Puppeteers from the American Repertory Theater’s production of Life of Pi visited performing arts students at Beaver to give master classes in the foundations of puppetry used in the show. The sessions allowed students to explore the intersection of puppeteering, storytelling, and theater production. By the end of each master class, students had not only learned the basic principles of puppetry, they had also created puppets of their own.
7th grade theater arts students started their master classes by practicing appropriate breathing for puppeteering. By mastering breath control, students gained a better understanding of how to insert life into inanimate objects. Next came the task of creating practice puppets. Starting with basic fabric creatures created with a single knot in a bedsheet, students worked their way up to manufacturing complex puppets using recycled materials such as cardboard, string, newspaper, and pipe cleaners. Once the puppets were ready, each group put on a show.
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Upper School classes participated in sessions as well, including students from the Costume and Fashion Design Studio and the Design & Tech Theater Studio. For US Students, the sessions were tailored towards their specific interests in theater. For example, a massive tiger puppet from Life of Pi was used to analyze construction techniques and abstract puppeteering performance. As students got inside the tiger and tried to maneuver it, instructors spoke with the session about the stamina and artistry required to succeed in different areas of puppeteering.
Puppetry is all about connecting to the materials and to those you are performing with.
The information and skills acquired during American Repertory Theater’s visit will surely be put to good use as Beaver’s Performing Arts department gears up for upcoming US play Seriously Funny. Students participating in the sessions were also invited to an upcoming performance of Life of Pi at the Loeb Drama Center.