Puppet Show 1
Penn State Altoona student Bethany Helsel, an associate degree student in letters, arts and sciences, greets patrons of the student puppetry show Saturday (Feb. 14) at the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts.
Puppet Show 2
Inside the performance venue, visitors saw a lone figure onstage for the first performance, "Quenamican (The Place Where, Somehow, Life Goes On)," a one-man act by the puppetry class's instructor, Laurencio Carlos Ruiz. The larger-than-life puppet, created by Ruiz, is known in Aztec mythology as Mictlantecuhtli, the god of earth who ruled over Mictlan, the underworld, with his wife,... Read more ›
Puppet Show 3
Only upon very close inspection in the front of the venue could anyone catch a glimpse of Ruiz, who stood still inside the puppet form from the moment the theatre doors opened. His interpretive piece addressed the idea of immigrants -- that we are all immigrants, whether directly or through our ancestors -- and the "small death" our friends and family feel during our absence from them.
Puppet Show 4
At the conclusion of the first part of his performance, Ruiz stepped out of the large puppet and walked the "small death" puppet onstage to describe his analogy of the Aztec god to his feelings of loss after he came to the United States to complete his master of fine arts degree at Penn State in scenic design. He said he is happy, though, that he is able to return each year to see his family.... Read more ›
Puppet Show 5
In the second part of the show's performance, "Give Me a Hand," Ruiz asked for help from the audience. Each volunteer had to assume part of the puppeteer's role. A young girl offered her right arm to help a puppet named "Brrrrrt" (pronounced using lip trills) cut out a valentine to celebrate the holiday.
Puppet Show 6
The puppetry pair complete their crafting task and demonstrate that, yes, puppetry can be a collaborative art, even whenusing one puppet.
Puppet Show 7
A second volunteer has a more difficult task -- working with "Brrrrrrt" and Ruiz to blow up and tie a balloon. They succeeded, although the boy (like all the volunteers) had to keep reminding himself to keep his left hand behind his back.
Puppet Show 8
A third volunteer, this time an adult from the audience, had to offer his hand to Brrrrrrt to create a balloon dog.
Puppet Show 9
Success! Brrrrrrt is amazed at the creation before him. Before long, the air-filled dog developed an animated life of its own too.
Puppet Show 10
As the show's master of ceremonies, "Pfffffffft" (better known to his puppetry classmates as William Benson, a visual arts studies major from Altoona making his onstage debut) explained how anything could become a puppet through the puppeteer's imagination.
Puppet Show 11
In the final act of "Lend Me a Hand," Pfffffft asks for a puppet volunteer from the audience. Mama Foryou, the only puppet in the audience (joined by Laura Conrad, an integrative arts major) reluctantly agrees to join Pfffffft onstage. He agrees to lend her a hand in making soup for the audience. From Pharoese Swamp Nuts to a rather large shark, somehow Pfffffft finds all the strange... Read more ›
Puppet Show 12
After the show, eager children greeted the puppets. The Penn State Altoona puppetry class has been taught by Carlos Ruiz for two years, although prior semesters' students focused on puppet design. Ruiz investigated School of Theater archives and believes it may be the first puppet show performed by Penn State students. This was also his first artistic collaboration with his wife, Roselyn... Read more ›
Saturday, March 6, 2021
