"Puppetry 101 Masterclass" led by Josua Holden

TDFS offers a "Puppetry 101 Masterclass"

WARNING: if you are adverse to feeling immense amounts of joy in a short amount of time, this workshop is NOT for you.

Free and open to W&L Community. Masks are required.

The Department of Theater, Dance and Film Studies offers a Puppetry 101 Masterclass, free and open to the W&L community, on Monday, Nov. 8 from 6:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m in the Johnson Theatre.

The masterclass will be led by Joshua Holden, an actor and puppeteer who is the host of The Joshua Show. Holden also performed on the Broadway National Tour of Avenue Q, and is the puppet wrangler on Sesame Street.

He garnered an Arts Impulse award as well as an IRNE nomination for "Best Actor In a Musical" as Bill Snibson in Me & My Girl (Reagle Music Theatre). Holden was "named as one of the "20 Theater Workers You Should Know" by American Theatre Magazine.

This introductory workshop, suitable for all experience levels (including none!), will cover the basics of hand and rod style puppeteering (Muppet style) including technical skills, such as lip synch, focus, and emotional truth. Through group exercises and solo presentations, this workshop will give participants the confidence they need to fully express themselves through a puppet and authentically connect to an audience.

While on campus, Holden will also be working with actors in the winter production of Thumbelina, which will incorporate puppetry with a Japanese storytelling technique called kamishibai and live cameras to create a multi-media extravaganza. Thumbelina will be performed for local elementary school students and will also have two public performances on Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are required.