Timeslot One: Friday, September 18th, 9:00-10:30am
Pick one of the following workshop options:
Option #1: “Intro to Japanese Puppetry” with Tom Lee from 9:00-10:30am
Location: Rose Room This hands-on workshop introduces the cultural context and techniques of Japanese three person puppetry (referred to as sanninzukai or bunraku-style) using a traditional Japanese training puppet. Participants will learn traditional techniques, terminology and work through a sequence of basic movements (kata) that form the foundation of a traditional Japanese puppeteer’s study. These techniques are also highly informative for puppetry movement of all kinds and focus on concepts like breath, the fixed point and “soft touch” or grip. This workshop is led by Tom Lee, student of Japanese master puppeteer Koryū Nishikawa V. Participants will be asked to move dynamically and work in collaboration with others. This workshop is limited to 15 participants. About the artist: www.tomleeprojects.comOption #2: “Marionette Manipulation” with Tanglewood Marionettes from 9:00-10:30am
Location: Luna Room
Learn how to work a marionette using a professional-quality puppet that has been balanced and tuned like a fine instrument! Tanglewood Marionettes master puppeteers will discuss some of the construction and stringing techniques used when building marionettes, and then demonstrate the basics of marionette manipulation. Participants will be provided with marionettes for the duration of the workshop. Each puppet has been engineered by Tanglewood Marionettes artisans, and has been left uncostumed and unpainted to showcase the construction and joining techniques that go into the craft of marionette creation. The marionettes are short-strung to allow the participants to work them at floor-level.
Option #3: “Miniature Carved Foam Workshop” with Hobey Ford from 9:00-10:30am
Location: Davey’s Locker
In this workshop, Hobey Ford will guide participants in carving small foam rubber puppets, and attaching rods to manipulate them. Using an
electric meat knife we will cut out the side and front profiles in foam. Then participants will learn to carve their cut-outs with scissors. These small “Foamies” are then colored with pastel chalks and bamboo skewers will be glued into the puppets. We will concentrate on animal puppets. The workshop will last 1 ½ – 2 hours. Participants are asked to bring good small scissors, like Fiskar Fine Point Scissors, although there will be extra scissors available if necessary.
Option #4: “One Piece of Paper Puppets” with Cheryl Capezutti from 9:00-10:30am
Location: Green Room
Participants in this workshop will test drive Capezzuti’s one-piece-of-paper design templates that allow anyone to make all kinds of puppets with just one sheet of paper, part of her research into the pedagogy of puppetry education at the University of Pittsburgh. Puppet styles include moving mouth, simple rod, hand and rod, rod marionette, finger and glove styles all designed with an eye for movement and simplicity with a nod to Universal Design for Learning techniques. She will also share a methodology, called the “story wiggle” for helping people of all ages create concise and meaningful puppet shows. Everyone will make a series of puppets, embellish them with paper scraps and then work in groups to create a table top show. This is a workshop that is more fun than a lot of things, with a take-home that can be applied in classrooms, libraries and even in the development of new shows.
About the artist: Cheryl Capezzuti is community-interactive public artist, best known for her parade-sized giant puppets, who wears all kinds of hats. By day she is visual arts faculty at Falk Lab School at the University of Pittsburgh where she has been researching simple ways to invite children into the secret world of puppets. By night she is Pittsburgh’s Art Olympics most recently crowned “Puppet Boss,” a sculptor of dryer lint and pursuer of joy.
Timeslot Two: Friday, September 18th, 10:45am-12:15pm
Pick one of the following workshop options:
Option #1: “Improv for Puppeteers” with Electric City Puppets from 10:45am-12:15pm
Location: Rose Room
Introductory improv theatre techniques to help puppeteers rehearse, develop characters and unlock spontaneous performance beyond the confines of a script.
