SHELBURNE FALLS — Jana Zeller has been making puppets since 1992, and working for her family’s Sandglass Theater even longer.
After Piti Theatre performed “To Bee or Not to Bee,” at the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center, much of the audience migrated to another stage to watch Zeller perform her puppet show, “Punschi,” which included a red-headed traveler named Kasper and a suitcase-stealing cow.
After the show, children were invited to join the second-generation puppeteer in learning how to make their own puppets.
Zeller remarked that in the days of constant broadcast television, it’s beneficial for kids to have hands-on experiences.
Dressed in a colorful vest, black and white striped pants and red lace-up boots, Zeller revealed a teal suitcase that held all the materials the children would need for making a puppet.
The suitcase contained all recycled items like chopsticks, toilet paper tubes and newspaper. And, like for many craft projects, there was plenty of tape.
The children were to try their hand at making “tape guys” — Zeller’s term for simple handmade rod puppets.
Zeller showed them how to wrap a toilet paper tube with newspaper on top for a body and a head.
In addition to the puppets, Zeller showed the children how to make a shoebox theater so they could perform their own puppet show at home.
In 2001, she founded her own puppet company called Spybird Theater, and has since created and performed three full-length puppet shows for adults, plus many shorter pieces. Zeller is also co-curator of the New Visions Puppetry Series and the Winter Sunshine Series at Sandglass.
“I’m just so happy this event supports live puppet theater,” Zeller said. “Live theater is so important these days.”
Reach Christie Wisniewski at:
cwisniewski@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 280