|
Larger-than-life puppets attract attention and can express abstract or symbolic ideas that human actors, alone, find difficult to do. As a visual performing art, large puppets can draw a crowd on the street or in any large gathering and direct the focus on an issue. You might consider making the simple yard-waste-bag puppets used in our Earth Care video for your next justice event. They can gain more notice than slogans and placards and are almost as easy to make! Sometimes the bag itself suggests a particular puppet character, as with this cow (seen in the video). Her features are all recycled items from juice-jug-top eyes and yogurt lid tongue to her tied together rope of rags tail. The body, of course, is just another bag opened up with a rod (bamboo tomato stake) at the tail end for two puppeteers to hold. A third puppeteer operates the head. The essence of puppetry is movement, as that is what brings puppets to “life.” Brass fasteners (office supply items) make secure joints for moving parts. For non-moving attachments, you can’t beat duct tape!  You can also cut open a yard-waste bag and experiment with it to see what develops. Then, remembering the need for movement, you might create a fish whose mouth opens and closes with a brass fastener joint. Yard-waste-bag puppets are simple to make, and the materials are cheap, durable, accessible and biodegradable - perfect for climate/justice awareness events! 
0 Comments
|