About the artists: Since 2016, Electric City Puppets has performed scripted and non-scripted puppetry throughout upstate New York, including at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Proctors, Capital Region Festival of Theatre, and the MopCo Improv Theatre. The mission of ECP is to connect with people of all ages through the art of puppetry, across multiple mediums. From soft foam puppets and children’s programs to the adult-oriented Fuzzball comedy game show, these performers draw on decades of experience in improv as well as professional puppetry, theatre and film. Since 2018, ECP have been featured performers and workshop teachers at Rhode Island’s Ocean State Improv Festival. ECP also taught its puppet improv workshop at the Puppet Homecoming Northeast Regional Conference in Ithaca, and at the Strike Improv Theatre in Minneapolis, MN.
Option #2: “Cut, Fold, Perform!” with Sarah Frechette from 10:45am-12:15pm
Location: Luna Room
Turn a single fold into an expressive character by blending paper engineering and puppetry arts. Discover how simple office paper can be cut and folded into kinetic characters or living set elements. The session quickly shifts from construction to performance, challenging participants to directly animate these pop-ups in teams to devise quick, interactive scenes.
About the artist: Sarah Frechette is an award-winning puppeteer, teaching artist, and stop-motion costumer. She is the Artistic Director of the VT-based PuppetKabob and this year emerged as the newly silhouetted Shadow Priestess. Together with liquid light projection artists Shadow Girls Cult (Seattle), Shadow Priestess kicked off 2026 with “Candy Coated Dreams: a surreal NYE experience” which was awarded a BCA/Highlight Bright Ideas Project grant. Sarah’s cinematic shadow & string work has been seen across three different continents: North America, Europe and Asia. Her other original productions incorporate practical effects, marionettes, pop-up paper art, and steel-cast shadows paired with kinetic metal sculptures. Sarah curates & hosts VT’s Creemee Dreemee Puppet Slam, swirling forth underground to avant-garde puppetry. In addition to her personal art, she also works in stop-motion animation and film, creating miniature costumes, props, and large-scale puppets.
Option #3: “Materials, Methods, and Practical Applications of Mold Making and Casting in Puppetry” with Chuck Nesci from 10:45am-12:15pm
Location: Davey’s Locker
This workshop will introduce puppeteers to mold making and casting.
About the artist: Chuck Nesci is a professional sculptor, fabricator and mold maker involved in the Baltimore, Maryland puppetry community. His puppetry has appeared in many Black Cherry Puppet Slams, the Baltimore Creative Alliance’s Great Lantern Parade, and the 1st Annual Baltimore Toy Theater Festival. He also performed in and created objects for a production of Nehprii Ameni’s Food for the Gods that was presented at the University of Maryland in 2023.
Option #4: “Needle Felt a Finger Puppet Head” with Nicole Wander from 10:45am-12:15pm
Location: Green Room
Learn the basics of needle felting in this 3-hour workshop while creating a whimsical finger puppet head. In this workshop, participants will learn the art of needle felting while creating an expressive finger puppet head full of personality and charm. This workshop is supportive and beginner-friendly allowing each participant to discover the magic of transforming wool into character-based puppets, while learning foundational needle felting skills they can continue using in future projects.
Note: There will be a $35 material fee due to the instructor upon arrival at the workshop. This session will extend into the 2-hour lunch break/outdoor trunk show & market, so participants are encouraged to take a break and then return after 30 minutes to be able to fully complete their new creation!
About the artist: I am a multidisciplinary artist, puppeteer, with a BFA in Painting & Sculpture and an MFA in Puppetry. For more than two decades, I have led workshops that combine fiber arts, storytelling, and character creation.
Lunch Hours (plus community market and workshop): Friday, September 18th, 12:30-2:30pm
Community Marketplace from 1:00-2:30pm
Puppeteers of America will host a Marketplace Trunk Show to allow guests to explore and buy puppet-related wares. No ticket required!
“Community Workshop/Collaborative Giant Puppet Explorations” with Matt Sorensen from 1:00-2:30pm
Work in teams to design, create, animate, and collaborate with large-scale brown paper puppets. This is a great workshop for any and all people who want to join in; Perfect for all ages and skill levels. No puppetry experience needed!
