|
|
LITERATURE » OF PLAY AND PLAYFULNESS
"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." A little gray mouse appeared on the stage, looked around and scampered off. Several other puppets were snugly tucked into their beds. They had delightful nightcaps and old-fashioned nightgowns. Suddenly, there arose such a clatter, one puppet sprang from his bed to see what was the matter. 'Twas Christmas 1950 in Macedonia Coop Community: Margaret and Ed put on this performance. The audience was the whole community; adults, children, teenagers, entranced and delighted by the unfolding magic.
This experience rekindled my old interest in puppetry as an art form for adults, as adult theater. (For years, at least in North America puppetry has been relegated to highly commercialized children's fare.) As a recreational medium it can be used not only to entertain but to portray character, and express the players' concerns, attitudes and values.
The material Margaret and Ed chose was interesting to all because it was traditional, good quality, just plain good writing; the puppets had character without being stereotypes or caricatures. The play's delight was rooted in Ed's and Margaret's understanding of how puppetry can help people experience fantasy. Above all, the puppets and voices communicated Margaret's and Ed's own love for the material and their enjoyment of enacting it for the audience.
The characters in "The Night Before Christmas" were hand puppets with papier mache heads; the mouse was on a rod, and the reindeer were cardboard silhouettes.
Other types of puppets useful in working with groups:
- Paper sculpture, on a stick or suspended from a string. (These are not very durable, but offer wide opportunities to express fantasy and portray supernatural forces.)
- Table puppets: cans and cardboard boxes covered with construction paper, with a variety of materials for appendages; e.g. pine cones, spools, pipe cleaners. These are easier for young children to create because there is a firm base to which they can attach features. The puppets can then interact with each other on a table top, with the children being able to see all the action. These puppets can also be used on a stage but because of the rigid base, their movements are limited.
- Paper bag puppets present an opportunity for the players to create a character fairly quickly and then to concentrate their energies on the dramatic interactions. A variety of materials are provided to transform the standard shape into a living creature.
- Hand puppets offer great flexibility for movement and expression on stage; they usually take more time to create. A hand puppet has a gown which fits over the player's hand and arm (to the elbow). The index finger goes into the head, while the thumb makes one arm and the third finger (some people prefer to use the pinky) is used for the other arm of the puppet.
"QUICKY" PUPPETS
At ECRS we often start with "quicky" puppets because they allow the participants to immediately get into the dramatic activity which brings the puppets to life.
For each participant:
- 1/2 sheet of newspaper
- cloth 18x25" (Provide a wide variety of colors, prints, stripes to choose from.)
- 3 rubber bands
To make puppet:
- Crumple the newspaper (that's the puppet's brain) and place your index finger in the center.
- Drape the cloth over the head and secure to your index finger with a rubber band.
- Extend your thumb, drape the cloth on that side over your thumb and secure with a rubber band. This is one arm.
- Do the same on the other side, using either the pinky or the 3rd finger, for the other arm.
These puppets are now ready to interact with each other. The leader now provides some opportunities for participants to test out and experiment what their puppets can do. For example:
- clap hands
- wash the face
- take a shower
- wave to someone
- greet someone (shake hands, hug, kiss)
- experiment with different animal movements:
- rabbit
- panther
- elephant
- eagle, hummingbird
- experiment with interaction between:
- pet and owner
- hunter animal and its prey
- players of a sport or game
We progress quickly from the individual experimentation (just enough to get a feel for some possibilities) to interaction in twos and threes and then to acting out a story together. It is important to engage the players in interacting in a dramatic situation. It is in reacting to another character or resolving a problem posed in the plot that the puppet discovers its personality, and the player loses self-consciousness by focusing attention and energy on the problem at hand.
The group determines the plot line together. Each player chooses a role to play and immediately the first rehearsal begins. As the group rehearses, new possibilities emerge and the plot can be altered. Where the characters and interactions are well established and there is a reasonable flow in the sequence, the group is invited to choose some props and "dress-up" their puppets.
The process of creating a story is the same as we use in Informal Dramatics at ECRS. It is useful to provide some structural element to focus the thinking, something with an inherent conflict or potential problem. For example:
- a last line
- a theme or problem situation (e.g. a rescue)
- a song with a story line
- a conflict of interests
Staging: A piano, the edge of a table or a board can serve as an improvised stage. It is advisable to provide long stages (a hoard across two supports or a series of boxes) to encourage movement. It is delightful to see a puppet flee along a 5 foot stage, or climb up a wall to a balcony at a higher level on the stage. A small space restricts the action and encourages talking about rather than actively doing something.
