The Plays The Summer Schedule Will On Wheels: Educational Outreach The Company Will's Pals: Get Involved FoolsCap Newsletter All About The Festival Special Needs Accessibility More Will: Links & Gifts Contact Us Home		The Tempest: The Puppet's the Thing Take yards of nylon netting, chicken wire, Styrofoam, paper mache, ostrich feathers, and a huge quantity of hot glue. Add the imagination of William Shakespeare, the influence of cubism, and the inspiration of a director, a designer, an engineer, and several artists; then simmer for six months. What do you get? The puppet creations which are delighting this summer's audience of The Tempest. Director Curt L. Tofteland decided to incorporate puppets to convey the sense of alternate reality expressed in The Tempest. Since Prospero's island is magical and other-worldly, Tofteland enlisted the talents of master puppet designer, John A. Hofland, asking him to create the non-human characters by using the principles of cubism. In addition to teaching scenic design at Dordt College in Iowa, Hofland has designed puppets for theatres in the U.S. and Ukraine. In researching the topic before he began the design, Hofland said he discovered that cubism included much more than the angular images often associated with the cubist painter, Picasso. "I found I could use generous proportions, lots of soft ovals. For example, because Caliban is so earth-bound, we decided to make him larger than life, growing wider and heavier at the bottom," Hofland said. In the case of Caliban, the actor, Michael Lee, actually inhabits the puppet, which contributes to the heaviness of the creature. Caliban's head sits atop the actor's head, giving the character a more monstrous height. Ariel, however, being a spirit of the air, was designed as a modified bunraku puppet, a Japanese style which is usually operated by two visible puppeteers. In The Tempest, the figure of Ariel is light, feathery, and positioned high above the actor to contrast with Caliban. For Be Boyd, this means manipulating the puppet's movement with both hands as she speaks. For the goddesses who appear in the masque, Hofland tried to convey their mythical identities through shape. For example. In Iris, goddess of the rainbow who represents communication between heaven and earth, Hofland incorporated a sense of travel in downward shafts. "In designing the goddesses, I began to explore my own sense of cubism," Hofland said. When the actual construction was to begin, puppet engineer Jim Vanderhaar entered the scene (stage right). Vanderhaar, a Louisville native, has done computer work for NASA, studied with Bill Baird, and worked with Jim Henson productions. His collaboration with Tofteland and Hofland gave the puppets dimension and movement. "Looking at John's water color drawing, my question was 'what can this puppet do?' In discussions with John and Curt, we would decide how the character needed to move, then try to make that happen," Vanderhaar said. Assisting in the actual construction of the puppets were Donna Bailey and Vivian Appler. Bailey is a puppet consultant who had designed for Stage One: The Louisville Children's Theatre and worked for Walt Disney Productions. Appler, a recent graduate of William and Mary, is an intern who has two summers' experience with Bread and Puppet Theatre. Both Hofland and Vanderhaar emphasized the collaborative nature of their work. "Everyone has worked on the construction of these puppets," Vanderhaar said. "John has gone way beyond the work of a designer, actually building them." They also credit Steve Paulovich, the artist whose studio is next door to their production space. "Steve deserves some mention in the program because he's done so much," Vanderhaar said. Constructing the puppets meant hours of painstaking work. "We were always saying to each other, 'It's your turn to hot glue," Hofland said. Although all those involved in the project have extensive experience in theatrical use of puppets, combining puppetry with Shakespeare is new. "Puppetry is undergoing a renaissance in the U.S." Vanderhaar said, "And this production is an example of that." by Kathleen T. Breen, written for The Fools Cap For More on the Tempest visit: Tempest Synopsis Fools Cap Newsletter To The Schedule To The Company Back to The Plays
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