The annual PuppetFest MidWest puppet festival will be held July 13-18 on the campus of North Central Missouri College in Trenton.
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The annual PuppetFest MidWest puppet festival will be held July 13-18 on the campus of North Central Missouri College in Trenton.
Afternoon and evening performances to which the public is invited to purchase tickets will be held in the Main Street Theater.
According to co-festival directors Peter Allen and Debbie Lutzky Allen, one of the wonderful things about puppet theatre is the variety of puppets that can be used. Although puppets are usually divided into four traditional categories, namely, Hand, Rod, Shadow and String, Allen said anything goes now-a-days and in some of the shows to be seen this year at PuppetFest MidWest, some quite untraditional ?puppets? will take the stage. A display of puppets will be exhibited in the Dorris Rider Art Gallery on the NCMC campus during the festival.
“We are all aware of the Hand, sometimes called Glove, puppet,” Allen said. “Probably the most (in)famous of these is Punch and Judy. This quarrelsome, slapstick family has been entertaining people around the world for hundreds of years and is recorded by Paul McPharlin in his book, “The Puppet Theatre in America,” to have performed for the first time in the United States on Dec. 22, 1738. This arch type, Punch, a hunch backed, hooked nose and chin character and his shrewish wife appear throughout the world in folk puppet theatre. Some scholars think that this character can be traced back to Greek and Roman times.”
Two puppeteers are scheduled to perform at this year’s festival with hand puppets. Luman Coad from North Vancouver, Canada will perform Harlequin?s “Cloak,” a Commedia dell ‘Arte show inspired by the performances at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. This award winning company, Coad Canada Puppets, has worldwide fame for their mimed puppet productions. Coad Canada Puppets has received many national and international awards for their work. During the festival Coad will also teach a weeklong workshop on play writing for the puppet theatre.
Clay Martin of Vashon Island, WA, will also perform with hand puppets. Allen said that Martin’s mastery of the swazzle, the secret reed to make the traditional voice for Punch, is very good.
“Legend has it that you have to swallow these devices a few times before they really produce a good tone,” Allen said.
As well as the perennial 300-year-old Punch & Judy, Martin will also perform his “5 Minute Classics.” These short, rhyming adaptations of classic literature like “Moby Dick”, “Hamlet” and “Hound of the Baskervilles” are a treat to see and hear, Allen said. Martin has worked with Rolf Trexler of Germany as well as helping Burr Tilstrom of Kukla, Fran and Ollie fame.
Allen said that hand puppets consist of a head and hands with a cloth body attached. This is probably the easiest of the four types of puppets to use.
“The control from you to the puppet is direct and immediate,” Allen said. “You put your hand into the body and your fingers into the hands and head. Which finger goes where is a matter of some contention among hand puppeteers. Ask them, they will tell you. One of the most important things with hand puppets when you are first starting out is to make sure that they are always the same height when appearing on stage and that they don?t sink like they are standing in quicksand. Yes, your arms get tired from holding them up (so they should be built of a light but sturdy material) but after 10 or 20 years of practice you should get used to it.”
Allen said hand puppet heads (and sometimes hands) can be made in many ways. They can be carved from wood, made of paper mache or cast in plastic, or the whole puppet may be made of cloth. Allen said that many books are available from the local library on building these puppets.
“If your library doesn?t have the ones you want, they can order them for you on inter library loan,” Allen said.
For best movement, the hand puppet should be performed with the puppeteer standing and the puppet held above the head, Allen said. This means that the stage (if any) needs to be taller than the performer. A simple clothes rack or two ladders with a board between them will suffice, Allen said.
“With the puppet above your head you can dance and turn all around and audience can see the puppet better because it is up high,” Allen said.
Anyone interested in puppets or puppet theatre is encouraged to attend the festival, Allen said.
“We are extremely fortunate that the staff for this event are the mainstays of puppet theatre in the Americas and that they are willing to share their vast knowledge,” he said.
There will be a display of puppets at the Rider Art Gallery. Admission is free but donations will be happily accepted. Larger groups such as church/fraternal organizations, scouts or Red Hat ladies are encouraged to reserve a guided tour and can do so by contacting NCMC Director of Development and Public Relations, Steve Maxey at 359-6948, ext. 403.
During the official grand opening of the puppet exhibit at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14, the exhibitors will be on hand to answer questions and maybe even demonstrate their creations. The exhibit will be open to the public from Thursday, July 15, through Saturday, July 17, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers will be there to answer questions about the exhibit.
A limited number of tickets for the afternoon and evening performances may be available to the general public. Persons interested in seeing a performance or attending the festival can contact Allen or Ms. Lutzky Allen at PO Box 14, Jamesport, MO 64648 (telephone, 660-684-6825) or on line at: puppetfestival.org