Marionettes Visit Middle Gate School

By Tanjua Damon

Some special puppets took the stage at Middle Gate School last week, coming to life to entertain the elementary school children.

Joseph Cashore has been working full time with marionettes for 11 years. He made his first puppet when he was 11 years old. Mr Cashore brought several puppets to show the school children.

Most puppets have at least 20 strings, according to Mr Cashore. Some have 36 strings.

“It depends on the gestures and what they have to do,” he said. “The hardest part is coordinating the strings.”

Cyclone the horse is the most difficult to make come to life, according to Mr Cashore. Knowing the anatomy and the characteristics of a horse and mastering the use of the strings takes time to learn.

Mr Cashore has made over 100 marionettes in his career. He still has about 20 puppets.

Students were able to see marionettes of a school girl who was supposed to be doing her homework, but found it more fun to procrastinate, playing with toys and dancing to music. Mr Cashore had a puppet that was a homeless man who slept on a park bench as well as a mother trying to rock an infant child to sleep.

Ramul was a foreign man who found a bag and at first was not sure how to open it. But finally he discovered how to open it and take out the balloon inside. He rolled on it and carried it, prompting giggles from the audience.

When Mr Cashore creates a new marionette, he practices with the puppet each day for an hour or two. It takes nine months to a year of working with a puppet to create its realistic moves and make sure its gestures fit the character of the puppet. Mr Cashore finds it most challenging “to keep the puppet alive,” he said. “To let the audience think it’s moving on its own.”

One kindergartner said before he left the performance, “This makes my heart happy.”

The Cashore Marionettes travel for nine months out of the year, bringing the program across the country and around the world, teaching children about the art of marionettes. Mr Cashore is from Pennsylvania.