Document Overview:

This document was developed as a guide for the Puppet component of the No Strings International Workshop that was taught in Nairobi , Kenya October, 2009.

Facilitators of the Puppet Workshop:

Lisa Buckley, Ronald Binion

Document Prepared by:

Ronald Binion, January 13, 2010

Overview of Scene building

Participants will learn the process of creating brief evocative scenes for use in a presentation.

What is Scene Building?

Scene building is the process of working in groups to generate ideas, write scripts and then quickly rehearse the script and present the scene as an exercise.

Importance

Scene Building Training:

Allows participants to work in small groups with other participants to develop scenes relevant to the subject.

Runs the process of creating a dramatic presentation from a simple beginning idea.

Allows participants to tell their stories.

First Scene Building Exercise

Participants will form groups of two or three and work to create a scene. They will:

1. Write a script
2. Rehearse a script
3. Enact the scene for the other participants
4. Critique the effectiveness and clarity of all the scenes.

Writing the script

Participants are asked to form groups of 2 or 3 individuals and produce a script. Groups will have only 15 minutes to complete this task. The script must have these features:

Rehearsing a script

Once the 15 minute time limit has been reached, all groups must stop writing. The scripts they have written will then be handed to another group to enact.

Each group will then rehearse and enact a scene written by another group.

Each group will be given another 15 minutes to cast the scene, learn the script and create action appropriate to the script.

At this point it is important to reinforce the following concepts:

The scene must start with a character engaging in an action to illustrate concepts like location, and tell us who the characters might be.

The scene must reveal something, or have a surprise.

The dialogue is only part of the scene, the length of the scene and what happens must be more than a simple exchange of two characters talking.

Performing the scenes

Each group will take turns performing their scene.

It is important for the ones viewing the scenes to show respect and behave in an attentive and generous manner while others are performing.

All groups will perform their scenes in quick succession.

Critiquing

and analyzing

the scenes

After all groups have finished performing, the trainer will mediate a discussion on the effectiveness of each scene going in order of the scenes as they were performed.

All scenes will be analyzed based on very basic questions:

• What was the location?
• Who were the characters?
• What were the characters doing?
• What was revealed, or discovered during the scene?
• How can the scene be improved to make these points more clear?

Scene Improvement Note:

Scene Building training should persuade participants to illustrate an idea with actions, and behavior of the characters.

The common pitfall is an over reliance on words. These exercises should demonstrate the wide variety of choices performers can make in acting out a scene without relying solely on dialogue.

Discussions on improving the scenes should therefore generate discussion on how to better illustrate the idea of the scene visually rather than focusing on the text of the script. This will be important later when the puppet is incorporated into the enactment of the scenes.

Additionally, it can be emphasized that characters should always be encouraged to do more than stand in one place and delivering lines to each other. They can move around the space, and get closer to each other, or move apart. This creates a more dynamic and visually interesting scene.

What are the components of the Puppet Workshop?

• Performance and Manipulation Training
• Scene Building
• Creating a final presentation

Workshop Schedule

The daily plan typically calls for a daily Puppet Workshop session of about 4 hours, broke up by a 15 minute break. The trainers will spend the session do a mix of both Performance/Manipulation Training and Scene Building.

Each session will start with a Warm-Up.

After Warm-Ups time will be spent with Performance/Manipulation exercises followed by a break and then returning to focus on Scene Building Exercises.

Example:

Daily Schedule

1. Warm-ups
2. Puppet Manipulation Drill
3. Scene Building-script writing
4. 15 minute Break
5. Scene building-scene rehearsal
6. Performances of all scenes
7. Critique/Analyze
8. Final Puppet Drill

Overview

At the end of this workshop participants will be able to:

• Perform a puppet character with a hand puppet.
• Create short scenes relevant to the topic.
• Present scenes as part of a larger classroom presentation.

Importance

Using a puppet in as part of a presentation has these benefits:

• Builds instant rapport with the audience.
• Creates a memorable drama and interaction with the audience.
• Safely deals with difficult material creating an imaginary world that is one step removed from the human world.
• Creates dimension to the curriculum. The audience empathizes with the emotions of the puppet character and the drama.

What is a puppet?

A puppet is an inanimate object that is given life by the performer.

In this case we are using hand puppets with moving mouths. The mouth puppet has been chosen because it has the ability to talk believably and because of its’ simple but endearing aesthetic properties.

A puppet can be object, as long as the object is able to express its emotional state of being and perspective.

Why use a puppet in a presentation?

• Using a puppet in a presentation can instantly create a “Puppet World” and engage the audience’s imagination.

• The use of a puppet memorably reinforces the messages of the subject matter.

