Puppet Workshop 08

This class will use a variety of techniques and games to develop an awareness of the three fundamentals of puppet performance: the performer, the instrument and the score. The class will use LeCoq mime technique and other theatre exercises to develop performance skills; found objects to create hand-puppets and Japanese-style bunraku puppets for instruments; and simple improvisational exercises to open the exploration of developing works for puppets. Participants will work solo and in pairs and will learn how to create their own work through exercises designed to increase control of the elements of theatre.

August 4 - 9
FUNDAMENTALS OF PUPPET PERFORMANCE: performer, instrument & score with Robert Smythe
This class will use a variety of techniques and games to develop an awareness of the three fundamentals of puppet performance: the performer, the instrument and the score. The class will use LeCoq mime technique and other theatre exercises to develop performance skills; found objects to create hand-puppets and Japanese-style bunraku puppets for instruments; and simple improvisational exercises to open the exploration of developing works for puppets. Participants will work solo and in pairs and will learn how to create their own work through exercises designed to increase control of the elements of theatre.
ROBERT SMYTHE is the Artistic Director of Philadelphia's Mum Puppettheatre, the company he founded over two decades ago, and has created over 20 original productions. According to the Puppeteers of America he is one of the most influential puppet artists in the United States today. His work with Mum has taken him all over the world while winning three UNIMA Citations of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry and four Barrymore Awards. He was won numerous awards, including a Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2006 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. He is the recipient of one of the last Solo Theater Fellowships ever awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts and six Solo Performer Fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He has directed and designed puppet work for the Arden Theater, the Wilma Theater, Interact Theater Company, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Children’s Theater Company in Minneapolis. WORKSHOP LOGISTICS & REGISTRATION Workshops are geared for participants of all levels of experience, whose ages have run from 18-85. Workshops will meet from 10 am - 4 pm, Monday through Saturday, in Studio II or Studio III of Webster Hall on the Amherst College campus in Amherst, MA. Driving Instructions to Amherst College Amherst College campus map. Workshops cost $350. There is a $25 discount for registration by April 15. Optional room and board are available on the Amherst College campus for an additional fee. Rooms are $190, for a single with a shared bath in an Amherst College dorm. A meal ticket for the Dining Commons (healthy food, much of it local) is $150. Email us, if you are interested in alternative housing. There are a number of hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts in the area. Studios, theatre, dining commons and dorms are all within walking distance. To register download the registration form and mail it to: The Ko Festival of Performance 498 South Gulf Road Belchertown, MA 01007 Questions? For further information email us or call (413) 427-6147.

To register download the registration form and mail it to: The Ko Festival of Performance 498 South Gulf Road Belchertown, MA 01007 Questions? For further information email us or call (413) 427-6147.

To register download the registration form and mail it to:

The Ko Festival of Performance
498 South Gulf Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Questions? For further information email us
or call (413) 427-6147.