Description

Event Description: 

The Bunraku Olympics is an introduction to collaborative puppet manipulation based on the traditional Japanese puppetry style that relies on small teams working together. Grab some friends or colleagues, crumple some paper and become a Bunraku Olympian in this performance class. 

Work in groups of 3 towards common goals, make discoveries through play, and write stories without words while team building! This performance workshop teaches simple paper puppet construction, table-top puppetry technique, and ensemble manipulation.

No puppetry experience required.

Event Itinerary: 

1. Participants arrive and form small groups of three.
2. After a brief introduction to the art of puppetry and demonstration by facilitator, participants create their own puppets out of paper and tape. 
3. Participants practice bringing their puppets to life by exploring how it moves, jumps and playing with its emerging character. 
4. Small groups practice and perform events in the puppet Olympics --running, jumping, spinning--for one another. 
5. We'll have reflections and Q&A
6. Participants keep the puppets they create.

What You Will Make / Go Home With: 

Each guest will go home with:

• A functional puppet they made out of paper and masking tape

About the Instructor: 

Eric Wright is a puppeteer, puppet designer, and puppet director with extensive experience in nearly every puppetry style. As a co-founder of the Puppet Kitchen, his puppets have been seen at Paris Fashion Week with Thom Browne; at the San Diego Zoo's Centennial Celebration; on screen in Comedy Central's Broad City and HBO's Bored to Death; online for H&M and a Wall Street Journal segment series for the 2018 Winter Olympics; as well as theatrical productions worldwide.