Donation to allow Northwest students to get hands-on with puppetry

Theater students show off puppets and marionettes that were donated to the department Dec. 11, 2015 (Photo courtesy Todd Weddle |Northwest Missouri State University)

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts recently received a generous donation of 30 puppets from a local family.

“The students will interact with, archive and restore these amazing things,” Stephanie Jorandby, assistant professor of theatre, said. “We don’t get to do things with puppets a lot. We don’t often have much space between courses offered and production budgets to incorporate puppetry.”

Carol O’Riley, a local resident and Northwest alumna, contacted the University about the donation after the death of her mother, Betty Shoemaker, last year. Shoemaker had attended a puppetry showcase students presented at Northwest in 2011, and the experience left an impact that motivated the donation.

While working as a window dresser for Halls, a department store division of Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri, Shoemaker created her own puppets and performed with them at local schools and nursing homes.

She started making the puppets in the early 1940s, and the first puppet she created, a small dog, was included in the family’s donation.

“Each puppet carries with it a lifetime’s worth of memories that give them character and personality, and it’s a privilege to be able to

Theater students show off puppets and marionettes that were donated to the department Dec. 11, 2015 (Todd Weddle |Northwest Missouri State University)

experience that history, and a responsibility to keep it alive,” Shawn Murphy, a sophomore theatre performance major from Redfield, Iowa, said.

The puppets were crafted with unique movements that fit the marionette’s personality. An Angelina Ballerina puppet was given weighted shoes that allow her to use the iconic pointe technique with which ballerinas are associated. Each puppet features its own outfit or accessories.

Northwest students will use the puppets for classes. Murphy is planning to do an independent study about restoring them.

“My intention is to restore these puppets to performance condition, if possible, and if not, then restore them enough to be put on display,” Murphy said. “I am very new to the world of puppetry and this opportunity is perfect for me to get a better understanding of what goes into puppet and marionette making, and by doing so greatly build upon my passion for puppetry.”