Often it is quite unnecessary for the players to be hidden; the action of the puppets tends to rivet attention. The bottom can be draped to hide the players' legs. Long-term groups can construct a stage, with a background cloth to conceal the players, props and lighting.
PAPIER MACHE PUPPETS
Heads can be made from a variety of materials such as wood, styrofoam, stockings, stuffed with cotton (features can be sculpted and held in place with a few stitches), and papier mache.
Papier mache allows the greatest flexibility, since features such as long noses, beaks and horns can easily be added and prominent features can be sculpted. Directions for papier mache are available in many craft books.
My favorite method of making papier mache heads:
- Prepare the paste in a bowl:
- Mix dry wallpaper paste with water. This is the easiest. Be sure to buy paste without sizing.
OR
- Cook flour and water, 1 part flour to 4 parts water, stirring constantly, until translucent.
- Prepare "bandages" of newspaper:
- Tear newspaper into strips 1 1/2" to 2" wide (cutting makes too sharp an edge).
- Neck:
- From a piece of thin cardboard or oak-tag, form a tube to fit loosely over your index finger. Glue or tape it.
- Brains:
- Crumple loosely a sheet of newspaper and work the neck into it part way. Tape it if you wish, just to hold it on. Shape the newspaper to the approximate form you have in mind: e.g. tall and narrow, wide at the sides, mostly forward from the neck, etc.
- Head:
- Use the bandages to cover the brains and to anchor them to the neck, first by smearing the bandage with paste, and then winding diagonally across and around the brains. The papier mache is created by alternate layers of newspaper and paste. Remember that there must always be paste between two layers of paper. Two or three layers criss-crossing over the whole structure are necessary for strength.
- Adding features:
Now you can begin to "sculpt" the basic shape: push in hollows, add bulges.
- Large protrusions: crumple loosely a piece of newspaper and attach it in place, criss-crossing bandages, the same way as in creating the head.
- Small additions: dip a wad of toilet paper in the paste and attach in place with the bandages.
- Narrower bandages will now be more flexible in preserving your shape.
- It is important to make sure the newspaper bandages lie flat without making little "caves" or overhangs. (Note: You can add to the head the next day, or even after the papier mache is dry.)
- Keep smoothing and sculpting, so your features will be distinct.
- Drying:
- Takes 2 to 4 days, depending on the amount and wetness of the paste and the weather.
- Painting:
- Thick tempera paints work well. Usually 2 coats are needed to cover. Gesso can be used as a primer before painting to give a better surface. The base paint should he thoroughly dry before painting features on top of it. Some people shellac the head for greater durability. It tends to reflect the light when puppets are on stage, and may be distracting.
- Dressing the puppet:
- Make a base "gown" to fit your hand loosely
- Attach to it any "clothing" or trimmings: e.g. vest, feet, buttons, scarf, etc.
LEADERSHIP NOTES
In making puppets, by whatever method, the leader can help the participants develop character in their puppets. This can be done with open-ended questions.
a) If the puppet is being made for a particular play already in mind, either a traditional story or one made up by the players, the questions should focus the participants' attention on:
- what the puppet will have to do in the story (e.g. Will it need arms to lift something? Will it need to hide behind something? Should it be sturdy enough to fall? Will it be traveling across the sky?)
- The puppet's basic characteristics: age, size, etc., where they are necessary to the story.
It is good, in my view, to make general statements to the group which encourage departures from stereotypes, e.g. What shape mothers do you know? Tall, short, fat, skinny etc.
b) When the participants make the puppets first and will develop the story later, the leader can stimulate each player with questions such as these:
- where does the puppet live?
- the puppet's usual diet, the most favorite food
- the puppet's likes, dislikes, dreams
- how does the puppet feel about... (UFO's, animals, work, or winter)
The answers to these questions can be useful later on in creating the story, adding sub-plots, or providing interesting detail within the main theme.
Caution: While very detailed characterization in making the puppet greatly enhances the creative potential of this experience, these very same specifics may limit the puppet's flexibility and tend to make the group process of creating the story more difficult.
|
|
