At Guild Hall: Puppets Prepare

The wizards were already assembled in the corners of the room, the Bag Lady was standing upright, and the North Wind was propped up against the wall, but War didn't have his head on yet, and the inflatable Yup-a-tsaurus was in a heap on the floor.

Donna Stein, Guild Hall's interim curator, bustled around in the midst of this surreal menagerie, overseeing installation of "The Puppet Show," which opens at the museum on Saturday.

Even without their animators, the giant figures filling one room of the museum seemed brimming with life as they waited to meet the public.

Sardine Cans

"War," a nine-foot puppet created by Ralph Lee, wears a grimace and an armor of burlap, with sardine cans and jar lids to deflect bullets or arrows.

Mr. Lee, who is credited as the founder of one of the best-known shows of costumery and folly in the nation - the Greenwich Village Halloween parade - also made "Bag Lady," an equally imposing and exotic figure.

"The North Wind" and the wizards are processional puppets that can be as tall as 20 feet, depending on who carries them. Standing near them this week was a troll body puppet made for Poko Puppets, and on a table in front of the troll was "Knee-o-Fashism," a body from the waist down with faces on either knee and elaborate shoes.

How To Inflate

A ventriloquist figure, "Uncle Arthur," rocked in a children's rocking chair, lent to the museum by an employee. On a nearby base was a maquette for Pat Olesko's "Coat of Arms." The piece is exactly what its title suggests: On stage, a performer wears the life-size coat, with half a dozen or so arms flailing about.

Instructions for inflating Mr. Olesko's "Yup-a-tsaurus" lay on the table by "Knee-o-Fashism."

"Lay out the figures on the ground facing the same direction like so many shadows," they begin.

The piece will be hooked up to timed blowers, which will inflate it. Allow it to deflate a little, then inflate it again to create a bobbing effect through the duration of the exhibit.

Performing Objects

The larger puppets and performing objects, which include a piece from a Robert Wilson production, will occupy one gallery at Guild Hall.

In the other will be photographs, drawings, prints, and other art related to puppetry. A print of a "Punch and Judy" show in Paris, for instance, will be accompanied by Punch and Judy figures in a small tabletop theater.

"We wanted to give an historical view," said Ms. Stein. "This isn't allcontemporary."

The historic pieces will include classic hand puppets as well as photographs of puppets by Man Ray and Hans Bellmer, and drawings by the Surrealist artist Kurt Seligman and the Russian Constructivist Alexandra Exter.

Puppet Photography

In the Guild Hall library, Richard Termine's photographs of puppet performances will extend the idea of puppetry beyond what is shown in the exhibit.

Mr. Termine, who runs the National Puppet Theatre every year in Connecticut, is currently considered the primary photographer of puppetry in the world.

His photographs depict other styles of puppetry beyond what is shown in the galleries, depicting other styles of puppeteering, such as finger puppetry, shadow puppets, and hand puppets.

More Than Craft

There is a wealth of talent and inventiveness evident in "The Puppet Show." Ms. Stein hopes the scope of the exhibit will expand viewers' ideas of what art can be as well as "give kids an idea of the potential, the fantasy level of puppetry."

It takes more than craft to create such works, she says.

The master puppeteer Larry Eng ler of the Poko Puppet Company, which has lent several of its large puppets to Guild Hall for the exhibit, will join Ms. Stein on Dec. 1 to offer an exhibit tour and puppet workshop.

Because the field of puppetry is so broad, Guild Hall's exhibit had to focus predominantly on American and European puppetry, but in a puppet-making workshop later in December, the Long Island puppeteer Katie Polk will introduce puppet styles from around the world and the methods used to create and animate them.

The show will be up through Jan. 12. Visitors can wander among the puppets for the first time at the opening reception Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m.

Earlier in the day, at 1 p.m., the film "Muppet Treasure Island" will be shown on the big screen in the John Drew Theater.

More Films Set

Films and theater productions featuring some kind of puppetry are planned through the next two months. The National Marionette Theater will visit Guild Hall with its production of "Peter Pan" on Nov. 23.

Tim Burton's puppet-like animated film, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," will be screened on Nov. 30, and another Muppet classic, "The Muppet Christmas Carol," will be shown Dec. 14.

"Muppet Christmas Carol," which puts a frog-like spin on the classic Charles Dickens tale, will be screened in mid-December. Then, closer to Christmas, another takeoff on the classic, "Mr. Punch's Christmas Carol," will be brought to the John Drew stage by the puppeteers of the Crabgrass Puppet Theater.

Child-Oriented

Finally, after the new year, the Catskill Puppet Theater will stage a production of "Willow Girl."

"The Puppet Show" is part of Guild Hall's annual effort to plan an exhibit that is child-oriented. While this show will certainly appeal to children's imagination, adults will likely find themselves captivated by the fancifulness of the works as well.