In one of the puppet shows we used to do, the prophet Samuel sits on a stool while he waits for David to arrive. Thinking about it, the question arose, “How can I make a puppet feel?” After all, they have no legs and the audience cannot see below the puppet’s waist. So how do you convince the audience that the puppet is sitting on a stool that they can’t see and that it doesn’t exist?
To learn how to do it, it was necessary to study the movements necessary to sit. So, let’s think about it.
1. What is the first thing a person does when preparing to sit down? They lean forward and put their hands on the upper legs or lean back to place on the armrests if the chair has them.
2. The next step is to bend your knees to get closer to the seat of the chair.
3. With step 3, they flop onto the seat of the chair.
4. The last step is for them to lean against the back of the chair.
If you haven’t already, try sitting down a few times and focus on each of the four steps listed above. You have probably sat hundreds of times without thinking about the specific movements, but now the goal is to be aware of them so that you can transfer them to the puppet.
To make a puppet sit up, you have to make it follow the same four steps. Begin by first sitting in a chair with slow, exaggerated movements. As you sit down, think carefully about the movements and then try it out with the puppet.
1. Bend the puppet slightly forward and downward.
2. Drop the puppet just an inch or two.
3. Move the puppet back an inch or two while dropping it another inch or two.
4. Stretch out your arm.
Practice until you can make the move in a fluid motion with little thought, and then try it out in the theater. Make sure you don’t drop your puppet so low that the audience cannot see it.
By the way, when the time comes for the puppet to leave, ask him to stand up first by reversing the movements. I once saw a play where the team did a great job of getting various puppets to sit up and was excited to see the quality of the movements. The excitement quickly faded when they left the stage without getting up first. The image of someone walking in a sitting position ruined the effect.
Having a puppet sitting in a chair is a simple movement that only takes a second or two to perform, but you will be amazed at the quality it will add to your program. With that in mind, once you add this move to your repertoire, what are some other common moves you can add?