shadow & substance

I put puppets on my vision board last year. When a student last month asked me what I’d do if I wasn’t an author, I told her I’d be a puppeteer. Now, I don’t actually know how one becomes a puppeteer and I don’t know if I want to pull strings or just write the scripts…but I’m applying for a three-month virtual residency and I’m taking an online history course on Black puppetry and performance that starts in April. Today I went to see The Magic City performed by Manual Cinema and it was extraordinary. Not at all what I expected—I’ve always felt that the wonder of puppetry comes from the hidden hands that manipulate the characters, but this performance put everything in plain sight. You almost didn’t know where to look because you could clearly see the narrator, the musicians, the actors, the puppets, the transparencies, the video camera—you saw exactly how the show was being produced and just above it all was the “finished product” on the big screen. It was a little overwhelming at first but also fascinating to see how expertly choreographed it all was. But what’s lost when all is revealed instead of the mechanics being concealed? It that still magic—or just labor? I doubt that it matters to kids but I’m still stuck on the idea of making something impossible seem possible. For the residency application I have to outline a specific project, which is hard to do when I don’t even know what all the options are. I think I’ve only ever made puppets out of paper bags and socks! I love this version of Peter and the Wolf but I think the strings on the puppets were removed digitally. Is that magic? Or cheating? Does it matter? (Just checked—it’s stop-motion animation using puppets!) Someone posted the Muppets singing “Danny Boy” for St. Patrick’s Day and I couldn’t stop laughing…but I don’t want my puppets to be silly or furry—I want to tell an African origin story about spiders and stars…shadow puppets would work but I’ve got this gorgeous doll that I want to use, too. Can I do both? Probably. Now I’m watching all the Muppets videos on YouTube (“Bohemian Rhapsody”!) Jim Henson was such a genius. Better get back to work on my application. I said I’d leave my laptop behind when I go to San Juan next week but I don’t think I can. It’s my security blanket and I have too many ideas percolating right now to go without it. I don’t really know how to vacation. I’m not sure I even like to vacation! A kid lit friend told me about an artist residency in upstate NY but I don’t need time away from my life…I’m blessed to have a life that’s designed to make it easy for me to write whenever I’m ready. And I’m ready now but I’m leaving on Monday so the laptop will just have to come along…