Churchill puppetry club gets unique hands-on experience thanks to Opera in Focus
For the past several years Opera in Focus, a professional puppet theater in Rolling Meadows, has mentored the Playful Puppeteers club at Churchill School
- and the theater recently offered yet another opportunity for club members to participate in a unique hands-on experience.
Justin Snyder and Leilani Narciso from Opera in Focus, which stages productions ranging from "Hansel and Gretel" to "La Boheme" on a five-foot by two-foot stage, brought several of the theater's puppets to the club's Oct. 3 meeting for the students to try their hand at operating. Snyder noted that the rod puppets, built in the 1950s, are the only ones of their kind; they are manipulated from below the stage floor and are capable of lifelike movements and gestures.
The Playful Puppeteers, which focuses on English Learner students, helps to boost participants' confidence while developing their reading fluency and oral language skills. It also fosters problem-solving and collaborative skills as the students work together to stage each show. They fill in for each other, prompt each other with lines, help each other hold scripts, commit to coming to every meeting, and listen respectfully and quietly backstage while their fellow actors speak their lines, explained bilingual resource teacher Arlene Duval, who co-sponsors the club with fellow staff member Nancy Quintana.
"We're learning to always work together as a team and to help each other," a student told Snyder and Narciso on Oct. 3.
The Playful Puppeteers club is open to third- through sixth-grade students. Duval and Quintana seek out multicultural plays for the students to perform and Quintana adapts the scripts for the club, adding or blending characters as needed. The students design and create their own puppets; past productions have featured glove puppets, stick puppets and hand puppets.
Opera in Focus has mentored the Playful Puppeteers for the past four years. They attend the club's performances at the District 54 Multicultural Fair and offer encouraging feedback; they also offer free admission to Opera in Focus performances to Playful Puppeteers members and their families. Two years ago, Opera in Focus invited the Playful Puppeteers to be the opening act for its production of "Turandot" and donated all of its tips to the club, which allowed the club to refurbish its small theater. Three Churchill students also participated in the performance itself, manipulating puppets and operating the fog machine.
Snyder said he is thrilled by the work of the Playful Puppeteers.
"You're the future of the art form, and we need you," he told the students. "People think puppetry is old-fashioned and not going to make it in the 21st century, but you guys are proof otherwise."