The Collegian

Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Andrew Dodson Freshman Kirsty Sadler taught herself to make and animate puppets.

Rather than discussing who would bring the minifridge, freshman Hannah Oak's first conversation with her roommate Kirsty Sadler revolved around puppets.

"It was kinda creepy at first," Oak said, "But you get used to it. It's kinda cool, actually."

Sadler, a freshman from Macomb, Mich., with a sweet voice and bouncy blonde curls, brought to campus eight puppets that she made during her senior year of high school. The puppets cover a long shelf in her room in Olds Residence and with them she is working on starting a campus puppetry club.

"They were at the top of my list near toothpaste and stuff like that," Sadler said. "I was like, I'll bring my clothes, my bedding and my puppets!"

One puppet wears a swanky black dress, while another sports an Otter's army T-shirt.

One has gelled red hair, another a swishy blonde wig. All lie lifeless until Sadler picks them up. Then, they are alive.


Sadler holds a puppet and acts as its body and voice. The puppet's hands gesture in time with the words it speaks. Their felt and faux fur bodies speak in distinct dialects.

Sadler became interested in puppets in her high school theater class when they put on a version of the puppet musical "Avenue Q." With her mom's help, Sadler created the puppets using craft supplies and clothes she found in the children's section at Salvation Army.

Sadler then began to teach herself how to move them. She watched clips of "Avenue Q" and "Sesame Street," observing what the puppeteers did to make the puppets move.

"For the longest time I would work on synchronizing my hand with my mouth, then adding emotions," she said. "A lot of it was me sitting in front of my mirror."



Sadler said she drew inspiration from Rick Lyon, a puppeteer who worked with Jim Henson and on projects including "Sesame Street," "Avenue Q" and the movie, "Men in Black."

Continued...

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