• Puppets have the ability to transport the audience to any location and enact a wide variety of scenarios.

• Puppetry is a visual language that can often bridge gaps of culture, language, and different perspectives.

• Puppets are a joyful and child-like with the ability to express a wide spectrum of emotions. It is safer to use a puppet if the drama requires the enactment of negative emotions.

• Using puppetry empowers the performers to communicate their own stories as well as scenes developed in the workshop.

Overview

This training is conducted with a Subject Matter Expert on Puppet Performance and Manipulation.

This section outlines the principles communicated in the physical drills and exercises taught by the Subject Matter Expert.

These Exercises are physical exercises that are guided by a Subject Matter Expert. They are intended to build the strength and muscle memory skills needed to perform a hand puppet.

What is the difference between Manipulation and Performance?

Performance is the overall presentation to the audience. This includes all aspects of public speaking and creating a presentation. For example: speaking clearly, making introductions, engaging with the audience as a presenter.

Manipulation is the physical skill and instincts needed to perform a puppet. Applying many of the same principle of performance to bring life to a puppet character in a believable manner.

Warm-ups

Key features:

Facilitated by an SME familiar with the disciplines of yoga, Pilates, and knowledge of the physical strains of puppet performance.

Comprised of stretches, and breathing exercises.

Conducted to prepare the participants bodies to comfortably participate in physical drills that will put unusual demands on their body.

Transition participants from their familiar world to the physical demands of puppet manipulation, 

Puppet Manipulation Exercises

Standing up straight. The first exercise teaches the simple act of knowing how to hold the puppet to a presentational height and create the illusion that the puppet has a backbone and a nice posture. See figure 01.

Eye focus. This exercise concentrates on having the performer gain an instinctive sense of where the puppet is looking. The eyes of the puppet must naturally be focused on who the puppet is talking to or what they are giving attention. Puppet focus should also have a neutral position that is simply looking forward with the plane of the eyes parallel to the floor. In practical application in a classroom the puppet needs to stand tall and the eyes should be tilted slightly downwards in order for the audience, which sits lower to believe the puppet is paying attention to them. See figure 02 and 03.

Walking. Walking exercises help performers feel the biomechanical rhythm that is necessary to create the illusion that the puppet is walking. The puppet will undoubtedly need to move around in its performance space, and that means being able to fluidly go from place to place in a manner that is believable and echoes the natural rhythm of walking upright. 

Lip-sync. This exercise allows participants to practice the skill of using the mouth when the puppet character needs to talk. The exercises centers around simple tasks of counting and opening and closing the mouth on each syllable. See figure 04. 

Combination of all elements. Once individual skills have been practiced to the point of an instinctive muscle memory then a combination of the skills can be practiced in order to create a fluid performance. This means, holding the puppet up straight, having the character walk to a predetermined point, look around the room, then speak to the audience.

Quality Measures

Each exercise can also be used as a quality measure.

• Is the puppet standing up straight?
• Does the puppet have good eye focus? Is the puppet looking at who it is talking to?
• Does the puppet have a natural and believable walk?
• Is the puppet lip-syncing when it talks?

Further skill development

All of these exercises are foundational skills needed to instinctively create a puppet performance. To master each skill a performer must invest their personal time in practicing each skill.

After the workshop is over performers must still find time to review these concepts and practice these skills regularly until they become a natural habit.

It is advised that participants help provide feedback for each other, or find a partner who can look from vantage point of the audience and provide feedback for continued skill development.

Figure 01

Standing up Straight with the puppet at a performance height. The eyes are looking forward and the attitude is straight with the mouth plane parallel to the floor.

Figure 02

Side view. Note puppet’s mouth is open but eyes are still looking forward.

Figure 03

Looking to the right, puppet’s head slightly tilted.

Figure 04

Illustration of what the puppeteer’s hand is doing inside the puppet when the puppet is opening and closing its mouth.

Note: Mouth movement comes more from the wrist.

Figure 05

Non-example. Puppeteers should avoid “shy puppets”.

Puppets can be exciting and engage the audience. Note: it's clear where the puppet is looking.

Post-Workshop thoughts.

• This Workshop empowers the participants to begin to use puppetry in a presentation using scene that they create from their own experiences and life stories.

• It’s important for participants to continue to practice the skills of puppet performance on their own time.

• When participants begin to use puppets in their own presentations the experiences will reinforce many points of the training, but will also give them their own discoveries about how best to use puppetry.

• It’s important to seek others to work with and help provide feedback both creatively and critically.

• The more participants use puppets in their presentation, and increase their skills the more the puppet world will open up to them as a powerful communication tool, and deal with important messages and emotions.