Puppet workshops and performance

John K. Garvey Elementary School
June, 2002

Puppetry and Performance Art Group Environmental Encroachment (EE) was contracted by Chrissy Gray-Rodriguez and the John K. Garvey Elementary School (Chicago) to initiate a program to enable the students to build and present a large scale puppetry performance for an all school (K-8) puppetry festival. Ms. Gray-Rodriguez had been awarded a local grant and produced the festival, which included different grades of students producing the various types of puppets, incuding hand, rod, shadow puppets, and large scale event puppets.

The festival's theme was the telling of American Folk tales, with the 8th graders having the tale of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox to go along with the assignment of builing large scale puppets and producing the performance.

EE led four workshops over a one month period. Our strategy was a set of goals for each week, and projects to accomplish between workshops. Our itinerary was as follows:
Workshop 1:
Outline a basic script
define characters and props
general assigments and to do lists
drawings, models, matterials and methods discussed for large puppets

Workshop 2:
Building heads and hands armatures, build backpack structures
Script work and Character assignments

Workshop3:
Finalizing Script
Skin Puppets and
Practice movement with puppets

Workshop 4:
Rehearsals

PERFORMANCES:
Two days of performance

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