In lieu of our usual puppet guild meeting, join us for this special event!

The Boston Area Guild of Puppetry and Belmont Public Library present:

A Day of Puppetry!

Shows, Crafts, and More
Saturday April 1st, 1:30-3:30 PM
Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Ave, Belmont, MA
Free and open to the public!

Join us for “Stewie’s Magic Hat,” the newest puppet show by Honey Goodenough of Good Hearted Entertainment. Meet Newton and puppeteer pal Leigh Baltzer of “Through Me To You Puppetry”. Stick around after the show for puppet crafts for families starting at 2:30, and then meet members of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry, who’ll talk about their work during an informal sharing session from 3:00-3:30.

Guild members can arrive as early at 12:00 if you want to help set up. Please contact Jacek Zuzanski – jacezuz@hotmail.com – if you can volunteer, we need extra help at the craft tables. You are also welcome to bring something to share at the end, it will be like our usual Show and Tell.

This is our celebration of the World Day of Puppetry (which actually falls on March 21st, so you can celebrate both days!) Hope to see you there!

Top Photo: Honey Goodenough of Good Hearted Entertainment. Lower Photo: Leigh Baltzer of Through Me To You Puppetry.

The next virtual meeting of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry will be Sunday January 8th, 5:30 PM.

Details will be sent out to all members, so watch your email!

Our outdoor summer guild meeting will be Sunday July 24th, 3-5 PM at the home of Kurt Staven, in Ware, MA. Directions have been sent out to all guild members. Bring some food to share for the potluck, and bring a chair if you can. Face masks are optional but welcome. There will be a tent in case of light rain, but if heavy rains are forecast, we will cancel.

Heidi Carpenter, president of the Atlanta Puppetry Guild (and also Kurt’s sister.) Heidi will talk about her experiences as a puppeteer and as president of the Atlanta Puppetry Guild. Bring something for Show and Tell!

Contact John Lechner – JMLechner (at) aol . com if you have any questions or would like more information.

Join us online this Sunday May 1st at 5:30 PM, for a very special meeting and program. Award-winning puppeteer Andrew Periale, the creator of Mano-a-Monolog, and the editor of Puppetry International for the past 37 years, will join us to discuss Writing FOR and ABOUT Puppet Theater.  A Zoom link has been sent out to all members. To learn more about joining the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry, visit our Membership page.

Andrew is also performing his solo show Mano-a-Monolog at Puppet Showplace on May 13th at 8 PM, a show that will touch your heart and tickle your funny bone. The program consists of 15 original vignettes written in verse and performed in Periale’s twinned identities of actor and puppeteer. From the “Disheartened Bonvivant” (in which a young man of privilege finds that he is not really suited for any sort of work) to “My Dear, I Think of You” (wherein a middle-aged British widow at last feels truly alive!), these pieces give voices to characters who are by turns comic, thoughtful, eerie, and poignant.

Andrew Periale is a puppeteer, playwright, poet and polyglot. He earned a BA in Theater and an MA in German at the University of Maine, where he also created his first full-length puppet show in 1974. Periale and his wife, Bonnie, founded Perry Alley Theatre in 1985. Together, they’ve performed at numerous national and regional festivals, at the Smithsonian Institution, the Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta) and the Jim Henson International Festival of Puppetry. Recognition includes the Paul Vincent Davis Award, the George Latshaw Award, 3 Henson Foundation grants, 3 UNIMA-USA Citations, an Emmy nomination, finalists in the International Festival of Film and Television and, in 2016, they were elected Members of Honor of UNIMA International. They have produced the magazine Puppetry International for the past 37 years.

We hope you will join us online this Sunday at 5:30 for an inspiring discussion with Andrew about the challenges of writing for and about puppet theater. Afterwards we will have SHOW & TELL, so bring a puppet or share your latest project. We will also have our GUILD ELECTIONS for board members (nominations still being accepted.)

Puppets and Pigeons: An Artistic Residency at Kō with David Lane 

Sunday March 20th, 6-8 PM, online via Zoom

Join David Lane as he discusses his 2017 BAGOP funded residency at Kō Festival in Amherst, MA. Slides and a short clip form the workshop production The Pigeon will pepper the evening, along with an update on David’s recent pandemic-time shadow production of Midsummer Night’s Dream, his upcoming trip to Alberta, and a plug for his workshop in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland. 

David Lane is an interdisciplinary theatre artist sharing his time between North Adams, Massachusetts and Calgary, Alberta. He trained extensively with Calgary’s Green Fools Theatre Society before helping to co-found The Old Trout Puppet Workshop. 

We will also have Show and Tell — show us a puppet, or tell us about your new project. We want to see what you’ve been working on. A Zoom link will be sent to all members. Not a member yet? Check out all our member benefits and sign up today!  

ALSO – check out some great events happening this month at Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline, MA, to celebrate World Puppetry Day!

by John Lechner

Last year was challenging for everyone, not least puppeteers. But the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry managed to continue on, hosting virtual gatherings and workshops to provide our members with inspiration, education, and celebration. Here is a look back at some of our guild highlights from 2021!

In March we hosted a virtual performance of ScreenPLAY! by Bonnie Duncan of The Gottabees (photo above). This action-packed participatory series was developed by Bonnie as a response to the pandemic and the need for truly interactive online experiences for children. We all had a great time acting out the adventure with Bonnie traveling to the Arctic, and we learned a lot about the process going into such an interactive program. 

In May we paid tribute to one of our longtime members who passed away last year, Gail Kearns (photo right). At our virtual meeting we shared stories of Gail’s many contributions to our guild and the impact she had on so many people, locally and nationally. Gail’s extensive library of puppetry books was donated to our guild by her family, and we have yet to go through them and find homes for them all. 

