The Power to Enchant:
Puppets in the Public Library

Jack Alan Hicks

Public Response to Puppetry

Libraries have used puppets to amuse, entertain and educate children for as long as there have been public libraries. The role that puppets fulfill is not often examined, and the impact of the puppet is often ignored. Deerfield has had puppet shows on a fairly continuous basis for the past 24 years. During that time, the staff has had an opportunity to reflect on the effectiveness of puppets, how the children respond, and how the memories of past performances have been etched into the minds of the audience. We also have learned much about the mechanics of this genre. Scenery, scripts, props, puppets and actors all play an important part of a puppetry program's success. If you are just looking for another program with an audience potential, there are programs that are easier, cheaper and glitzier. Puppetry requires a commitment, persistence, and hard work to be successful. We are convinced that puppetry is a socially redeeming program that encourages children to read and makes the books they have read come alive. This article will review the Deerfield Public Library's experience with puppets.

Our library got into the puppet business by chance. The Newcomer's Club had money to give the library for a project that would have some longevity and entertain children. What grew out of a $400 donation has lasted 24 years and entertained thousands of children. We did not examine motivation or projected results when we began. Evaluation came later when we realized that the puppet plays were such an extraordinary success. We knew all along that the children had very strong reactions to them and that we were always playing to standing-room-only audiences. Only with time, when former children came to our performances as parents, did we come to grips with the fact our plays were faceted into the memories of their childhoods. I am convinced that the effect of these shows is lasting and profound and is one of the most professional endeavors any library can undertake. It has become common for parents to tell us about the plays they saw 20 or more years ago when they were children. They clearly remember the day, "It was raining," "You wore a black turtleneck," "I was afraid of the troll puppet," "The lady helping you had blond hair," "You let me touch the parrot puppet," and so on. Have puppets made these children into lifetime library users? I don't claim such a success but I do know how vivid these memories are and how positive the library is in their memory.

While the memory phenomenon is anecdotal, it has been repeated so often it must be accepted and examined at face value. But, we also have the current audiences to analyze. The children react uniformly with great enthusiasm to our plays. We must be careful to scale audience ages to the plays being preformed, but the result is always the same: a terrific and positive response. Our goal has never been dramatic perfection, none of us are trained in dramatics, but rather to perform a play that entertains, delights and involves the audience. The script should be free of problems in dialogue or action that the audience can't understand or relate to.

Why Children Relate to the Puppets

Although we have held plays for a long period of time, we have no set formula that guarantees success. Indeed, we have no clear-cut idea what the central attraction of the puppet plays is, but this is what we think:

1. The "story" is very important.

2. Children react to the puppets and the props;
they are not passive.

3. The plays are in the children's scale.

4. The performances are live and have a life of their own.

5. Puppets stimulate the child's imagination.

6. Children grasp the moral/ethical ideas presented.

7. The plays are "real" as opposed to TV.

8. There is a connection between children's books and the plays.

9. Puppets are not routinely seen elsewhere.

10. This is an activity that parents and children do together.

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These are some of the factors we have identified over time. We have talked to many parents and children over the years and these are the recurring themes. The response for the past 24 years has been so positive and enduring that we have long since concluded it is the genre itself that is the central attraction.We have an active Youth Services Department that conducts a full range of programming throughout the year, summer reading, story hour, story-telling, parenting, baby sitting classes and so forth. When we set up the puppet theatre, our public lets us know that this is their favorite program with immediate requests for tickets.

Why We Do the Plays

We started to do puppet shows as a program that would draw an audience. As a library director, I look at costs, how a program reflects and relates to the library, how our publicity is received and so forth. I never judge the success or failure of a program by attendance figures. In the case of the puppet performances, I can only use lyrical words, enchanting, magical, ethereal, beguiling, to describe the interaction between the children and the land of make-believe our puppets inhabit.

