From: Rolande Duprey <puppetpro-AT-aol.com> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2008 19:07:15 -0500 Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Destruction of Puppets Mathieu, I've had similar experiences. The best thing is to confront all possibilities upfront -- who will do repairs, what they will consist of, and the directions to care for the objects. Unfortunately, there are many people -- even theatre pros -- that have no respect for the craft. Rolande On Feb 9, 2008, at 6:04 PM, Mathieu René wrote: >> Oddly enough, no one has mentioned "puppeteers". Far too many >> puppets >> and much of our history has been destroyed because the puppets have >> fallen into the hands of irresponsible. self centered, hacks. >> From: "Jon Green" > > Indeed there are irresponsible "puppeteers" out there. > I remember my biggest puppet ever, built from the drawn design of a > costume > maker who didn't make puppets. > It was 6 feet tall and 9 feet wide when its arms were open. I was so > proud > of the smooth movement, the ergonomics, the faithfulness to the > original > drawing. It was built in my strongest paper mache to date, and even > at that > size, I wasn't worried about impacts or pressure even denting it. > > The Director calls me after the third showing of the play, in a panic, > because the puppet's head had fallen appart during a performance, > the lower > jaw remaining in the hand of the puppeteer. > In retrospect, I think it must have been hilarious for the public, > being a > Moliere play (l'Amour Medecin), and the character being a hack potions > seller. > > Still, needless to say I felt panicked and immensely guilty, > thinking it was > my fault somehow, despite my constant precautions against such > possibilities. But when he brought me the puppet's head in a garbage > bag, > damp with water, its nose and one cheek caved in, its jaw's hinged > areas > melted, I realised it had been negligence on their part. I > questionned him > some more, to find out: It was a damp summertime. They performed > outside, so > they had stored the puppet in a corner of a hot tent, and "to > protect it", > had slipped a large black garbage bag over it. Effectively trapping > any > moisture inside, preventing it from escaping, which it would have > done very > quickly, the puppet's openings being designed to that effect. > > They did this against my advice. I always tell my new customers how > to take > care of the puppets, and one of my insistance is on letting the puppet > breathe, no matter the materials used. > > I was furious! > > Anyways, I had two days to fix it before the next show, and I wanted > to make > sure I made this puppet head "idiot proof". So I first used towels > to absorb > the excess moisture out of the paper, then dried the thing with a > hair dryer > and a fan, then reconstructed the destroyed areas, inside and out. I > was > able to recreate the look of the original design almost fully, > although > there were subtles differences. When perfectly dry, I painted some > marine > boat varnish (SPAR) inside the head (doing it outside), to seal it > as much > as possible. I used a waterbased varnish outside the puppet, because > the > spar was too yellow. > I changed the leather hinges on the jaw to nylon webbing, following a > puptcritter's advice. > I now avoid leather in combination with paper mache. > > To prevent other catastrophies, I wrote an insanely detailed sheet of > instructions (How to store and maintain puppets), which I sprayed > with a > "map protector", making the paper completely waterproof and tearproof. > > It worked. I went to see the show again near the end of the tour, > and the > puppet was in great shape. > > The sad part is that after such hard work, the puppet only performed > for one > summer season, because this company (made up of freshly graduated > Theatre > students) changes cast and show every time. It's probably still in a > warehouse or a Theatre basement somewhere. > > A collegue recently told me that he stopped making puppets for other > people > because he knew he could not control how they would use and take > care of > them. I understand his frustration, but I love making puppets for > other > people too much to be able to stop. I learn so much from each > project, each > puppet, and I get some lessons on how to deal with people, as a bonus. > > _______________________________________________ > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit > Archives: http://www.driftline.org _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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