Fresh Ideas in Puppetry was a wonderful experience. My heartfelt thanks to the Puppetmongers, Ann and David Powell, for making it all happen.
I'm guilty of circling around a project for days, weeks, months (sometimes years) before diving in. Setting up a puppetry program at AWO has been on my mind for years, but there's always been something more pressing to work on. Fortunately, a number of supportive nudges got my priorities sorted out. An upcoming Wood Carving and Puppet Design workshop in Massachusetts (more on that in a future post), a call-out for arts programming proposals supporting refugee and newcomer populations from the Toronto Arts Council, and the Fresh Ideas in Puppetry mini-conference and festival all brought my focus back to puppetry and for that I'm very grateful.
As promised, the following is an attempt to share my process. I tried to walk through the same steps I'll be taking with the kids this summer. The suitcase stories will be their stories and they are the protagonists. They can be based on a true story or completely fantastical or a bit of both. The suitcase or container, the puppet(s), and the story are the three key elements. In building my prototypes I began as I would with the children - with the stories and attempted to strip them down to crisp three-act structures. Easier said than done.
The first story was about me searching for mojigangas (giant / pageantry puppets) in Mexico. I built the puppet show to fit the perfect blue vintage suitcase I'd found. The puppets and props all had to be sized and built to work with the parametres of the suitcase. Initially I planned to build small puppets, but then worried about visibility for the Fresh Ideas workshop.
As promised, the following is an attempt to share my process. I tried to walk through the same steps I'll be taking with the kids this summer. The suitcase stories will be their stories and they are the protagonists. They can be based on a true story or completely fantastical or a bit of both. The suitcase or container, the puppet(s), and the story are the three key elements. In building my prototypes I began as I would with the children - with the stories and attempted to strip them down to crisp three-act structures. Easier said than done.
The first story was about me searching for mojigangas (giant / pageantry puppets) in Mexico. I built the puppet show to fit the perfect blue vintage suitcase I'd found. The puppets and props all had to be sized and built to work with the parametres of the suitcase. Initially I planned to build small puppets, but then worried about visibility for the Fresh Ideas workshop.
Meep, the "me" puppet, first took the form of a paper and tape puppet. I love paper and tape. So easy to whip up a model you can mess around with. The Meep prototype helped me figure out how I wanted the puppet to look and move.
Production then began to ping pong between the two stories. The mojigangas story was being built to the suitcase and the second story, based on a fishing trip in Mexico, was being built puppets and props first, then container.
My first big challenge was the mojigangas slider puppets. They're flat paper drawings that rise up above the set. I created a panel that affixed to the open suitcase lid leaving enough space for the paper puppets to slide up and down between the panel and the back of the suitcase. Never did get this to work properly. Helpful puppeteers at Fresh Ideas suggested using magnets. One of the many reasons why I'm glad to be connecting with puppeteers again.
Production then began to ping pong between the two stories. The mojigangas story was being built to the suitcase and the second story, based on a fishing trip in Mexico, was being built puppets and props first, then container.
My first big challenge was the mojigangas slider puppets. They're flat paper drawings that rise up above the set. I created a panel that affixed to the open suitcase lid leaving enough space for the paper puppets to slide up and down between the panel and the back of the suitcase. Never did get this to work properly. Helpful puppeteers at Fresh Ideas suggested using magnets. One of the many reasons why I'm glad to be connecting with puppeteers again.
Back to the building... soon every surface is covered in scraps of paper, cardboard, paint, and glue gun goo.
This is the way I roll.
A Fettig pattern puppet head that I'd molded last summer (still in clay form) would become the new Meep. I had originally intended to keep the puppets simple, but a Fettig head deserved to at least have a ball and socket jointed neck. At the nth hour I was scrappling under furniture looking for an old cat toy, a cat nip ball, that I knew would be a perfect size for the puppet head. The cat ball, a bamboo skewer, some elastics, paper, glue, and many swears made it work. Meep can look up, down, and to both sides (she can spin her head right around, should she want to).
The new Meep model, a hand and rod puppet, was influenced by little Meep and the tiny toilet paper roll puppets for the fishing story. Like the smaller puppets, new Meep is stabilized with a bean bag bottom. The bean bag bottoms on the puppets ensure that the little ones do not topple over while riding the waves during the fishing trip and keep new Meep upright and firmly planted on the suitcase stage.
This is the way I roll.
A Fettig pattern puppet head that I'd molded last summer (still in clay form) would become the new Meep. I had originally intended to keep the puppets simple, but a Fettig head deserved to at least have a ball and socket jointed neck. At the nth hour I was scrappling under furniture looking for an old cat toy, a cat nip ball, that I knew would be a perfect size for the puppet head. The cat ball, a bamboo skewer, some elastics, paper, glue, and many swears made it work. Meep can look up, down, and to both sides (she can spin her head right around, should she want to).
The new Meep model, a hand and rod puppet, was influenced by little Meep and the tiny toilet paper roll puppets for the fishing story. Like the smaller puppets, new Meep is stabilized with a bean bag bottom. The bean bag bottoms on the puppets ensure that the little ones do not topple over while riding the waves during the fishing trip and keep new Meep upright and firmly planted on the suitcase stage.
The blue suitcase was such a great find. It has the lovely silky pockets in the back that I can store my white and black gloves for puppetry, the clasps work well, it's lightweight, and it's a perfect size for a small puppet show. I built a riser (a portable stage) to fit in the base of the suitcase and painted it with black chalkboard paint. A black velvet (velour?) dress that I picked up at Salvation Army was cut into the backdrop that's held in place by the clips for the slider board. To complete the set, I made a bloated papier maché Mexicana airliner and a TTC streetcar sign.
The container for the fishing trip puppets and props was supposed to be a sea trunk, a beautiful distressed blue sea trunk with red layers peeking through. But, I was a bit pressed for time, so I fancied up a box, reconstructing it so that its lid opened like a trunk, painted the outside, and lined the inside with a tropical sea fabric. The whole fishing trip set ended up being easy to make, very light, and portable.
These simple little toilet paper beanbag puppets give me a lot of joy - especially when they're in the boat!
These simple little toilet paper beanbag puppets give me a lot of joy - especially when they're in the boat!
Below, Proto Meep hanging out with the famous puppet MC, What What and her hand, Robin Polfuss
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