We also do puppets for selfish reasons: they are a diverting activity that charges up my internal batteries, and those of our staff. The plays put us in direct contact with our clients and help us focus on our mission statement while relating to our youngest clientele. The plays are on such a human scale they make us remember why libraries exist and how important they can be in people's lives. Puppets also have a tremendous team-building effect. At Deerfield, the plays are always done across departmental lines, Circulation, Reference, Technical Services, the Business Office and the director all take turns in the theatre. The intense, creative and often chaotic action behind the curtain leads to a kind of team-building that speakers and focus groups can never achieve during the typical staff development day.

The Theatre

Before we built our theatre I visited every library around us that did puppets. Everyone was working with hand and glove puppets, and that is the direction we took. Marionettes are a wonderful art form but require larger theatres, greater skill and a level of staff participation and longevity I felt we did not have at Deerfield. For these reasons, marionettes were never seriously considered. I looked at a lot of theatres to see the general layout and gleaned practical advice from the puppeteers. The basic layout, lighting, sound systems and construction materials were similar in each theatre, yet customized to the needs and preferences of the puppeteers operating them. Cloth, cardboard, plywood and even metal were used.

Since I had the $400 dollars donation, I decided to build as sturdy and professional a theatre as I could design. I chose plywood, with a 1" x 2" subframe to support everything. The theatre will fold into one-third its regular size for storage. The library envisioned a yearly puppet workshop done by and for the children, where they would write, construct and produce their own plays. Consequently, the theatre was designed to be used by children from 8-12 years of age and scaled to those dimensions. The workshops have proved successful, but have never been capable of producing the number of productions requested by the public. These workshops have, however produced some outstanding and creative work but have not become the main focus of the library's use of puppetry.

The public was requesting a continuing repertoire theatre which would perform three to four times a year. We responded by developing a puppet company called the "Punch and Judy Players" to perform three to four times a year. There was a space problem, though, getting two or three adults into the theatre to perform, though we have adapted fairly well. A word of caution: when planning your theatre, be certain who is going to use it and what kind of plays you are going to do.

Although plywood is heavy, it has stood up to years of hard use. Our theatre was designed to go into a double door opening in our meeting room, so it has storage and walking space behind it. The theatre itself measures 48 inches deep, 88 inches tall, and 72 inches wide. A 12-inch removable pediment caps the top. We chose a very traditional design reminiscent of European Punch and Judy theatres I had seen in France. The dimensions are adequate for two or three adults to fit inside.

The theatre is equipped with a lighting system of red, blue and white lights. Each is on its own dimmer; all are controlled by a single switch for use as special effects like lightening, witches descending or galactic battles. Whenever the scripts call for the use of lights, the children always respond. The lights give us combinations and stage effects that are creative, visual and exciting. The theatre also is set up to use a multiple microphone sound system, again on a single switch, so that all the actors can be clearly heard. We employ a simple cassette tape deck for sound effects and music. Important to the performances is a curtain that opens and closes easily and completely and works every time. The curtain pulls and drops with one cord,

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and is weighted to ensure quick closure. "Quick" is an important word for us when we perform, because nothing will foil a performance worse than slow scene changes, curtains that don't rise, or props that won't work.

The scenery is all in the form of backdrops, with appropriate settings for each scene. They are made from wetted muslin drawn on with chalk crayons. When they are dry, we spray the backdrops with fixative to prevent chalk from rubbing off on performers and puppets. The backdrops have elastic sewn into the upper edge and are fitted with metal "S" hooks that latch into metal eyes screwed into the theatre walls. A double set of eyes allows us to put up the next drop in the play while simultaneously taking the old one down. Fast and smooth scene changes are needed to hold the audience.

My advice about the construction of a theatre is to make it sturdy and well-balanced so it can't tip over (we anchor it to the wall with cable during performances), and have a well-designed arm rest. Lights and sound are essentials not to be overlooked. Radio Shack and other electronics dealers stock amplifiers, microphones, cables and so forth. We built a very sturdy theatre and it has stood up to hundreds of performances, thousands of swarming children, and all of the clumsy, awkward adult puppeteers. A professional level theatre is worth the effort considering all the work and time you will put into practicing and performing plays.

