We have an amazing menu of workshops for you!
Thursday September 8th
Pop Up/Tunnel Book Puppet Theatre Creation by Seth Eberle (3:30 PM at Owl Glass Puppetry Center). Choose a Pop Up or a Tunnel Book Structure and create your own small performance that can fold flat. Create flat puppets to communicate the idea you want to tell. Participants will create a story about a time they were put into a “box” and how they got out.
Meet Our Mentors with Art Grueneberger (7:00 PM United Methodist Church) interview series episode will be livestreamed with all of us as the live audience!
Friday September 9th
Uppets: 2 Workshops by Brant Bollman
Building a Dynamic Parade Program and Building an Advocacy Puppet (8:30-9:45 / 11:10-12:45 United Methodist Church Room A). What issue are you passionate about? How could you make a puppet to advocate for that cause? Brant’s first workshop addresses building a parade program. In the second session, participants will design and create an UPPET (a puppet that goes UP!) that promotes a social issue. Brant Bollman from Uplifting Puppet Co will share examples of his work and help guide puppet makers as they create their own work.
Alexander Technique by Mary Stuyvesant Eagle (8:30-9:45 / 11:10-12:45 United Methodist Church Room B) Session 1 introduces Alexander Technique, a practical method for changing postural habits that interfere with our natural coordination and vitality. Session 2 is hands-on. Do you have chronic aches in your neck, upper back, arms, shoulders, feet, legs, or lower back? Why is that – how might you be ‘using yourself’ in ways that lead to such aches or pains? What can you do about it? Learn about this process that suggests the very real possibility of change.
Puppetry in Theater Arts and Education by Johanna Smith (8:30-9:45 Regional Learning Center) Explore strategies for addressing and assessing standards through puppetry activities. How to speak “educationese” and advocate for puppetry as a teaching methodology. (Level: intermediate Participatory)
CHOICES FOR VOICES: a playshop for vocals, by Aretta Baumgartner (11:10-12:45 Regional Learning Center). Though puppetry is a movement-based art form, we often want to add voices to our puppets to increase storytelling possibilities. Where does one begin? At the beginning, of course! This fun workshop for performers of ALL levels and experiences will share vocal warm ups that increase range and articulation and activities and tips to find character voices. Bring a puppet if you have one–if not, some puppets will be provided.
Shadow Puppetry Demonstration & Workshop by Jim Napolitano (2:15-3:30 United Methodist Church Room B) Learn some secrets from shadow puppet master Nappy!
Ready, Set, GO! Running a Prosperous Entertainment Business by Art Grueneberger (2:15-3:30 Regional Learning Center). Opportunities abound as the world begins to emerge from the pandemic. Are you ready to thrive? This “the business of puppetry” workshop will help you (READY!) establish the necessary mindset required for success, (SET!) set goals worth reaching and (GO!) launch your plan of action to rapidly and efficiently prosper both artistically and financially.
We Came as Refugees: An American Story; Video and discussion facilitated by Daniel Romano (2:15-3:30 Owl Glass Puppetry Center). Based on actual refugee experiences, We Came as Refugees tells the story of refuge-seeking immigrants that have come to the United States. Commissioned by and created by staff of the University of Missouri, these stories were adapted into a puppet show using both hand and shadow puppets.
The Whys of Marionettes by Kurt Hunter (3:30-5:00 United Methodist Church Room A). There has always been information available about what to do to build a marionette, but why to do something a particular way isn’t always mentioned. This workshop will explain and demonstrate the whys behind marionettes, why joints are made particular ways with specific ranges of motion, why strings are placed at particular points on the marionette and control, why particular materials are chosen for different parts of a marionette, etc.
Little Maggie Pie & Marvelous Magpie Moon, performance-workshop by Eva Adderly (3:30-5:00 United Methodist Church Room B). “The Marvelous Magpie Moon” draws inspiration from magpie mythology, especially the classic poem “One for Sorrow, Two for Joy.”. It features shadow, bunraku, and paradestyle puppets to tell a story that is in turns dark, funny, and unexpectedly sweet. After the performance, the artist will share construction techniques, tips & tricks.
Structuring Story – Playwriting for Puppets by Meg Tominaga (3:30-5:00 Regional Learning Center). Puppeteers are storytellers. Writing for the puppet stage is not the same as writing for human actors, as the puppets themselves dictate the limitations of story: what can and can’t happen within the world by nature of the designs. Still, there is a difference between story and plot, and a good plot is the key to a good play. This workshop will address the transformation of simply telling a story with puppets into creating engaging, structured plays for puppets.
