There is a place lost in time, during a period where things were handmade and the mind was trained to use them unaided by computers; where sound lays on analog, and where a space is transformed by these elements and your child’s imagination into a one-of-a-kind magical experience. It is called Puppetworks, and it is in Park Slope. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is, in this corporate big budget world, to go someplace driven by actual effort and artistic talent. Your children should have this experience in their memory banks, really!
AT $10 a ticket, it’s not undoable, at least once a season, when the production changes. From the outside, it seems mysterious- especially in a neighborhood swamped in fancy family storefronts at every turn. Taken over from a Mexican bar as a gamble in 1990, when Park Slope was not the kid-centric jackpot it is now, Puppetworks kept the bar’s old tile floor and added the basics to make the place into a theater (padded seating and risers for an audience). The marionettes are all handmade; the youngest being ten years old (from their last “new” production- The Reluctant Dragon, and the oldest player being about 70 years old- the beggar lady from Pinocchio). Drawn loosely upon traditional Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the Owner, Founder, and Artistic Director, Nick Coppola, writes the stories and recorded the soundtracks in the 1980s with other company members! He also makes the clothes for the puppets and repairs them if need be. Nick started what now is Puppetworks when he was about nineteen years old, in a touring company (about fifty years ago!). Coppola was a third grader when he saw his first marionette show by Suzari Marionettes. When he was nineteen, he was hired by them as a Puppeteer. When he became Artistic Director, the company became Nicolo Marionettes, and they were a touring company at that time. In 1980, the company became Puppetworks, a non-profit theater. Nick still makes all the costumes for the productions, and makes some of the puppets if a show needs a replacement.
I was lucky enough to speak with Jeremy Kerr, a master puppeteer, about the place and its process. Before each new story production, staff rehearses for about two weeks- one without props and one with, once they are all decided upon and set in place. Each production changes every three to five months, and runs for approximately forty minutes. The bulk of shows are during the week, when school classes come to watch, mostly pre-k to second grade. High School classes are known to come and study the art of marionette theater too. Anytime a Puppeteer leaves Puppetworks, there are auditions for new talent and proper training takes place before any of them are expected to perform. There is also a Puppetworks in Jersey City, run by all the same people, if that interests any readers who happen to be there. When I asked Jeremy about becoming a puppeteer, he answered, “We usually say it takes around three years to become proficient as marionette Puppeteer. Obviously we can’t take that long to train someone, but for the first three years or so, a puppeteer is still really learning what a puppet can do and how to piece together all the things he or she has been picking up. During that time, every new thing still has to be taught. For me, right around the three-year mark, I performed a move I had never been taught or had even seen, and suddenly I understood why my boss talks about it taking that long. I instinctively knew how to move the control and the strings to achieve what I was attempting because I understood the puppet so well.” The staff is small and tight-knit. Another thing that is tight is the backstage area behind the scenes at the theater. Jeremy showed it to my kids and I, and I was stunned to see how small the place was where such magic is really happening.
The job is very physical (Jeremy himself was onstage for the production of Beauty and the Beast that we attended, playing the Beast) and requires a symbiotic knowledge of the story. The staff all have different backgrounds. The senior Puppeteer, Mike Leach, had worked in a brake shop and in a dye factory before becoming a Puppeteer. Jessica has a background as a painter, Donovan taught English in Japan, and Jeremy was a stage actor for fifteen years, so he was the only person currently at Puppetworks with a performance background. When I asked Jeremy if he thought it was all a dying and lost art, he answered, “Puppetworks is one of only two full-time marionette theaters in NYC, so it’s definitely a small group of people left performing this art. I’m not sure if I would say it’s a dying art, though. I think small theaters like our and many others throughout the country help keep the art alive. It’s wonderful to realize there are so many children in Brooklyn who have marionettes as a part of their lives. For these children, going to a marionette show is just as much a given as going to the park or getting frozen yogurt. Puppetworks has become a tradition for many schools and families, and it’s my hope that will play a large part in helping us keep the art form alive for generations to come. But yes, it’s very, very rare that I meet another marionette Puppeteer, even in NYC. Currently, Beauty and the Beast is playing. A Puppeteer comes out before and after each show to explain things to the kids, and a star character from the show comes with him afterwards for the kids to examine and touch. This place is amazing and you should go! Birthday parties are also possible at Puppetworks.
Attached to their website is this adorable Paper Cut Out of Pinocchio. Do it with your kids! It’s a great intro to the art of a puppet.
Rebecca Conroy is an artist, stylist, and Editor of A Child Grows in Brooklyn. She is from New York City, and has an MFA from Columbia University in screenwriting. Rebecca often finds herself on film and photography sets making things run or look better, and is the mom of two outrageously wonderful kids.