Staff Issues

Since the very first plays, we have used staff members as the actors. This was done because we wanted to perform three to four times a year, and we felt we could develop a theatrical troupe of our own that would be around for years. Of course it did not work out that way; staff members come and go as fast as you get them trained. However, by including all the departments in the program we always have a core of old hands and a supply of newcomers willing to give it a try. Will this work in other libraries? I don't know. It has worked here and has proven to be an authentic team-builder. There are staff who flatly refuse to participate, but more interesting is how many frustrated thespians have been found on my staff over the years.

You don't need trained actors, though we have had them on staff. You need only people who are comfortable working in close proximity to others, often with their arms tangled together. Once comfortable behind the curtain, you will be amazed at how many of your staff have a flair for drama and how much care they will take to ensure professional performances. Involve people who are enthusiastic, willing to work in close quarters and able to put in the time needed for rehearsals and performances. Taking staff from all the departments also cushions the blow to any single department. We usually have three puppeteers for a show, in addition to a person to handle the backdrops and props. We also have two members of our staff act as ushers and ticket takers. We need at least six staff members to do a typical play. The nursery rhyme plays can be done with as few as two people. We compensate all staff members involved with time off. Sunday we offer cash payments. No staff member is expected to perform on their own time. We always have more staff who want to do puppets than we have roles, but that is not a problem.

Scripts

Scripts are key to success in our theatre. We have a collection of about 20 scripts with a rotation of three or four a year. The public sees the same performance every four or five years. We could handle more scripts, but the idea was a repertoire theatre, which has worked well for us. All our scripts are tied to books and reading, whether the play is Treasure Island or nursery rhymes. If we have a consistent theme to our productions, it is the theme of reading. We have used easily recognizable titles, Treasure Island, Beauty and the Beast, St. George and the Dragon, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Christmas Carol and so on. We have written original material, such as Dinosaurs in Deerfield, and a science fiction play called Masters of the Hidden Planet. Most scripts have been freely adapted from children's literature.

We have written and adapted all the scripts. Nursery rhymes come straight out of the book, but we adapt standard works to fit our format, age groups and clientele. I have worked on scripts, as have at least six other staff members. Developing a working script is as much fun as any aspect of puppetry. The goal is to have a script that will play, as we call it, straight through. That means there is no dialogue the children do not understand, no action that is impossible to perform, no scene change that doesn't flow and nothing unforeseen that impedes the performance.

The script must ensure that the action will engage and hold the audience. Scene and prop changes must be as quick as possible to avoid boredom. It is easier to hold an audience of young children than it is to try to regain them once their attention is lost. This does not mean perfection. (Some of the most outrageous accidents have brought the biggest laughs, and in a live performance that is great.) Rather it means that you should remove from your scripts any awkwardness that could lead to boredom, any action or dialogue

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that can't easily be followed, and any props that can't be handled by the puppets.

There must be a proper mix of action, dialogue and scene changes. The entire script should be geared to the target audience. We have a range of scripts, those good for 10-year-olds and those good for toddlers. Never try to mix two audiences if you can help it. A crying baby will ruin the Masters of the Hidden Planet but won't be noticed if you are doing Frog and Toad.

The scripts we use are produced in large type. At first, we used a large print typewriter but now we use computers. We tried using tape-recorded scripts when we started, but found they inhibited us and put limitations on our ability to exploit our miscues, audience wisecracks, fallen props, and all the other kinds of problems that bedevil any live performance. The tape recorders worked fine, but seemed to slow down and limit the spirit of the "Punch and Judy Players." We tried memorization, but felt we didn't have the time, talent or motivation to use that technique. Now we use long scrolled scripts 15-30-feet long that we read from. That gives us a guaranteed script to work from, allows us to improvise as the need arises, and ensures a fairly predictable length to the play. The script is marked up by the actors so they can pick out their parts and cues. By the time we are ready to perform, everyone knows each other's lines, so keeping the scripts rolling, the cues, prop and scene changes flowing is not a difficulty. We strongly endorse the use of scrolled scripts for the professionalism it brings to the performance, the flexibility it allows for improvisation, and the assurance it gives to first-time performers.

