Presbyterian Puppets

CHILDREN LEARN PUPPETS ARE PEOPLE, TOO

Lindsay Tribble, 12, left, and Halle Bright, 12, practice making their puppets sing to music Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013, at Presbyterian Church of Bella Vista during the church's Puppet Ministry. Kids learn how to use puppets and perform at various events and schools in the area.
Lindsay Tribble, 12, left, and Halle Bright, 12, practice making their puppets sing to music Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013, at Presbyterian Church of Bella Vista during the church's Puppet Ministry. Kids learn how to use puppets and perform at various events and schools in the area.

What did you do this summer?” one puppet asked another.

“Got braces,” came the reply.

In reality, Miles Higman, 7, asked the question of Hallie Bright, 12, who responded about her own summer.

Both kids are a part of Bella Vista Presbyterian Church’s puppet ministry and were speaking through their puppets.

The program was started about five years ago through a memorial fund in honor of Betty Jackson, explained Maryann Sweeney, ministry leader. Jackson had led the Presbyterian Players drama group.

“I was working in Christian ed and music,” Sweeney said. “There were no children’s programs.

So we took some money and started this for the children in the community.”

The program is open to children ages 5 and older from throughoutBella Vista and the surrounding area, not necessarily church members.

“We like them to be able to read,” Sweeney said. “But we have a part for everyone. We might mix drama with their skills, or they might carry a fl ag or other prop.” An older member of the g roup has been named stage manager.

The young puppeteers learned about the craft during a practice Aug. 10. Church member Denise Eiken talked about respecting the puppets and the audience.

“Don’t play.” “Don’t punch.” “Don’t ruin the puppets,” various children stated. “Don’t throw the arms off, or the heads.”

Nevertheless, Makiah Bowin, 8, proceeded to pick up a pen with her puppet’s mouth, and later - while still on her arm - used the puppet’s head to push herself off the fl oor.

“Puppets are people?” Bowin asked, as Eiken continued her directions.

“Puppets are people,” Eiken insisted. “We want people to think it’s real - not (that it’s) you, but the puppets who are real.”

“Put your hand inside the opening in the back of the puppet. Put your thumb in the lower jaw of the puppet. Put your fingers in the roof of the mouth. Open and close the puppet’s mouth according to the words he or she is saying,” Eiken told the children while demonstrating step by step.

“What do you do when your puppet is not speaking?” she asked.

“Just close your mouth,” Miles replied.

“Children, you tell them once, and they get it,”Sweeney said. “They love the instant gratification. They want it now, and they want it done … Stand here. Move this. Adults ask questions about how it should be done.”

Layers of fabric and body padding made the delivery of the hand into the mouth a bit distracting. But then the puppeteers tried to make the puppets talk.

They learned to speak slowly and open and close their mouths with each word, if not each syllable.

They talked about appropriate reactions from the puppet people- looking at the speaker while he’s talking, acting surprised, as needed.

The children then moved to the puppet stage to practice entering the scene and exiting the same way, whether it be from the side, the bottom or via imaginary stairs. Children bounced their puppets to emulate the movement up and down the stairs.

“Exaggerate,” volunteer Desiree Volz said.

But with all these things to consider at one time, the children insist it’s not dift cult.

The hardest part, they agreed, is holding up anarm for an extended period of time. Volz told the kids to practice and build the muscle by holding up a can of vegetables. During an event, the puppeteers can change hands while offstage, Lindsay Tribble, 12, said.

“And your hand gets sweaty,” Will Tribble, 11, added.

“But it’s really, really fun to be on stage,” Lindsay said. “No one really sees us, so I don’t get nervous.”

About 70 puppets are available at any one time for a production - from a fish that looks like Disney’s Nemo, to a red-headed girlwith a floral jumper and two long ponytails, to an old man with suspenders and glasses Will named “Grampers.” The church owns some, and Volz shares her personal collection.

Volz said her collection started when her now-20-year-old, “very creative” son wanted to introduce puppetry at their church in Florida.

She said she doesn’t name her puppets because they take on the name of the character in the story. She doesn’t redress her puppets for holidays or special occasions because she probably has a puppetfor that occasion.

The P uppet Ministry performs at many diff erent venues in the community - the Property Owners Association Christmas party, the fall and spring carnivals at Cooper Elementary School, Village House, the Helping Hands banquet, Parents Night Out at the church, Lenten dramas.

Their presentations can be geared toward the audience, but they always include a community message - if not a Christian one.

“I can see this as a way to give kids the message of God,” Volz said.

Religion, Pages 8 on 08/17/2013

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