This blog is a place to post puppet scripts I wrote when I was a branch librarian and had a puppet troupe of children ages 11-18. The shows are generally simple to do and most require few props. We used glove puppets mainly, although we did a few shadow puppet shows. We did not use marionette or other stage puppets because we didn’t have any!
Working mostly with what we had on hand–puppets we managed to purchase or make–the troupe performed shows at for 6 years before I was promoted, and remains in operation today. Our troupe performed from 4 to 12 times per year depending on the group’s enthusiasm (membership changed often as teens got jobs and driver’s licenses) and attendance at programs ranged from 20 to over 100. When we offered a puppet show, we could always be assured of a successful program.
In 2009 I co-wrote a grant to start a puppetry troupe for another library system. I provided a training manual and 6 training sessions, along with many of the scripts I will post here. The troupe is still in existence and recently I was happy to be in attendance at their Christmas puppet show.
Teens like to do programs more than they like to attend them. A puppetry troupe gives teens the hands-on experience they enjoy, trains them to work with a group and at the same time provides a new and interesting program alternative for the library. I don’t even have to mention the responsibility and compassion they also learn in the process.
I will add pages as time allows to include some of the training materials I used, the “rules of the road” for the troupe, information on making puppets, etc. I hope you will add your comments and suggestions as this site develops so that it can as interactive and useful (and fun!) as possible.