Based on the ages of our audience, we have developed two types of scripts. We call them short and long, but they are geared to entirely different audiences. Anansi the Spider is a short script aimed at a very young audience; Christmas Carol is a long script geared to 10-year-olds. The verbal sophistication, the action and the performance times must match the audience age levels. Puppets make a point with children; they understand the moral/ethical dilemmas of the ideas being presented, but they respond just as quickly in reverse. We once performed old-time Punch and Judy plays, but often the children would get upset and shout at the stage, "Don't hit the Mommy." As a result, we never use violence in plays geared to younger patrons. Our "long" plays run 35-45 minutes, while the "short" ones are closer to 15-20 minutes.

Schtick

Always include running sight and word gags into your scripts. The children identify easily with this kind of humor and anticipate it as the play progresses. An example is when we do Treasure Island. We have our warm-up person tell the audience that whenever they hear the word "aaargh" used by any of the pirates, they are to respond with a bloodthirsty "aaargh" of their own. We have written this into the script and their response is used like a special effect.

You can weave all kinds of recurring sight gags or word repetitions into your scripts and it is always worth the effort. Audience rapport is established early in the performance and builds all the way to the end. The actor who welcomes the children can also use gag lines with the puppets he/she talks to during our introduction. This is used to establish who the heroes, villains and comedians are. The children then react accordingly the first time the puppet appears. Schtick is easy to do and pays dividends during any performance.

Performances

As mentioned before, the goal of our performance is not dramatic perfection, but rather a play that will entertain and delight. Perfection comes with time. When we began we felt every performance was a good one, and they were. Over the long haul our standards and our ability to deliver competent performances have risen substantially. Our public always mentions our professionalism and dedication. Much of this is an illusion built up over time. We have a good collection of scripts we have revised again and again, we have a fine collection of puppets and backdrops, we have great props and we have continuity stretching back many of years. All this comes together to ensure graceful performances that have charm and style but are dependable and predictable as well.

We use a four-rehearsal schedule to ensure that performers know their lines and cues, that the property person knows when to bring down the backdrops, and everyone knows the curtain rise and drop points in the script. This takes a lot of staff time as each rehearsal lasts about an hour to an hour and half. We do three days of rehearsal with a double run-through the day before showtime. The troupe has been known to rehearse on show day to work out any rough spots or soothe a newcomer. Rehearsals have always been time well-spent. The only plays that caused trouble were those that didn't have adequate preparation.

Since the plays are so well-attended and anticipated, we issue and control tickets. Our performance hall will hold 165 people. We always over-print the tickets by about 25 percent as there are generally about 30 percent no-shows. Over-printing helps, but does not eliminate the problem of more people than tickets. We

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help non-ticket holders by organizing a first-come, first-served line for those with no tickets. The day the theatre goes up for rehearsals is generally the day we start giving out the tickets, which will be handed out in a matter of days.

To ensure that all children get a chance to see a play, we generally do three performances over a weekend. Saturday we have two shows, one at 10:30 a.m. and another at 2:00 p.m., and a 2:00 p.m. performance on Sunday. "Punch and Judy Players" have been known to do as many as five shows on a weekend, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. This can be exhausting for the actors. Two performances require much physical effort, so plan accordingly. However, it is counter productive to the operation to do the rehearsals, have the props, scripts and puppets, and then turn children away from the door. We try to do as many shows as possible.

On show day, we have a performer in front of the theatre to talk to the children, tell them the ground rules of the show (no one can sit in the center aisle and so on) and warm them up to see some puppets. That staff member will engage the children in conversation, but also talk with some of the puppets as they push themselves through the curtain. If a play has a number of characters, we will introduce all of them at this point. The play will be outlined so the audience knows what to expect, though we try to start each show with a special effect or some kind of surprise to set the tone of the story. We start Masters of the Hidden Planet by having a rocket ship "fly" down a wire with a siren screeching as a way to set the scene and get the audience's attention.

