Make a Puppet And More

What about a date where you do more with your hands than wishing they were unfastening the buttons on your date's blue jeans?

For some people, playing with a puppet is nothing more than sticking their hand into a sock with a face painted on it. But for others, their hand breathes life into that sock; it gives the puppet a personality with a range of behaviors that most of us can relate to but seldom feel safe to express. When your puppet is interacting with your date's puppet, they can hug, kiss, cry, have sex like in the movies, punch each other out, righteously yell about the stupidest of things, trip embarrassingly, be sentimental, kind, greedy or gruff, and the list goes on from there.

It's simple to make your own puppets , or you can get elaborate and purchase puppets with fancy strings. They can be funny, furry animals or caricatures of live human beings. If you get seriously carried away with your puppet date, you can use your free hand to write the folks at the University of Connecticut for an application to get a college degree in Puppet Arts.

COST

It depends if you want to go to a puppet show or make your own puppets. Puppet shows will run from free to $10.00 each. If you are making your own puppets, the cost is from next to nothing for an old sock and a magic marker to literally thousands of dollars.

PUPPET THEATER VS. LIVE HUMAN THEATER

You may think we've lost our minds, but one of us went to a puppet show last year quite by accident and found it to be far more entertaining than much of the live theater she's been to lately. So if there's a puppet theatre in your area, give them a call and ask if they've got any shows that would be fun for adults. On the other hand, perhaps you and your date will want to be the puppeteers and never leave your own living room, except if the puppets need to use the bathroom or something.

TYPES OF PUPPETS

A marionette is a puppet with strings attached. A bar above the puppet is used to control the movements. With hand puppets, a decorated mitt or glove fits over the hand, which provides the animation. Finger puppets help to keep your fingers warm. Other types of puppets include two-handed, life-size (inflatable?), Balinese and shadow puppets, to name a few.

PUPPET THEATERS, FESTIVALS AND MUSEUMS

You know how the Yankees play in Yankee Stadium? Well, puppets often have special theatres where you can go to see them. A robust listing of puppet theatres can be found at www.sagecraft.com/ puppetry/theaters/USA.html.

If you want a list of puppetry festivals from around the world, the site to check is www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/festivals/index.html.

There's a terrific puppet museum in Atlanta, Georgia. The website is www.puppet.org. It's part of the Center for Puppetry Arts and it has a huge collection of puppets from around the world. You will be able to enjoy great shows, fun puppet-making workshops and fascinating museum tours.

For puppet museums and exhibits around the world, visit www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/exhibits/index.html.

OTHER PUPPET RESOURCES

If you want to buy ready-made puppets or visit a site that has great character puppets, try www.folkmanis.com/View.html.

Here's a site about puppets in other cultures—from Water Puppets in Vietnam to Banruku Puppets in Japan and Shadow Puppets in Bali and Java: www.itdc.sbcss.k12.ca.us/curriculum/puppetry.html.

HOW TO MAKE A PUPPET AND MORE—WEBSITES

This site shows you how to make a Sock Puppet and a Sack Puppet. It also provides advice on how to write a puppet play and offers tips on how to make your puppets come alive. The web address is www.legendsandlore.com/puppet-resource.html.

This wonderful site shows you how to make really big puppets www.gis.net/%7epuppetco/index.html

Want the mother of all puppet sites? They will tell you everything from how to build different types of puppets to where you can purchase materials: www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/building/index.html.

BOOKS FOR THE LITERATE PUPPET

The following books are available from your favorite bookstore or at www.flint.lib.mi.us/fpl/resources/puppets/padult.html:

Hand Puppets: How to Make and Use Them by Laura Ross; $7.95. The Muppets Make Puppets: Book and Puppet Kit by Cheryl Henson; $16.95.

Be A Puppeteer! The Lively Puppet Book by Estelle Worrell A must for anyone wishing to learn how to make and use a puppet.

Making Puppets And Puppet Theatres by Joan Moloney Teaches you how to construct marionettes and shadow, hand, and rod puppets. Good for older children and adults.

Eight Plays For Hand Puppets by members of The Educational Puppetry Association. Edited by A.R. Philpott A collection of eight plays for puppets. These plays were designed to take advantage of the hand puppet's many potentials.

Plays For Puppet Performances by George and Elizabeth Merten. This book is made up of ten puppet scripts that were written by two of Canada's foremost puppeteers.

PUPPET SCHOOLS

The University of Connecticut has a program where you can get a degree in puppet arts. Visit their website at www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/schools/index.html.