In August, it actually seemed like the pandemic was on its way out, as the new vaccine took hold. So we had a hybrid outdoor meeting, that was streamed online for those who could not come. Kurt Staven and his wife Karen were our hosts in Ware, MA, which was far enough west that some of our friends in the new Western Massachusetts Puppetry Guild could join us. We had a great program with Tanglewood Marionettes, who talked about their career and how they are surviving through the pandemic (photo below). 

In September, our special guest was Edna Bland, Puppeteers of America Board Member and Chair of their Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (photo right). She gave a wonderful presentation on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the puppetry world, drawing from her years of experience as a teacher and puppeteer. We had a thoughtful and open discussion about the issues today and how puppeteers can address them. 

Our November guild meeting featured an online workshop by Linda Wingerter of The Stringpullers about Flat Mechanics, simple mechanisms for shadow puppets and toy theater. We learned about levers, pulleys, and the infinite number of ways that puppets can be jointed together to create different effects. We also experimented with our own cardboard creations and learned about prototyping with everyday materials. Linda showed us some of her intricate shadow puppets like those from Romeo and Juliet (see photo below). It was very inspiring! 

So, what’s in store for 2022? We will continue with virtual meetings every other month while the pandemic continues. If you aren’t already a member, or if you haven’t renewed this year, I encourage you to become a member for 2022. In addition to our bi-monthly meetings and newsletter, we offer many other benefits like our website directory, festival scholarships, and grants for new works. We also have an email list to share news of upcoming puppetry events and workshops. 

If you are interested in learning more, please contact guild president John Lechner with your questions – JMLechner (at) aol.com.  

New Work Presentation: Race Cars with Anna Sobel

At our January online meeting, Anna Sobel of Talking Hands Theatre will present her work in progress Race Cars, a tabletop show for young children. In this show, an electric car, a hybrid car, and a gas-powered car have a race. Who will win the mystery prize? No matter who wins, everyone will need to work together to spell out what the prize is! 

This show focuses on early literacy as well as potty training. For ages 2-6. Puppets by Mary Nagler of Whorls of Wonder. Anna will talk about her process and answer questions. This project was supported by a New Works Grant from the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry. 

We will also have sharing from anyone who wants to show what they’ve been working on. And we will also review and vote on a new budget proposal and schedule for the coming year. A Zoom link will be sent to all members of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry. Not a member? Check out our membership page!

We have an exciting event planned for our November meeting, presenting a virtual workshop by renowned puppet artist Linda Wingerter on a special night, Friday November 19th, 6:30-8:30 PM. See all the details below! 

When: Nov 19th. 6:30-8:30pm

Where: Your workspace on Zoom, link has been sent to all guild members. (Not a member? Join here!)

What: Flat Mechanics: simple mechanisms for shadow puppets and toy theaterIn this workshop we’ll play with ideas for prototyping with cheap and abundant materials to get more movement from 2D puppets using linkages, stops, and returns. 

Who: Linda Wingerter is a third generation puppetry artist building, teaching and performing puppets as The Stringpullers Co. in Ithaca, NY. She has a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and has taught puppetry at Quinnipiac University, Fairfield University, Cornell University, and the Yale School of Drama. Working primarily in shadow puppet films, she specializes in simple, practical, and cheap “flat mechanics”. Linda is a 2021 recipient of a Handmade Puppet Dreams Film Micro-Commission.

This will be a hands-on workshop, here is a list of materials suggested by Linda:  
– A pin board: This is just a couple sheets of around 10×15″ corrugated cardboard stacked and taped together to create a thick work surface that thumbtacks can be stuck into. Thick corkboard or 2 layers of foam board will work, too. 
– Flat thumb tacks and pushpins (both kinds needed)
– Cereal-type box board: bigger sheets without folds, such as from cereal boxes or frozen pizza, are best. Should be easy to cut with scissors.
– Cardstock (or file folders). Something that can be cut with scissors but somewhat sturdy.
– Wire, 22 or 24 gauge is best, but also paper clips or wire pulled out of twist ties can work in a pinch.
– Wire cutters, or whatever will cut your type of wire.
– Rubber bands, any type
– Scissors
– Tape: masking, and blue painters is great if you have it
– String: a kind that runs smoothly through straws but doesn’t break when pulled. Dental floss, fishing line, or other household stringy things can be used. 

EXTRAS, if you’d like, not required:
– Mini brads (also called paper fasteners or spilt pins): not the thick office brads, but the tiny ones you get in scrapbooking supply aisles in craft stores. The thinner the pins, the better. I use these for joints for fast prototyping rather than wire.
– Pliers: if you have thick wire and no brads, you might want these for coiling your wire for joints. 
– Paper straws – I use as guides for string pulls. Not necessary for this workshop but good to use. 
– Glue gun: if you have one around. I often use it to reinforce floppy parts, but it is not crucial for this workshop.

We hope to see you at this exciting workshop!  Even if you are unable to build along, it will be inspiring to hear from Linda and learn from her techniques, which can be adapted to many different kinds of puppets. 

This workshop is sponsored by the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry and free to all members. Afterwards, people are welcome to stay and share their projects, or share anything else they’ve been working on. Many thanks to our Vice President Honey Goodenough for organizing this amazing workshop. Watch for the guild newsletter coming out soon. 

Sunday Sept. 19th, 5-7 PM

Online via Zoom (Link has been sent to all Guild members)

Join Puppeteers of America Board Member and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Chair Edna Bland for an antidotal talk about diversity’s role in our puppetry community. Come with your questions and comments as we open the discussion of the differences between cultural appreciation vs. appropriateness, touch on personal pronouns, special needs awareness and how we can make a difference as artists.

If you aren’t a member of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry and want to learn more about our organization and meetings, contact guild president John Lechner – john (at) fablevision.com