Puppets

We have produced 95 percent of our puppets. Our staff artist, Betty Reschke, has handsewn and designed all of them. She uses colorful felt and polyester batting. Since we have done so many productions, we have about 150 puppets to choose from when we begin a new production. We can mix and match puppets from one play and cast them quite easily in another. We also substitute puppets frequently. If the script calls for a dragon, we may have a scary spider that can fill in. Prince Charming can be a hero in one play and a villain in the next. The children don't notice or don't mind. We always bring our puppets out for the children to see and touch at the end of our performances. You must take care that you don't lose some puppets and props (because we have), but the children love to touch the little actors. We also let interested children come behind the theatre to see how everything works.

Publicity

We always put up posters in the library, but the theatre itself does a lot of advertising for us. The kids see it when we put it up for rehearsals, but we do not rely on in-house publicity alone. We send news releases to our local paper, followed by telephone calls. During the past 24 years, we have had several newspaper covers and six feature-length articles about the "Punch and Judy Players."

Newspaper reporters are definitely interested in human interest pieces about how the local children respond to the plays and how parents love coming to them. Talk to your reporters and let them know what you are doing with puppets and how the community responds. The only reliable print source you have for publicity is your newsletter, so work hard to develop a relationship with your local reporter to ensure a second outlet. The public relations value of the puppet program cannot be overestimated. It has been positive, effusive and continuous for 24 years.

Schedule

We do three or four shows a year depending on staff availability and what else is going on in the library and in the community. There are definitely dates to avoid: holidays and vacations limit attendance. The prime months are September through November, March through April and maybe one performance in the middle of summer. Holidays have proven a poor choice because so many of our residents are out of town at that time. Conflicts with baseball, soccer, and other sports can also diminish an audience. However, don't put off performances with the excuse, "There won't be an audience."

Conclusion

Writing and producing your own scripts, designing and sewing your own puppets, and involving staff are all a process of building ownership in the program. Staff members develop great loyalty to the "Punch and Judy Players" and give a lot of time and effort to see that the plays are a success. I have seldom seen a library program that has had such a positive team-building effect or one that has cut across departmental boundaries so easily. Whenever the staff knows a play is in the works, we always have more actors than we have roles to fill. This aspect of the puppet plays should not be overlooked. Pride, connection to the organization, team work, creativity and success are all positives from a management point of view.

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You must ask yourself if puppetry will fit into your library's goals. The downside of the program is that it is labor-intensive. It will be hard to coordinate staff work schedules to accommodate all the rehearsals and the performances. You must be willing and able to work in close personal contact. The scripts will take considerable time to adapt and revise, though we generally write these on our own time. Puppets take time and money. To do the medium justice you must be over-prepared, flexible and willing to take on the risks of live performances. A decently built theatre will cost substantial money, especially if you equip it with a lights, sound and music system. These are all considerations you must address. However, the rewards are great. We always play to a packed house.

Some people have asked why we do puppets in the computer age. The obvious reason is that they are a counterpoint to Hollywood and TV. You do not need Dolby, Panavision, Rambo, Power Rangers or Batman to entertain children. They get a too-steady diet of that at home. Puppet shows are like favorite family vacations that children like to repeat. The plays give them a feeling of familiarity and belonging. They become a well-loved tradition that is strong, positive and exciting, and they focus on the library as a place with the power to enchant.

Any program that will routinely draw 200 people into the library merits continuation for its own sake, but that is not why we do the plays. They have a direct connection to reading and literature. The children have vivid and positive memories about the library because of the plays they have seen. I am convinced puppetry is among the very best kind of program a library can be involved in. A puppet show is a serious professional activity, and offers an unsurpassed opportunity to touch our young clients.

I recommend three current titles dealing with puppetry as a good place to start a puppet program:
Directing Puppet Theatre by Carol Fijan and Frank Ballard, Puppet Shows Made Easy by Nancy Renfro, and Puppet Plays, from Workshop to Performance by Toni Schramm. All are fine books written by enthusiastic puppeteers.

In Memoriam, Ron Kron, Puppeteer Extraordinaire

*Jack Alan Hicks, Administrative Librarian, Deerfield Public Library.

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