How to get Your Class to Behave in a Theater

Anyone who has spent time with young children knows that their life involves an incredible amount of physical and verbal activity. In addition, imagination plays a big role in the way children view and interact with their world.

As a result of these childhood traits, children can be squirmy, talkative and verbally and physically interactive at a puppet show. To help prepare your class for an enjoyable and meaningful experience at the theater, consider these guidelines:

Explain to children that the theater will get dark and they will hear loud music. To prevent them from becoming frightened, you might want to desensitize them by simulating these conditions in the familiar environment of your classroom.

Remind the children that running in the theater could cause accidents. It is not permitted!

Children need to be aware that although the puppets will speak to one another, they will not talk to the children during the show. Explain the reason for this: the puppets (puppeteers) must concentrate while they are performing and that talking to the puppets or to other children in the audience breaks the necessary concentration.

Talk to your class about the scenery they may see during the show. Remind them that the sets are fragile and that crawling on the stage could cause damage.

Please have children use the bathroom prior to the start of the puppet show.

Thank you for helping us make this event a memorable one for your children.

How do we manipulate all our puppets?

The following illustrations will help you understand how a puppeteer brings puppets alive for the audience. Drawings by Mark Weinstein.

We run puppets in lots of different ways!

		Sometimes we sit and perform on a stool with wheels.
		Sometimes we perform marionettes in full view of the audience.
		Shadow puppets are performed seated or standing from behind a screen.
		Sometimes we stand and perform rod puppets above our heads!
		Sometimes we perform on a bridge standing over the puppets.