About the artist: Matt Sorensen is a puppeteer, theater artist, educator, filmmaker, and museum exhibition curator and designer based in Connecticut and New York. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Dramatic Arts with UConn’s Puppet Arts Program, where he also earned an MFA. His company, Puppet Bucket Productions has designed and fabricated puppets for theater and film around the world. www.matthewbsorensen.com
Timeslot #3: Friday, September 18th, 2:45-4:15pm
Pick one of the following workshop options:
Option #1: “Animating the Puppet the Bunraku way” with Anarupa Roy from 2:45-4:15pm
Location: Rose Room
A study of the anatomy of the human and puppet to animate materials. The workshop will enter the space of animating a Bunraku style puppet through the lens of corporeal mime and building one’s own newspaper and tape puppet. Three persons will work together in this part to build and animate the puppet.
About the artist: Anurupa Roy is a puppeteer, puppet designer and a director of puppet theatre. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Trustee of Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust since 1998. She has a diploma in puppetry at Dramatiska Institutet, University of Stockholm and has trained at the Scoula De La Guaratelle under Bruno Leone. She is a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in Puppetry, a National Award in Puppet Theater in 2006. She is a 2023 British Council CLORE Chevening Fellow. www.katkatha.org
Option #2: “An Exploration in Marionettes” with Madison Cripps from 2:45-4:15pm
Location: Luna Room
Dive into the basics of the marionette. Build a simple string puppet and discover its particular voice through guided exercises. Come ready to learn, play, and—fair warning—laugh at a few groan-worthy puns along the way!
Note: There will be a $35 material fee due to the instructor upon arrival at the workshop.
About the artist: Madison J. Cripps is a puppeteer and multidisciplinary artist known for his hand-carved wooden marionettes, live music, and improvisational audience interaction. Since 2006, his surreal, handcrafted performances have blended folk art, sculpture, and absurdist theater, earning support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Henson Foundation, and recognition from UNIMA. www.crippscreations.com
Option #3: “Hello Darkness” with David Lane from 2:45-4:15pm
Location: Davey’s Locker
Journey into the dark with objects from the illuminated puppet show, Cave of Dreams. We’ll gather to explore what makes this form of puppetry so unique and compelling—and invent stories of our own from questions that can only arise from reaching deep down into the darkest of corners.
About the artist: Dave Lane is a theatre artist living in the scrappy mill town of North Adams, Massachusetts. He is one of the original members of Calgary’s Old Trout Puppet Workshop and a Jim Henson Foundation grant recipient for his plays The Chronicles of Rose and The Belly of Paris. Dave is a co-creator and lead designer of Iniskim: Return of the Buffalo, an intercultural theatre event under the artistic direction of Amethyst First Rider and produced by the Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry. Dave runs a yearly puppet design laboratory at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), and along with Peter and Nan Balkwill, he co-facilitates the New England Puppet Intensive, a 10-day laboratory in puppetry arts. www.newenglandpuppet.org
Option #4: “Paper Clay Puppet Head Sculpting” with Cynthia Houghton from 2:45-4:15pm
Location: Green Room
Sculpt a puppet head using paper clay. During this hands-on workshop you will be guided through a puppet head sculpting technique and will have a head to take home. Materials will include handmade air dry paper clay over an armature of styrofoam.
Note: This workshop is limited to 8 participants.
About the artist: Cynthia Houghton is a Brattleboro based artist, puppet maker and workshop leader. She creates large scale puppets that have been part of Sandglass festivals and assisted in creating the Giant Lantern Puppets. She creates masks and puppets for local theaters including Double Edge Theater. She is also known for the Chicken-Rex mural in Harmony Lot and the carved ceramic Words Trail Mural at the Brattleboro Amtrak station. She has worked as a ceramic muralist for 20 years at Natalie Blake Studios and teaches ceramic sculpture and hand-building workshops through Fire Arts Vermont.