world, there is another culture of even SMALLER, pudgy, green, industrious creatures – the “Doozers.” The smaller than small creatures help to offer a counterpoint to the Fraggle world and life, and give the Fraggles some perspective on their own world.
Down at Fraggle Rock: Doozers
Performing with tiny puppets, you get to create and interact with an environment that won’t fit on a traditional stage. In Sea Song, Hobey Ford switches from different sized puppets to create the illusion of switching between different cinematic camera shots. Large puppets help us see detailed action, and small puppets help us see the bigger environment.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=_pr02OpGEoY
In the puppet play, Once There Were Six Seasons (2014), Caroline Reck (Producing Artist Director of Glass Half Full Theatre) uses small puppets to illustrate the effects of Global Warming on our culture and environment. The doll-house sized environment gives us a long-shot of the world in which her characters live. Watching the tiny characters interact with their environment changes how we feel about the action.
Glass Half Full Theatre’s Once There Were Six Seasons
As the technology allows we “Silly Creatures” to make smaller and smaller joints, we can make smaller and smaller puppets!
Teeny Tiny puppet!!!
Living through the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may more closely identify with tiny puppets. To tell the personal story of our own health, we have to step back and see the big picture. We can play our part to end the pandemic – get vaccinated, wear a mask, avoid large gatherings. But our ultimate health is not just in our hands alone. It is tied to our connection to our neighbors, our country’s culture, and the world’s cultures, and to the planet. To find an ending, the human race must pull together.
Puppet On, dear reader!!
