Little Puppet, Come Alive!
Laying there in the box, Joey and Eric didn’t seem too impressive. Their flimsy bodies were wrinkled and their wiggly eyes still. Quietly, I slipped my hands inside their bodies and lifted them. With a twist of my wrist, the motionless figures came alive! Like all puppets, they depended on the puppeteer to help them create an illusion of life.
The most common type of puppets are moving-mouth puppets. With these puppets all you have to do is move the puppets mouth in sync with the spoken words. The technique here is to move the puppet’s mouth for each syllable that is spoken.
For example, to say “Hi,” the mouth would open once and close. In saying “today,” it would open twice. Try saying “Hi, how are you today?” and you will find the mouth should open six times. Be sure the mouth closes completely at the end of a phrase.
A good way to practice with this type of puppet is to “sing” with the puppet to a song that you know well. Choose a song that is not too fast, and one for which you know the words. All you need to do is move the puppets mouth in sync with the words and the syllables. Being able to do this will show that you are ready for puppetry!
Glove puppets are also common, but they are significantly different than moving-mouth puppets. With glove puppets you will use your thumb and middle fingers as arms for the puppet, and your index finger will simulate the head movements. With no mouth to open, the gestures and body language will be more important for making glove puppets interesting.
You should move the puppets hands as he talks. Also, gentle nodding of the puppets head during talking is good, but avoid excessive shaking of the head as it can be a distraction for the audience.
With stick puppets and finger puppets all you need to do as the puppeteer is make simple back and forth movements, or even swaying side to side. Simple and small wrist movements will help to give these puppets life. As with any type of puppet, movement is essential to give the puppet life.
Regardless of what type of puppets you are using, always follow these principles.
(1) Make an effort to keep life in all puppets that are on stage even when they are not the one that is speaking. Simple head movements, hand movements and other gestures will make them look more lifelike and interesting.
(2) Allow the audience to see each puppet on stage. It’s helpful for the audience if the speaking puppet is facing them, but puppets can face each other during dialog.
(3) Keep the puppets at waist height above the stage. As your arms tire it’s easy to let them slip down without realizing it.
(4) Remember to walk the puppets on, off, and across the stage with a gentle bounce rather than a gliding motion.
As I was returning Eric and Joey back to their box, I realized that puppets are nothing without the puppeteer and it reminded me of a verse. Jesus said, “without me you can do nothing.” He is our source of life and strength, just as we are a similar source to the puppets.
Thank You Father for being that source of life and strength for me, and for this simple reminder.
Dr. Ann Shorb is a counselor, speaker and writer. If you are working with puppets in your own ministry, check her website for puppet skits.
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